A couple of weeks ago, I came home to Julie watching a DVR-ed episode of General Hospital. As she was flipping through the commercials, I vaguely saw something out of the corner of my eye that instantly grabbed my attention – and made my mouth almost hit the floor. At first, I thought it was just another commercial for a new ABC television series – until it ended with one spray painted letter on the screen…

…V.

“STOP!” I screamed. I grabbed the remote, rewound and realized that an integral part of my childhood was about to return to my existence once again. A show that captivated me as a teenager would now revisit me as an adult – and a show that was so awesome to me that I own both mini-series and the box set of the weekly series was now remade, repackaged – and reborn…

…V.

I was returning from Government travel the night it premiered, and didn’t get home until midnight that evening. Exhausted and “train-lagged” from an eight hour trip home – the first thing I did when I got in my living room was grab my remote, locate V on my DVR – and hit “play.”

From the moment the show started – I was instantly captivated – and when it was over – I was as in love with the new version as I was with the original. I will say that there are aspects of the new series that are identical to the version released in 1983 – and there are parts that are very different from the landmark series I remember. As far as what is similar, the plot is the same, they come in peace, they need our help – but they are not what they appear to be – and have a hidden and very sinister agenda. The differences are that the characters I remember (Mike Donovan, Juliet Parish, “Diana” of the Visitors) are gone and replaced with new characters both on the human and Visitor sides. Also the symbol of “V” in the original series was the symbol of the resistance – where now – it is the symbol of the “Vs” – as the humans have come to call them.

Another aspect of this version of V that I think is cool is the way they tied in today’s real-life human global issues. In the very first episode alone – they mentioned sleeper cells, the bad economy – and even “Universal Health Care” by name. Only one episode into the series – I can only imagine what awaits me and everyone else that has been “converted” by V.

Just like the resistance did at the end of V: The Original Mini Series when they sent out a signal to what they were told was the enemy of the Visitors – I am going to do the same thing to any die hard V fan who is in range of this Thought. When it comes to the rest of this series…

…I can’t wait to get “just” in the storyline.

If you figure it out – e-mail me.

And remember – “We are of peace – always.”