No, not "V for Vendetta" just V. I wanted to tell you guys about a sci-fi classic from my childhood, that's now being remade. The story revolves around seemingly benevolent extraterrestrials called "Visitors" who come to Earth, claiming to need our help, and offering us all their technological superiority in exchange. But all is not as it seems. This was a tremendously influential work in its day. It rocketed names like Michael Ironside and Robert Englund (who would next go on to his most famous role as Freddy Kreuger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series) to national prominence. In addition, the original two-part mini-series soon inspired a three-part mini-series sequel, as well as an hour-long series that ran for a year or two. We had, of course, prior to V, already had many movies and shows involving aliens. However, they generally involved clear cut indicators of right and wrong; epic sagas of good vs evil. V introduced the element of political intrigue to the genre, an element which would find its way into many later "alien" stories, including the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, and TV series like Alien Nation and Earth: Final Conflict. Sure, the show left us a way to easily tell humans from aliens, but to complicate things, there were both humans who were loyal to the alien overlords, and also "visitors" loyal to the resistance, who had seen the devastation their people caused, and wanted them to return to peaceful ways. Indeed, it's no surprise that the political storylines held the audience's attention as much as the notion of alien "visitors." Writer/Director Kenneth Johnson originally envisioned the story as an earth-bound political thriller; the story of the rise of fascism. And many parallels can be drawn between the visitors and the nazi regime. From the uniforms, and symbols of the visitors, to the propaganda pieces they release to the media, to the recruitment of teenagers for "Friends of the Visitors" mirroring the "hitler youth" in nazi germany, THIS was the tale Kenneth Johnson set out to tell. But NBC, looking to cash in on the success of stories involving inter-steller travel (Return of the Jedi was released in theaters in May 1983, the same month V originally aired) insisted that these elements be worked into the original story, and thus a classic was born. ABC is now "re-imagining" the story, with a pilot which has received rave reviews, premiering tomorrow night (Nov 3) on ABC. BUT I would encourage fans of either sci-fi or poli-sci to check out the marathon that Syfy (formerly the SciFi channel) is running all day today and tomorrow in anticipation of the new series.