Forty years ago, a fleet of 50 massive saucer-shaped ships arrived on Earth from deep in outer space, carrying within them legions of red-clad alien Visitors. Claiming to come from a dying planet, they initially promised friendship and advanced technology in exchange for desperately needed supplies. But their presence would turn out to be the basis for a compelling parable about fascism, collaboration, and resistance.
The project was V, a miniseries created by writer-director Kenneth Johnson, which aired for two nights on NBC beginning on May 1, 1983. Armed with a massive-for-television $13 million budget, the production had all the polish of a rip-roaring adventure epic with laser blasts and dogfights aplenty (arriving mere weeks before Return of the Jedi hit theaters, no doubt helping to rope in the Star Wars crowd), along with some impressively gruesome makeup effects which showed off the reptilian features underneath the Visitors’ human-like masks.
Four decades later, V (it stands for “Victory”) is both a beloved artifact of a specific era and a timeless commentary on human nature. Indeed, talk to anyone who saw the show during its initial airing (or at an impressionable age) and they’ll doubtless relate their creeping dread at seeing the alien masks come off, watching Jane Badler’s alien commander Diana swallow a guinea pig whole, or learning the real reasons the aliens had come to our planet (they want our water, and also have a hankering for the tangy taste of human flesh).
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The project was V, a miniseries created by writer-director Kenneth Johnson, which aired for two nights on NBC beginning on May 1, 1983. Armed with a massive-for-television $13 million budget, the production had all the polish of a rip-roaring adventure epic with laser blasts and dogfights aplenty (arriving mere weeks before Return of the Jedi hit theaters, no doubt helping to rope in the Star Wars crowd), along with some impressively gruesome makeup effects which showed off the reptilian features underneath the Visitors’ human-like masks.
Four decades later, V (it stands for “Victory”) is both a beloved artifact of a specific era and a timeless commentary on human nature. Indeed, talk to anyone who saw the show during its initial airing (or at an impressionable age) and they’ll doubtless relate their creeping dread at seeing the alien masks come off, watching Jane Badler’s alien commander Diana swallow a guinea pig whole, or learning the real reasons the aliens had come to our planet (they want our water, and also have a hankering for the tangy taste of human flesh).
40 Years After V Debuted, the Miniseries Still Has Lots to Say - IGN
As the NBC miniseries V hits its 40th anniversary, creator Kenneth Johnson looks back at the highs and lows of the sci-fi mega-hit about alien invasion.
if someone had asked me about "V", I would have said "oh yeah, that miniseries came out about 20 years ago"