| Scoreboard |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating: Adults 18-49 | 3.4/9 | 3.3/9 | 3.0/8 | 2.4/6 | 1.3/4 | 0.9/2 |
| Rating: Adults 18-34 | 2.5/7 | 2.6/8 | 2.3/7 | 2.5/7 | 1.4/4 | 1.3/4 |
| Total Viewers (million) | 15.551 | 12.016 | 7.978 | 6.076 | 3.549 | 1.776 |
ABC’s V premiered with a preliminary 5.0 rating for adults 18-49 and averaged 13.9 million viewers, exceeding most expectations of commenters on our site.
Dancing With the Stars received only the slightest boost from V, up 3% in the 18-49 demo from last week. the forgotten was down slightly from last week.
NCIS was hit by the V premiere, down 11% from its last original telecast (10/20) to a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating. As was NCIS:LA, it was down 10% vs. 2 weeks ago to a 3.5 rating. The Good Wife was down 4% to a 2.7 adults 18-49 rating.
NBC’s Biggest Loser lost big, down 16% to a 3.1 rating, tieing its lowest original telecast rating this season. The Jay Leno Show up 11% from last Tuesday, tied/slighly edged the forgotten at 10pm.
For the CW, 90210 was on par with its last original episode (2 weeks ago) in adults 18-49 (1.1 rating/3 share) and women 18-34 (2.3 rating/6 share). Melrose Place was up a tenth from its previous original (also 2 weeks ago) in adults 18-49 (.8 rating/2 share), and flat in women 18-34 (1.4/4).
In Late-Night Local People Meters Tuesday night:
- Conan O’Brien (1.0/5 in 18-49 in local people meters) defeated CBS’s Late Show (0.8/4) in Nielsen’s 24 local markets with People Meters.
- At 12:35 a.m., Jimmy Fallon (0.6/4 in 18-49 in local people meters) topped CBS’s Late Late Show (0.5/3).
| Time | Net | Show | 18-49 Rating | 18-49 Share | Viewers Live+SD (million) |
| 8:00 | ABC | V (series premiere) | 4.9 | 13 | 13.764 |
| CBS | NCIS | 4.0 | 11 | 19.044 | |
| NBC | The Biggest Loser | 3.0 | 8 | 8.406 | |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | 2.4 | 7 | 6.360 | |
| CW | 90210 | 1.1 | 3 | 2.121 | |
| 8:30 | ABC | V (series premiere) | 5.1 | 13 | 14.128 |
| CBS | NCIS | 4.3 | 11 | 19.741 | |
| NBC | The Biggest Loser | 3.2 | 8 | 8.645 | |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | 2.4 | 6 | 6.427 | |
| CW | 90210 | 1.0 | 3 | 2.016 | |
| 9:00 | CBS | NCIS: Los Angeles | 3.6 | 9 | 15.536 |
| NBC | The Biggest Loser | 3.6 | 9 | 9.300 | |
| ABC | Dancing With The Stars | 3.1 | 8 | 14.102 | |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | 2.5 | 6 | 5.955 | |
| CW | Melrose Place | 0.8 | 2 | 1.590 | |
| 9:30 | NBC | The Biggest Loser | 3.9 | 10 | 9.743 |
| CBS | NCIS: Los Angeles | 3.4 | 9 | 14.492 | |
| ABC | Dancing With The Stars | 3.1 | 8 | 14.863 | |
| FOX | So You Think You Can Dance | 2.4 | 6 | 5.562 | |
| CW | Melrose Place | 0.7 | 2 | 1.376 | |
| 10:00 | CBS | The Good Wife | 2.7 | 7 | 12.452 |
| ABC | the forgotten | 2.1 | 6 | 8.299 | |
| NBC | The Jay Leno Show | 2.1 | 6 | 6.129 | |
| 10:30 | CBS | The Good Wife | 2.6 | 8 | 12.043 |
| NBC | The Jay Leno Show | 1.9 | 6 | 5.642 | |
| ABC | the forgotten | 1.8 | 5 | 6.940 |
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You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here.
Definitions:
*Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports.
Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.
Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.)
Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast.
For more information see Numbers 101.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
HOLY CRAP!!!! NICEEEEE!!!
Daaaaaaaaaaamn
i knewi it would be huge
yes, that’s a good news 5.0
i’m so glad
holy crap o.0.
Thank god. Amazing first episode too. I’m praying it doesn’t fall too much, this can become something extraordinary.
Wow! I was totally off!
I never get these predictions right. It is so hard to tell these days what is going to be a hit & what is not.
This is higher then what Flashforward premired at, correct?
Um, wow!
Best premiere in several years for ABC I bet. When was the last time a show had a better premiere for them? Back in ‘04 with Lost/Desperate Housewives?
wow ………. wicket start for the show ………. i’m just watching it and will post later ……..
OMG!!! OMG!!!! OMG!!!! I hope V’s numbers for huge
Hm…
I wonder who will be the first to eat crow if V performs even moderately as well as the premiere.
Also, cue Joss’s Biggest Fan to talk about Morena Baccarin’s huge premiere numbers.
My prediction of 12.85 million, 4.7 A18-49 was very close
@Chucksmom, yes these numbers are significantly larger than what FF premiered to.
And V was going head-to-head with the most watched show on TV as well.
think they’ll cancel the hiatus now?
Damn, I thought 3.5 tops, but 5? A great first episode too.
A 5.0 and 13.9 million viewers. EXACTLY like I predicted!!!!
Awesome! It’s really great to see a sci-fi show get decent ratings on a main network! Especially one that I’m really interested in! I had a sinking feeling this would flop, but I’m so happy that I was wrong.
It’s a really great show, and to see so many of my favorite tv actors on this show is awesome.
ABC’s strongest series premiere since Ugly Betty in 2006.
OMFG! Fantastic premiere!
That’s amazing. I mean, if it continues, it could be the next big hit.
Even Lost isn’t getting this numbers.
hope the hiatus dosent kill the shows momentum
i like this show
You wish Robert!
I am very very happy for the show. I hope it holds up though.
I watched “V” just because I was so happy to have something to watch other than the most overrated show on TV, CBS’ boring “NCIS.” I really did like “V” though!
I’m shocked. But it’s crap so those ratings will quickly fade away
Very nice- so, it’s almost 14m estimated viewers?
I expect Morena Baccarin to be featured on the front of many magazine covers in the near furture.
JR, yes.
I’m worried that hiatus is going to damage the show. Looks like ABC could have two show’s to take over from Lost, rather than just Flash Forward.
Very nice start!
Wow, that’s amazing. I hope the dropoff isn’t that big.
I recorded it but haven’t watched it yet. I expect a huge drop for the next episode. Practically everyone I talked to who saw it thought it was pretty bad and only got somewhat better the last 15 minutes of the show. It seemed like it was a big let down for them.
I hate to be a party pooper, but the only way for V to go from here is down. But even if it drops to a 4.0 or 3.5 rating by the finish of its 4-episode run, that’s still impressive, especially opposite the NCIS juggernaut. Only goes to show that viewers are starved for something else in any given hour, if the networks can just put their minds into giving them something worth tuning into.
WOWWW I hope it doesn’t fall to much next week
Iwould like to see if it did hurt NCIS’s numbers
Show data with ratings and share only for the night has been added to the post.
ABC’s Nashville affiliate, which reaches a couple million people in middle tennessee, didn’t even air V last night (they bumped it to after midnight) so that they could show some local sports talk show instead. there’s probably a lot of angry people in tennessee who have been looking forward to seeing this show. and they plan on pre-empting it all month as well, which can’t help V’s ratings.
Wow great numbers. I think it’s a good sign that it grew from half hour to half hour.
BTW, Leno saw a nice bump also. Again, NBC performs solidly Tuesday nights.
It was better than I expected. Though some lefties are in a snit because the mentions of Universal Healthcare coming from sinister aliens who resemble the Obama admistration (one victim of V-Care stumbles into a church with photos of the aliens moaning “The V’s did this to me!) The V’s also have an army of “Community Organizing” peace activists recruiting young dopey starry eyed types. And a priest who questions blindly following a messiah who shows up right when they were needed the most – sort of like Fall of 2008 when the economy was on the brink of collapse. The producers insists all of this is purely coincidental since the plot was conceived in 2006 before Obama was on anyones radar.
I liked how the cell meeting was at “4400 Blvd.” 4400, a show that died before they could tell the rest of the story. A tribute to Joel Gretsch who plays the priest.
New V has the same potential as the Galactica reboot, time will tell if it has the same staying power to last at least as long as Galactica did.
@Wy, you’re right that it will almost certainly go down from here. The good news is that it has a larger cushion than most when it does inevitably start to sink.
It had just that right combination of retro-appeal for older viewers who saw the originals and ‘massive big strong tv event’ to draw in new viewers, plus the visuals called to mind ‘Independence Day’, which, say what one will about it, made huge dollars.
The question mark is retention – the show runs the risk of getting too deep too quickly and losing people. What they need, imnsho, is at least one kaboom and one gratuitous shot of a visitor eating a gerbil per episode for the first ten or so.
WOW! I thought it was going to do better than a lot of the predictions but thought the demo might be a bit lower than that since I’ve seen so many mentions of people watching the last one, thought maybe the viewers would wind up being older since its their second time around.
You have to wonder if the hiatus will last as long as they planned if this keeps up.
i predicted 14.5 million so not far off
I think ABC may want to rethink that hiatus. This is momentum that’s hard to come by, and they’re fixing to kill it in about a month. But it’ll be very interesting how much it retains next week.
Yes- it likely will decline next week, but even if it loses a few million viewers, that’s still 10m+- a lot better than what ABC was doing in that time slot.
I liked it (I’m saying that as a fan of the original mini-series and yes- even the less-stellar weekly show).
the 18-49 beatdown V put on NCIS is impressive.for average viewer lovers, NCIS still won the hour 19.1 million vs. 13.9 million.
it also increased in the second half hour so wouldnt expect it to drop much next week
that was pretty awesome..It got me better than FF did.
I change my prediction.
14.5 mil viewers.
5.1 demo—————————————————————————————–
I was almost dead right….It should have very good retention because of the last 15 min…which blew the doors off compared to the earlier 3 segments…
either way..ABC will be making a killing on AD money for the next few eps.
Best premiere in the last years for ABC was Private Practice in 2007, with a 5.2 final demo. V might still uptick to that.
OUTCH for melrose place.last season on tuesday november 4 privileged had 1.1!!!
WOWOWOWOW
If V continues with those numbers maybe it’ll actually last more than a season.
Does anyone know how many episodes of V have been shot? With production having the big stop, I’m thinking that they might not be able to cancel the hiatus even if they wanted to.
I think NBC’s 18-49 rating is off. I think it should be closer to 3.0.
Those who keep saying that the show isnt very good. if it were the case, the Rating wouldnt have gone up in the second half hour which it did by a 0.2!!!
I had low expectations and was surprised how bad it was so like a couple of the other commenters I expect a big drop in the coming weeks. I expect that ABC realizes this which is probably why they just replaced the showrunner with one of the producers of Chuck.
Maybe I’m in the minority. I wasn’t impressed in the slightest. At best, it’s Jericho meets Aliens. There’s no way it’s going to last.
Wow… that’s a huge premiere… biggest of the season for a new show, right?
Jay’s 2.0/6 is pretty good for him
V got almost a point over NCIS in the demo? That’s huge. ABC must be thrilled beyond belief. Doesn’t matter what happens next week, there’s rarely a premiere that beats the leading giant on TV. And from comments about V thus far, seems like it was good, so a huge dropoff next week isn’t be a given beyond a normal slide.
I pray for retention. I thought it was so-so, but I want to see more Alan and Morena. Most of the “human” plots were just cliched and dopey. But I’ll stick with it, great numbers! I wonder if the SyFy airings helped get people in the mood, at least 2 million of them.
itll be interesting to see how far it drops and if doesnt drop to far will abc change there plans for the hiatus as it could kill it as momentum iv very important.
I think they seriously fumbled by advancing the plot too far too fast.
Yes, “V” is the highest-rated scripted freshman series premiere this fall
Folks, the nightly average scoreboard numbers were bad. They are now fixed.
I read a book! Waited for SOA
and according to THR, the highest-rated 8 p.m. drama series debut since … “Lost,” actually
Can you imagine the DVR numbers HOLY KITTEN CRAP!
My question is what will ABC do with V in the spring? Will it stay in this timeslot and attempt to take on American Idol and NCIS all at once? Where else could it go especially considering they also need to find a home for Lost.
to those saying it wont drop as increased in 2nd hour it will drop all shows tend to do better premier numbers its not if itll drop its how far itll drop imho.
JVO, I can see Lost on Wednesdays at 10PM. But ABC will be tempted to pair V with Lost.
WOW!! Everybodys in shock. And somehere said 6 million. Hahaa!!
It did look like it was gonna be huge. But that hiatus wont be helping it. It’s a stupid action to take.
So glad its a hit, it’s a interesting show.
crappy CW shows = crappy ratings = Dawn needs to GTFO!
If i’m not wrong FF alse increased in it’s second half hour premiere
I wouldn’t get to excited with “V” being the highest rated series premiere. In 2007 Bionic Woman was also the new show with the highest demo in the premiere…
The bigger news here is that Jay Leno got a TWO (!!!) last night……
(let the ‘V’ lovefest continue!)
I was pretty close on my guess I’d say.
“Dancing” Loses 38% of Lead-in Aud
Reality competishes continue fall
Can someone refresh what we know about V. ? How many episodes have been produced ? I know they are going to show 4, do we know how long the hiatus will be ? I thought the show was good.
Its going to be strange when the FBI woman/mother’s son is playing the role of the starry eyed youth, tricked in to working with the aliens. His own mother knows the truth ! will she not tell him, that the girl he thinks is hot is a lizard! I guess he won’t believe her, propaganda.
What did Flash Forward get on its premiere? Did “V” beat that?
Do not leave in the crap Leno it got a 2.0 that’s like a 100.0 for him
I imagine that if they had put it at 9pm, following Dancing With The Stars, it would have been even better.
That’s awesome! I’ve been worried about the potential ratings for V, but this is reassuring me. Hopefully people will tune in next week too.
I thought V was completely underwhelming.
I think this is the best Leno has done in the 18-49 demo in a while. The Biggest Loser certainly is doing well for NBC.
S. I couldn’t agree more. I’m reserving judgement because one highly rated premiere episode does not a hit make.
Johny it beat FF it got a 4.0
Awesome!! I liked the show and I’m glad it did well!
Beginners luck for V. Although its stupid for other sci-fi shows to premiere with lower ratings *coughFRINGEcough*.
Pilot was quite good… I was afraid that they are gonna spend 2~3 episodes to bring out the evil side of Visitors but they didn’t wast that much time …….. Now i don’t think it will get such high ratings for the next week but it should be ~4 for next week. Anyway it’s good for scripted shows overall to get such higher ratings compared to the crappy reality TV.
BTW Lost will still be my favorite. Nothing can beat that show. But if ABC can pair Lost with V, I’m quite sure tuesday will be a wiining night for them just like thursday is with Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice
Seems like mixture or people feeling underwelmed by it and people who enjoyed it which suggest to me there will be a drop but how big of one
Again, ABC knew it would be huge from nostalgia factor alone – that’s why they scheduled it for November, to maximize the initial ratings.
That said, we’ll see how this holds up over the next three weeks. ABC/WB just swapped out the exec producer, again, on the show before/if they start batch 5+, so there are even more signs that episode 2-4 blow. A situation to watch.
Good Wife continues to drop. I said I wasn’t optimistic for the show before the season started (skews too female/old), but at this rate CBS will cut the order and try something else starting in March/April.
I enjoyed the episode and hope the numbers don’t drop too far. I also wish ABC would reconsider their hiatus or at least if the show does well consider bringing it back earlier. Doesn’t seem to be a smart move on their part at all unless it tanks by the end of November.
“FlashForward” premiered to roughjly 12.5 million viewers, and has been hovering around 9m-9.5m sicne, right?
I am very happy with the numbers. I will continue to watch V next week!
I agree with Vet, I enjoyed the episode but it was just way too much happening in one hour. They should have kept us in the dark about the V’s real intentions for a few episodes and just drop some hints.
And the most rational guy on the show was the priest? lol really?
Holy crap…no idea that many people would tune in!!! Great! Loved it! I don’t want the hiatus at all..
I’d guessed about 9 million and a 2.7 demo so in the words of the immortal Sophia Petrillo, “Whoa. Misjudged that one!”
I do think that this was because of the massive marketing and it could fall pretty heavily next week but it’s drawn enough of a sample to still end up with respectable numbers as long as its quality isn’t declining each week.
And I hate to say I told you so (okay, I don’t) but to the morons at ABC: I told you to premiere this in the fall, not that snoozer FlashForward!
Is The Good Wife in danger?
I’m a novice at understanding ratings. NCIS had about 40% more viewers than V but V beat NCIS by .08 in the 18-49 age group. Is that common? Doesn’t even seem mathematically possible. Or I should say mathematically probable.
That demo is AMAZING. If it holds, ABC is onto a winner here.
Wow, that is huge for V! I was close lol
ABC shouldn’t hiatus besides obviusly next week drop it’s gonna be even worse
By the way FOX without baseball, huh?
Infidel, lots of old people watch NCIS. Apparently not a lot of them watched V.
I am still just happy that 90210’s total viewership is higher than Gossip Girl. Hopefully Amanda’s return will revitalize both the show itself and its ratings, I really liked it the first couple weeks; but its the same thing every week.
I’m not surprised by this at all.
I’ve been following this new “V” for a long time and what intrigued me about it was that the Executive Producer named Jace Hall seems to be the guy responsible for actually bringing the idea back and coming up with all the core re-imagined concepts, and that while Scott Peters did write the pilot, pretty much everything was based on the material that was supplied by this Exec Producer Jace.
They were discussing this on the Coast-to-Coast radio show just the other day.
For those of you who don’t know, Jace Hall is a big successful creative guy from the video game world. I looked him up on imdb and the games that he has made are actually some of my absolute favs and are friggin awesome.
So it doesn’t surprise me that the show did well in the 18-49 demo or that it is as interesting as it is, because everything that guy seems to get involved with is pretty damn good and aimed at the 18-49 demo anyway. See for yourself.
I don’t know why ABC doesn’t have him out there more talking to the public. He clearly gets it. Maybe he is a bad public speaker or something.
If V stays going strong I hope that more people from the video game industry get involved in television, its good to have something new and fresh brought to the screen.
-Misco
The only reason why Fox aired So You think you can dance in the fall was to rival Dancning with the stars, thinking they would get a better demo, Boy where they dumb. Hope V stays strong !
@Capitalist Infidel
NCIS is skewed old while V is skewed young. Together, it makes a huge disparity.
Wow, I think Abc will regret airing only 4 episodes before the 1-2 month hiatus… they will kill the momentum. Well, wow for the demos, that’s amazing, if it keeps up, maybe the miniseries will upgrade to a tv serie
And to think that NBC, which aired the original, could’ve had the show – if they were only smart enough to think about bringing it back themselves. But I guess they got too burned by their Knight Rider and Bionic Woman experiences. They just can’t win, no matter which way they turn.
that Demo is worth 400K to 500K per 30 Sec AD right?
Great numbers, but I think in the wednesday 20:00 slot it could have gotten >6 in the demo. Now let’s hope that it’s still above a 3 in episode 4 so ABC give us at least a full 13 episodes season. It would be a small miracle if V can get good numbers in march after the enormous break.
SWEET!!!!!!!!!!
Hoping the ratings stay the same.
It’s a shame that it will go on hiatus and be brought back in March as lamb for American Idols slaughter.
Finally a show that made NCIS bleed!
No only time will tell when it comes back in March when it’s up against American Idol.
Chris, if the estimates for HOUSE this year are any guideline, more like half of that.
With Modern Family and Cougartown holding up well on Wednesdays, I think ABC should pair up V and Lost on Tuesdays. Run V at 8 and Lost at 9 until DWTS returns in March. By then, V will have completed its run and DWTS can go on at 8pm. Lost holds its own against Idol with strong demos, so that shouldn’t change.
haha i predicted 9 million for V. *open mouth, insert foot*
Itll be interesting to see if it stays fairly consistent in the upcoming weeks.
Was it any good? V i mean i missed it
Lefties will play V down – the analogies to the obummer administration is enlightening – the truth comes out in fiction!
Trend or mirage?
Sci-fi on the networks…Fringe, Flash Forward, V.
I wonder how many of those 13.9 million knew they were watching a steaming pile of a show. V for Very bad show!
Melrose is now struggling to get past 1.5 million, let alone 2. Shame, it’s an enjoyable show. Heather is truely its last hope, but even then I don’t see it gaining and maintaining the 2 million mark. I think perhaps if it is able to increase its average to around 1.9 million by around spring it may have some hope. (It wouldn’t have had a chance last year, where Gossip was around 3 million).
V’s premiere was much better then I thought! But I’m guessing it will decrease to FlashForward levels by the time it comes back in March.
No wonder Jeff Fisher and The Titans are losing – their TIMING is waaaaaaaaay OFF!
I had to watch my dvr’d ‘Next Iron Chef’. V looks bad. And I’m too young to watch NCIS.
Just an FYI.
V only has 4 episodes in the can right now. They just hired a new showrunner yesterday Scott Rosenbaum, who is taking over for Scott Peters. They won’t resume production on episodes 5-13 until January. So, to answer your questions, the hiatus is 100% necessary.
Suggestion to ABC: How about a sci-fi night, start with “FastForward,” follow with “V” and then top the night off with “Lost.” DO NOT put “V” on hiatus, order more episodes!
Well that sucks (about the hiatus). Any mention as to why the other guy was canned?
Dear ABC – please re-air V this week’d – your ignorant affiliate in Middle Tennesses is…well…ignorant.
I would say that, if the ratings hold up again for the second episode, ABC will make the decision to get it back on the air ASAP. I believe I’ve read that they haven’t given a go to episodes 5+? If so, I’m sure as of this morning, they’ve given them a green light to get going on 5 thru 13. That could make it possibly January that they can get new episodes on the air, again if the ratings for next week don’t drop. Just like everyone else says: pair it up with LOST and promote the heck out of LOST as this being the “endgame” season. See if they can get those total viewers close to the double digit range.
I was shocked by the results. Looks like people are hungry for sci-fi.
I think ABC has been doing a great job lately of making sci fi shows that are watered down enough to succeed, but sci fi-ish enough for sci fi fans to be entertained.
Flash Forward and V are both examples of this. They’re both sci-fi at their core, but they’re not exactly Quark fighting a Borg while a Klingong punches the Millenium Falcon to Warp 10 in order to get to the planet before Colonel Jack O’Neil gets there via the Stargate.
(Although.. that would be an awesome show.)
the nashville affiliate is clueless. hope ABC has a talk with them.
Jeff,
As I just said, they have to put the show on hiatus. Only 4 episodes have been filmed. I’m assuming episode 5 was one ABC started to ask the producers/studio to do some re-working (which was mentioned in a few stories on the net)
thirdsaint:
Peters wasn’t canned. He’s still an EP on the show, but it’s typical for a studio to replace showrunners and hire someone more experienced to take over.
V was pretty good last night
I thought V was great, and much, MUCH better than FlashForward. Even if the numbers fall a bit in the coming weeks, this is still great news for ABC and fans of genre television. Now about that hiatus…
V was terrible. There were so many plot holes, unrealistic actions and dialogue. I’ll take NCIS any day. It was however, a different sort of show, albeit similar to Earth: Final Conflict, so I suppose it has that going for it.
X-R.G., the Nashville affiliate airs it after Kimmel. That’s its timeslot. But it’s a good idea to rerun it — tonight, in place of “Hank” and “The Middle.”
just WOW those #’s are great #’s for a tv show. never heard of V before reading these boards. i finally saw the ad last week while watching flash forward. i decided to tune in last night and was blown away. if V isnt returning on tuesdays i guess now i’ll only turn on my tv during the leno show
It was a very solid premiere last night. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was very slick. Even though it closely resembled the 80’s version storywise, I do like the smaller changes(Vs’ have been here for years in sleeper cells, govt. infiltration, etc.). I am actually excited to see if it maintains its quality from here on out.
I’m not sure why some people didn’t like the pilot. Have you ever seen the original? I was a kid back then and nothing scared me more than Diana eating that gerbil. This pilot stayed very true to the original, though with some updating.
One thing I’d like to see though — the original music. I used to have nightmares about it!
definitely should not have the Hiatus-
that will kill the shows momentum-
“And to think that NBC, which aired the original, could’ve had the show – if they were only smart enough to think about bringing it back themselves. But I guess they got too burned by their Knight Rider”
NBC has NO ONE to blame for Knight Rider than itself. KR could have been amazing revival IF they had stuck to what made the original excellent.
Instead they sold out to the highest bidder for, what was, basically one big product placement for Ford. That cost them Will Arnett’s appearance for a start, and resulted in a boring car that in no way captured the spirit of the original show.
Plus the actors were all utter crap.
samual the V remake is not a mini series it is intended as a four season show with each season being 13-22 episodes long
I like both NCIS & V but only in november(untill ABC/WB show new episodes in march) I will watch “V” and then in December back to NCIS
I like the show very much last night. To all you haters you must not like sci fi shows. Great numbers. It really was a good start moved a little to fast but still very good!!!!
V put more of a dent in the NCIS numbers than Idol ever did. That’s mighty impressive. Then again, NCIS is still holding aroun 0.5 higher in 18-49 than last season, so it probably could not keep walking on water forever.
whoa, leroy jethro gibbs got beaten.
Mark:
Science Fiction is such a hard genre to sell to audiences, especially mainstream. So, I’m not surprised to see some haters.
I knew it would be huge, but it even exceeded that. It was a fantastic show last night.
Awesome numbers.. WE are here for at least 3 earth TV seasons.
I bet the who people who hate “V” are just jealous. >)
Tried to put a evil face.
No surprise whatsoever. Huge name recognition and marketing. Let’s see where it is around episode 8.
“I wouldn’t get to excited with “V” being the highest rated series premiere. In 2007 Bionic Woman was also the new show with the highest demo in the premiere…”
Good point S. I forgot how well Bionic Woman premiered considering how fast it fell. Also, considering ABC promoted the hell out of the show, I’m not surprised it premiered huge. Everytime I turned on ABC their was a promo for it.
revised: I bet the people who hate “V” are just jealous.
Bump from first hour of V to second? People who watched NCIS and switched to V. That was my plan. Saw a lot of V in the clip ABC provided on the internet last week.
Here’s a thought. Instead of everyone getting totally competitive about one show or another why don’t we hope all the shows in the time slot do extremely well. I am sure that ABC would be happy to hold on to the 5 and CBS is happy to hold on to a 4.6 and with Idol approaching if Fox claims a big chunk of demo numbers, all networks will be happy. A huge chunk of the demo audience is out there for the taking so why not spread it around. TV is big enough for three hit shows at once.
And everyone would be making money.
Was Leno all lead in or was there a special guest people wanted to see?
Actually, I’d compare this to Heroes S1. That’s how good V’s premiere was!
“I wouldn’t get to excited with “V” being the highest rated series premiere. In 2007 Bionic Woman was also the new show with the highest demo in the premiere…”
This show is already a HELL of a lot better than the 2007 Bionic Woman. It has a superior cast and more talented people behind it. We’ll see where it goes from here but there’s a lot more riding behind this than the Bionic Woman remake.
I loved “V” yesterday and I am really happy with the numbers .
5 demo. Wow!!!
ABC did a great job promoting the show .
I think this proves a lot of people still enjoy a good Sci fi show, and not same of the same , as most of the premieres this season.
Will V rerun it’s Pilot?? I missed it
A lot better than Flashforward was anyways. I’m happy
Doc Michaels, the Bionic Woman was a disaster from the start. The original showrunner quit due to creative differences w/ the network and the show was way over budget. They had to borrow Jason Katims from Friday Night Lights to act as temp showrunner Episodes reportedly costed over $6m each and due to the creative problems they only managed to get 8 episodes filmed before the WGA strike killed it.
whisper
No re-airs, you will have to go to hulu or abc.com.
I understand that there are a few affiliates that aren’t airing “V”. Nashville for one. I suppose they have some religious reason or other such nonsense. ABC should revoke their affiliation.
I enjoyed the show, but I’d have dragged the alien terrorist angle out another episode. I didn’t trust them from the beginning, (the devil is always attractive) but a little week 1 cliffhanger would have been cool.
Must have exceeded ABC’s expectations!
WOW! Those are insane numbers for V. I’m glad though. I really enjoyed the pilot. ABC has really hit it out of the park this season. V, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and FlashForward are all great shows with very solid ratings.
Don J,
What do you call halting production after 4 episodes to fix the show, like what happened to V, then?
FINALLY!!! Something to watch on Tuesday!!!!!! YESSS!!
I hated having an opening in my weekday tune-ins!!
Impressive numbers. If they can keep a nice portion of those they got another hit on their hands.
How in the heck did Jay Leno manage to get an average of 2.0 on a Tuesday night!
Now that’s more Science Fiction than V
Im not a huge Sci-fi fan by any means but what I saw last night was a good good pilot episode. I just think many of the haters don’t like sc-fi in general.
Hey, congrats on this site being such a hit — 169 comments as of 1:53 p.m. EST compared with just 10 comments on ew.com’s “V” ratings post and 31 on zap2it. And I bet the demos here are killer also!
S,
True I understand what you mean. But, V was originally intended to be a midseason 2010 series. However, I assume ABC liked what they saw from the 4 episodes that were produced and decided to air them in November for Sweeps. You could look at this experiment as more of a “Sneak Preview” of the show.
From what I understand, ABC asked WB and the producers to tweak up the scripts for episodes 5-13 to make them easier to follow.
I definitely agree, Jeremy. They’d better do some quick thinking to avoid a huge hiatus like that which can and will destroy the good ratings.
There will probably be a big dropoff next week, but even a big dropoff’s numbers would still be great.
I’m a pretty big scifi (not syfy) fan, and I enjoyed V to some degree, but it had some moments of awful dialog and its fair share of stupid moments.
For instance, two seconds after–no, wait!–AS the V arrive, the US Army is creating a restricted zone that 30 seconds later is established where the FBI agent shows up; and a fight breaks out and she gets through–in an instant she goes from the crowd outside the zone to the … crowd inside the zone?! Wait, where exactly was the restricted zone? Maybe it was the perimeter itself. lol
It wasn’t great television, and the writing needs to improve, but I hope the drop off isn’t too large.
All I have to say is Heroes… V is the new Heroes. Strong start but will never last. That’s my prediction.
V… wow.
This might be something interesting to note, but on ABC’s website (http://abc.go.com/shows/v), they’re saying that they aren’t showing new episodes of V online until four days after the episode has aired. I’m taking the survey on the website right now. Could this mean they’re pushing people to actually watch it on TV?
anyone know (without sarcasm or snarky internet comments) where some of the hatred comes from? it got good reviews… very good ratings… yet i detect from those who didn’t like it an extra touch of hatred or seething and a wish for it to fail. did i miss something? and what’s with the obama paranoia?
i know people like or dislike things differently but the dislike just seems more angry. i saw the show. was well made i thought. rushed a bit. they would have been better off with a 2 hour preem.
Great Pilot! I actually started to care about the characters, already.
Set things up nicely, good twists and surprises! I really like the conflicted
character that Scott Wolf plays. So looking forward to more episodes.
( I guessed 10mil. glad it did better.)
What were the Lost premiere numbers?
V did very well but I dont know if it has the legs to go the distance. Most shows like this start out big only to crash and burn by the end of the season. I’m not into to sci fi so I wont be watching it. Still, I always like to see new shows start out with big ratings
V did very well but I dont know if it has the legs to go the distance. Most shows like this start out big only to crash and burn by the end of the season. I’m not into to sci fi so I wont be watching it. Still, I always like to see new shows start out with big ratings
Well, looks like ABC’s fervent attempts to find The Next Lost has worked, much more than 3.0-ish Flash Forward. Perhaps. Or it’ll be another Heroes situation…Dancing looks like fail next to V but they probably have very diff audiences (old women vs. young nerds/men).
Good Wife looks to be in trouble. NCIS still in 4 territory.
NBC won one hour.
ABC looks like it may be the most successful story this season in crafting new hits, followed by Fox.
I think the fan base for V is not just the people who love Sci-Fi … These pre/post apocalyptic like plots are getting more and more popular in movies as well.
They show that world is facing a huge epidemic, alien invasion or some other disasters. Lots of people die but rest of them survive, fight back and stand united against a common enemy. Maybe it gives people some kind of hope. If you look at Terminator it was pretty much like it. They were fighting machines instead of Aliens there. Flash Forward seem to have some resemblance here too. Something has happened to the entire human race in that show as well.
Its because the show is so blatantly anti-obama that they can’t stand it.
According to the Hollywood Reporter,
for the first season average, Lost got 16.0 million viewers & 18-49 5.8/16. So its two dozen episodes on average did noticeably better than the much-hyped series premiere of V. Well, V could go anywhere from here so we’ll see.
More than anything, I think V’s ratings highlight the fact that there is a large underserved audience on Tuesday nights who prefer scripted programs to reality shows.
I’m sure this lack of scripted competition factors into why NCIS is so highly rated. NCIS had this audience all to itself until now.
I was a little put off by a few elements of V. Specifically:
(i) the politics. At one point, Anna, queen of the lizard folk, promised “free universal health care” to people in exchange for their support of the reptilian kind. Come on.
(ii) some of the ham-handed scenes, such as: (a) the odd comment by the reporter where he asks, basically, if all the aliens are as “hot” as Anna; (b) the media bias scene on Lizard Force 1 (what I’m calling the alien mothership); and (c) the raid by the undercover lizard operatives on the underground meeting of the resistance movement. They use a super-high-tech flechette grenade to clear the room, and then rush in with knives???
Still–it’ll be interesting to see where the show goes.
13.9 million viewers. Those are similar to Heroes S1 pilot numbers!
J-
Lost started when ratings were higher accross the board.
every year as other mediums grow Broadcast sinks.
as well as DVR…
its very likely V had 2-4 million viewers on DVR
while Lost had less than 500K the 1st season
the are they all hot aliens line is related to the fact that they are all fake… therefore they didn’t make any ugly ones and the reporter is suspicious.
i don’t get this obama thing… how is the show anti obama or pro obama… mentioning health care is just a way to relate to what’s going on. it also mentioned useless/false wars we get into (something like that)… isn’t that anti republican?
Hmm that’s much more than i predicted. I didn’t think people would tune in for an alien show. LOL.
Outlander yeah the liberal writers always sneak their agenda in somewhere, don’t be surprised.
The original V, did a lot to compare the Aliens, to Nazi’s. I wonder if this show will go there. Recruiting and giving the youth a movement and a uniform, lol. All good looking people, and only good publicity.
g… so this show is liberal and conservative? impressive.
I really wanted to like V, but as others have pointed out, it moved way too fast. It felt as if they filmed a 4-hour miniseries and then decided to cram it all into 45 minutes, cutting everything but the beats. With so much already revealed, I worry they’ve shot their already shot their wad.
If V continues to hold up, it could get a full season. ABC should keep it on 8 and return in in January as opposed to March. Id make the schedule like this beginning Jan
Tuesdays Jan
8:00 V
9:00 Scrubs
9:30 Better Off Ted
10:00 NEW DRAMA
Wednesdays Jan
8:00 Comedy Repeats
8:30 The Middle
9:00 Modern Family
9:30 Cougar Town
10:00 NEW DRAMA
Tuesdays Feb
8:00 V
9:00 Lost
10:00 NEW DRAMA
Wednesdays Feb
8:00 Scrubs
8:30 Better Off Ted
9:00 Modern Family
9:30 Cougar Town
10:00 NEW DRAMA
I wish ABC would keep The Forgotten and Eastwick in their current slots just until episodes run out in Jan so they could then premiere new dramas, but they wont.
awesome for v still havent watched it as im busy with uni but will soon
Dan,
ABC can’t bring V back in January. They only have 4 episodes in the can. Episode 5 doesn’t begin production until January.
I liked it. Yes, it did have ham handed scenes. But I mean, few shows today don’t have totally cringeworthy elements. What I did like was, it was pretty fast paced, it had interesting characters that I could get behind, I liked (for the most part) the syncing in with current events/conspiracy theories, and Anna was really hot. I really just watched the show to see her, but now I’m interested.
To stay on topic with ratings than actual reviews of V, I think it will stabilize at around 10M viewers and average around a 3.5 to 4.0 in the 18-49 demo.
If the 4 month hiatus doesn’t entirely kill it, I think it could stay in he 9-10M range. But, I think it would serve ABC’s best interest to re-air episode 1-4 before the Spring premiere.
“V” pulled me in from seeing it as a kid in the 80’s. I thought it moved fast, but I think it had too. It only had an hour and I would have been really disappointed not to have the aliens revealed as reptiles at some point in the premier. Two hour premier may have been a better idea story wise. I really liked Morena and Alan as bad guys as they pull off creepy well.(Its a compliment really)I did not know Alan Tudyk was on the show and it had me right there, hope he is a regular. I find myself trying to look less delicious, now that V is back. I could be a main course now as I was only a side dish back in the 80’s.
V did very well but NCIS and to an extent 90210 were only slightly dented by it, I expect that judging from the mixed reaction, it will fall next week and NCIS will regain viewers.
V’s other problem isn’t just the hiatus but American Idol. Melrose Place is dead and I doubt Heather Locklear can save it, I think The CW should admit defeat and start promoting Life UneXpected for March.
One thing I do wonder, isn’t it a possibility that with the hiatus they could go into having another ‘premiere’ type event when it comes back by promotion? It could serve as a way to get another huge ratings boost whether the quality dips and they say it’s new and improved or they find some way to generate interest.
When I said 3.3 and 10 million, what a REALLY meant was 5.0 and 13.7 million lol
Never in a million years would have expected this to premiere so huge. Dethrones NCIS: LA as the biggest new show this season (for now anyway). And rightfully so. It’s a show that, while rushed and crammed, has plenty of potential there and I’ll enjoy following it.
ABC must be thrilled, their stunt programming paid off huge. Sure, there will be dropoff over the next three weeks, but with such a huge starting point there’s tons of room to fall before being in any danger.
In other news, Jay Leno was significantly up, edging out the forgotten again. It’s been some time since he hit 2.0 (thought that will probably go down to a 1.9 in finals I’m guessing). Having the Biggest Loser castoff as a guest was a smart move to get viewers to stay, especially with weak competition from CBS and ABC.
I’m glad that so many people watched V last night and I hope that enough people like it to keep its ratings competitive for the next 3 episodes. The show will need the support to survive its hiatus.
WABC made “The Forgotten” pretty much impossible to watch last night. They cut into it, like, 5 times. Including the beginning, over Susan Ruttan’s scene, and then… well after you’ve cut into something that much, why bother to show the ending, right?
We need to put that on a Bingo card. Too many breaking news cut-ins.
Let’s hope that ABC keeps The Forgotten, it doesn’t look too bad, it’s at least something different to the other repetitive CBS crime dramas. but for V, awesome numbers, but then again it is the series premiere, and probably hte most hyped about premiere this season. I wonder how ti will go against Idol AND NCIS come January. It could really shake up Tuesday nights!
I hope those V numbers stay high, would love to see this series play out.
I liked the premiere. I Think it was a little rushed but otherwise good. I prefer Fringe and Flashforward thats less about V and more about my type of sci-fi preferences in general. I prefer shows that keep the mystery going a little longer.
All those people comparing the show to the current administration are grasping at straws. If you take one line in a show and try and twist it to fight some right wing agenda you need get out more. Every alien show has the aliens promising to cure all illnesses. Its standard Sci-fi so get over yourselves.
Didn’t know that the PREMEIRE ran at Midnight UNTIL after it ran at Midnight in nashville…so ABC – please re-air the Premiere of “V” soon….
(called the Affiliate and their only allowed to run it once …
(yea but it looks like ANYTIME they feel like it…)
Dear Local Affiliate…Put Jeff Fisher on at MIDNIGHT !!!!!!
and…
Dear Jeff – spend more time worrying about your Titans and more practice and less time in your own prime time localized show!!! Maybe you’ll win more!
V is the next Battlestar Galactica!
Tar, Oh, thanks, didn’t know that! Great news if it works then
If you liked Claire on Heroes, I’m sure those same people will eat up Tyler on V. Every drama show now has to have a teenage brat take lead. I think that annoying character Kim on 24 started this trend.
Hmm, it took me a second, but the two highest-rated original shows in 18-49 remain the same and those are the two which are the critics’ two favorite new shows of the season – Glee & Modern Family.
Since Cleveland=Black Family Guy, NCIS2=NCIS2, and V=V (2009 Remix).
That V show the acting was horrible.
Wow, I knew V would do well, I didn’t expect it to do this well! If next weeks numbers are anything like this weeks I’m willing to bet ABC orders the back 9.
Are people really that paranoid that they think V is part of the vast right wing conspiracy ?
I seem to recall that the original V in the 80s premiered to HUGE ratings as a mini-series, but once it transitioned to a weekly series, it lost viewers pretty quickly, week to week, until it was not a very strong show. Can anyone provide the ratings arc for the original series?
I lost interest in V at about the midway point and tuned to NCIS. V was mostly stlye with little substance and I won’t be watching it again. I predict a drastic fall-off in coming weeks.
Obamalizards for the win!
I gussed V would have 13.85 million viewers. I was very close! I loved V and is one of my new favorite shows of this season. The gain at the half hour is a good sign, so the drop shouldnt be too big next week.
I’m also glad to see 90210 still holding up well while Gossip Girl dips below 2 million for the second week this season.
Don J – I forgot about that. The reason it was pushed is because only 4 eps were produced. Well lets hope that V stays strong when it returns.
I just watched it from my DVR and it looks like ABC has a winner.
If viewers stick with the series and when it returns, Id consider it a winner.
Wow, that’s incredible for V. I might just check it out now, although I’m a little wary after wasting time on the nonsensical garbage that is Flashforward.
I thought Flashforward would do better for its premiere but I guess Thursdays at 8 is more competitive overall. V did great and hopefully it sticks.
Wow, fantastic start. It has heavily promoted, ads, commercials everywhere. it felt like a movie premiere.
But it was only average and i wonder how many people will turn away. For people that watched it and are not going to watch next, You better not complain about lack of tv options. Only the generic police procedural and reality.
It was that good, but i can always watch NCIS anytime, being a procedural, what am i going to miss by skipping a few episodes?
V may get crushed in March airing against Idol and NCIS.
If the next 3 episodes hold up well I can see ABC moving V to a 9PM slot when it returns to anchor the night. Dancing Results at 8, V at 9, and Lost at 10.
Given the hype it’s had, I expected the numbers would be high.
I see this as a T:SCC like show – initially high ratings for the pilot, but with a huge drop afterwards. There are just too many things wrong with the concept, from the “re-invent ultra-cheesy 1980s show” (which always goes wrong, even when it’s actually done well. I thought the attempt to revive Dr Who in the 1990s was superb but they offended swathes of fans of the series, for example. Admittedly, the original Dr Who was good, but… And then there’s Bionic Woman, do I need say more?), to the obnoxious “Let’s make it appeal to those who agree with Glenn Beck” angle.
I’d be surprised if next week’s ratings are anywhere close to this week’s, and be unsurprised if the hiatus virtually kills the show.
ABC could have won the night in the demo if not for the low ratings of forgotten or if DWTS performed a little better
hey. my prediction was right. v went to 14 mill. kool
Wow, that’s pretty darn impressive, my highest guess was a 4.1 and I was on the high end of the guessing train.
Of course, next week is what matters, but still this is a good sign.
“V” didn’t air in Green Bay either.
WBAY plans to air it Saturday: “The premiere of “V” airs at approximately 11:05 P.M., following Action 2 News at 10:30. Please allow extra time for recording in case ABC College Football runs long. “V” will air in its regular Tuesday timeslot at 7 P.M. on WBAY-TV for the rest of November. “Tuesday Night Touchback” will be a half-hour and start earlier at 6:30 P.M.”
Repost:
From Travis Yanan
V series premiere quarter hour breakdown
8:00-8:15
- 13.974 million viewers
- 8.7/13 HH
- 4.9/14 A18-49
8:15-8:30
- 14.149 million viewers
- 8.6/13 HH
- 5.2/14 A18-49
8:30-8:45
- 14.079 million viewers
- 8.5/13 HH
- 5.2/14 A18-49
8:45-9:00
- 15.000 million viewers
- 9.1/13 HH
- 5.5/14 A18-49
I said 14.2 atleast i was close
WOW!!! Huge start! So much for those who said the premier would sink this series. V really took off, but it was really creepy.
Way to go V! Looks like ABC has a hit on their hands!
hopefully V stays steady next week.
I think V will be steady, I hope it doesnt decline but if anything the hiatus worries me.
I told you guys! I predicted 12 million viewers but I Knew its going to be higher.
Robert (TVBythenUmbers) underestimated V saying its only going to get 8 millions….
My guess is next episode will get 13.5 million!
It was a lot packed into 1 hour, but I’ll keep watching–not saying it was bad at all.
Question for Bill:
Since your the “numbers” man…please explain to me the reasons for sponsors being so interested in SD or SD+7 adult 18-49 figures.
I don’t understand the value (to a sponsor) of a Live +SD or a
Live +SD +7 adult 18-49 rating.
To me SD or SD +7 viewing means that the viewer most likely skipped through all the commercials.
Since the sponsor is ONLY interested in the number of viewers for his commercial…not the actual program…to me the only figure of any valie is the number of “live” viewers.
So it would appear to me that a program that has a much larger percentage of live viewers would be much more valuable to a sponsor than a program that has a much has a larger number of total viewers..after the SD or SD +7 numbers are factored into the final total.
For a sponsor…the more “DVR proof” a program is…the more chance that the viewer actually watched one of your commercials.
That shoud be worth something !
V increased overall. I still think that the second episode will decline but only slightly.
Jeff, the sponsors aren’t interested in any of those numbers really. They are interested in the C3 ratings which are average commercial viewing (rather than program viewing) live and up to 3 days after. Are understanding is the difference between Live commercial viewing and the three days typically amounts to an increase of 10% or less.
Unfortunately those C3 numbers are not made freely available but the Live+SD numbers generally serve as a good proxy for how a show is doing.
To those who said it sucked, I wonder why you think so. I thought it was great! I’m really looking forward to next week. I’m really surprised at how much they advanced the plot. I figured it’d be several episodes (perhaps the whole season) before anyone figured out why they were here.
I swear I a saw a Buy More during the first episode. . .
After the hiatus is over they need to reair the first 4 episodes. Ideally in a couple of 2 hour block Sunday and Monday night 8-10. Probably wont happen that way, but it would help bring people back up to speed and update any new viewers.
a good sign for V is that it did increase in audience from 8:30-9:00 so maybe it will have legs. Most shows that start out big like this usually burn out by the end of the season(battlestar gallatica the 70’s version for example) and of course the original v series didnt do well. Time will tell I guess
They really should change the cancel index to the can you beat leno index.
The Dark Angel/ Batman/ film noir feel Makes it more MTV style! Not all modern stories have to be as bad as Transformers. There are some post-modern movies/ tv shows that are good. It can be done. This more modern version of V is good. It’s just that the look and feel is more post modern than the original was and some fans of the original don’t like that. In fact, this new V seems to be taking a page from Batman and Dark Angel in terms of visual style and the writing. For one, the changes make it more relatable to modern audiences than the original is. Audiences today expect darker look and feel to their shows than they did back in the 1970s. It’s also very unrealistic to expect the new V to be written the same way. You have to factor in that we now live in the MTV generation. So, the writing style of the original V just wouldn’t fly with modern audiences. By the way, I loved the original and rewatched it again on Syfy!
I personally liked the V premiere. It was hammy and rushed but it had to be (tho 2 hrs would have been better). After that hour, there was a certain breathlessness that left me wanting more, though unsure what more there was to show since they’ve covered most of the basic V mythology in one episode. It is a gamble but one I think they had to make – we all know they are gerbil munching lizards!! Get on with it. I hope it sticks around since I think it has the right balance of action, sci-fi and mythology. It is the action that drives successful rather than critically successful shows – see Lost/Heroes (early) for object lessons. Even BSG vs Stargate/Atlantis – BSG was a vastly better piece of ‘art’ but got pwnd almost every week in the numbers. Also unlike shows that started strong but struggle to spin out the mythology in acceptable amounts (I’m looking at you Fringe), the monster of the week in V will always be a green alien lizard in a flesh suit! Keep it Simple, Stupid (ABC Exec).
Eric (Ohio) – I would pay bucks to see that show!! My notes would be to include a cylon or 2 (a chrome toaster (2003 style) and at least a 6 or an 8 skinjob, and maybe have Galactica swoop in to save the M Falcon from the Goa’uld/Borg alliance!!
Get back to me on budgets – licencing should be a snap?
I’m surprised that so many people were interested in ‘V’. I heard that it also drew interest the first time around, but then fell when the premise didn’t hold up. Thing is…did viewers watch because of word of mouth? The title ‘V’ doesn’t say much about the show. We were pre-empted here in Nashville for a Titans show that runs on Tuesday nights, and I didn’t find the rebroadcast, so I have no idea what it’s about. Looks like the family viewers that would have tuned in for Biggest Loser may have been dismayed with Abby’s unexpected departure last week,and being Voting Day, most likely weren’t in the mood for a trip to D.C. and scenes of BL meetings with legislaters, but they’ll be back next week. ‘V’ probably caught some wandering curiosity seekers.
Ohiogirl, you never watched the V miniseries that aired in the 1980s?
The 1st half hour was cool but I fear that they revealed the alien plot twist too soon and I fear it will reduce itself down to simply a cop show unless it can come with some unique plot twists, otherwise, just gimme more Flash Forward and Southland
Wow 257 comments.
How long until the Political Correctness Police turn up and make ABC erase all similarities to the Obama administration? Surely, they will make the Reptiles into Republicans as quickly as possible
The New Heroes
While I had no doubt V would be good. It has a TSCC feeling to it. I think it’ll have good upfront numbers but over time will fade dramatically over the course of 1 to 2 seasons. It’s a show more suited for the SyFy channel then ABC.
I disagree, Brian. Anyway, here are 5 clips from episode 2!
http://www.visitorsite.net/ep2clips.htm
I didn’t think it was that good. It didn’t portray people’s reactions to the sudden alien visitation in a realistic fashion, in my opinion. People acted about like they would at the news that a carload of Mexicans just sped across the border. Well, actually, they probably didn’t even act that concerned. It was silly.
Patrickkelly, there was a huge scene of people running from the ship.
Like patrickkelley, I hate beaners, too.
Yeah, people were afraid for maybe three or four seconds, and by the time the next commercial break was over, it was all good. What reason did the Vatican have for issuing a statement urging earthlings to accept the visitors, that they were also God’s creatures? It was pointless. By the time the show was half over almost everybody on earth was swooning over them. You’ll never pretty up this turd. Stick a piece of cat shit in a box of chocolate ice cream, you don’t have something exotic and exciting, you have something that tastes like shit. The characters were awful, your standard cardboard cutout cliches, and the dialogue was hackneyed and obvious as well. I could throw a bunch of Scrabble letters around and end up with better dialogue than was written for this shitty show.
Oh, patrickkelley, people fawned over Hitler too. People also fawned over Bush and Obama as well. Besides, there was a huge scene with the priest and some protesters in slow motion.
Give me example of some bad dialogue and tell me how you would have written it better. Now
that I think about it, there was a huge scene in Independence Day, whereby a bunch of Hollywood types fawn over the ships even though they’re warned against doing it.
You can’t compare this to Hitler. People in Nazi Germany were manipulated by Hitler, due to the concerns they had about issues they had to deal with at the time, but Hitler was not only a very charismatic leader who knew how to take advantage of people’s fears and insecurities, he was basically one of them. He didn’t come down from some alien planet one day and start mouthing off.
An entire world of people are just not going to be that accepting of a group of alien visitors in gigantic interplanetary spacecraft. Sure, there were a relatively small number of protesters and characters who distrusted the visitors, but not nearly enough. It just wasn’t a realistic human reaction. If they had spent two or three episodes where people were acclimating themselves to the prospect, then it might have worked, but this was just bullshit.
As for giving you an example of the dialogue, that’s just the problem, there wasn’t anything memorable enough to remember. It was just standard cliche’ riddled claptrap.
There was one good line in the whole episode. When the old Priest echoed the Vatican’s position that the Visitor’s were also God’s creations, the younger Priest replied, “rattlesnakes are God’s creations too.” But that line got drowned out in a flood of pretentious dialogue that was so mediocre, I had actually forgotten about it until I real about it someplace. The dialogue was actually so awful I am not entirely convinced it was ever uttered on this crappy show. I’m starting to think somebody just said that to make the show sound better than what it was.
Like patrickkelley, I think Hitler was a great man, too.