20 years later…

they’re baaaaack. sort of. okay, so they’re in development. and there are no signs that we’ll be seeing the return of marc singer (yeah, the beastmaster) and robert englund (yeah, the guy that played freddy). but when all of the networks seem bound and determined to give me nothing but new reality shows and reproductions of CSI, i have to admire this attempt to revitalize one of the best television series of the mid-80s.

still haven’t figured it out? v, the then-amazing alien-invasion mini-series is doing a come-back in the form of a new three-hour movie. if you saw it back in the day, you remember it fondly and remember how freakin’ cool it was and how it jived perfectly with the pre-1984 jitters in the air. you remember how the aliens hid behind big aviator sunglasses and you couldn’t tell what was more frightening: the fact that their human skin would peel away to show the scaly alien beneath… or how the iconography and militarism was incredibly creepy in that just-like-nazi-germany kind of way.

but do yourself a favor. don’t seek it out on video and avoid the reruns. this is another of those childhood memories that we would be better to leave intact, coloured by imagination and faded by time. the effects really weren’t that good, the makeup was rather low-end… and really… you don’t want to see marc singer trying to emote again, do you?

  • JO

    Now there was a long mini-series. Zip and I were thinking of long ass mini-series the other day. “The Stand,” “The Thorn Birds,” The one we suffered through recently “THEY”…I had forgotten about V and North and South. Truthfully this is why I love “Nightmare on Elmstreet” so much. When you know Robert England from V and then know he’s the same person under that burnt mask.. It makes for grand silliness..To me anyhyow. Ask me if I CAN NOT wait for Freddy vs. Jason. AND I SAY HELL YEAH WHEN DOES IT OPEN. Only because I think they are headed back to Crystal Lake…and the promo of Freddy screaming “Why won’t you die..” Just seems like a good movie for a rainy Saturday.

  • b

    god I love V. I love it because it had such a taboo in my weird religion addled life. We were sent to another room while the grown ups sat enthralled. My friends and I would silently carve “V” in every muddy surface we could find.

  • Janetta

    I remember having this absurd crush on Duncan Regeher from the TV series, oddly enough. Though he was a better Errol Flynn than the commander he played. Wow, that’s a blast from the past. I think I’ll heed your advice, Thomas. I had friends in CA who were very excited about the Dukes of Hazzard reunion show. Upon watching the syndicated version of the show rerun prior to the reunion show broadcast, all they could say was, “The show didn’t seem this, uh, country, when we were watching the show in Kansas as kids.” After a week of reruns, they didn’t even have the heart to watch the reunion show. I’m willing to let the show be a pleasant memory from my past. There’s nothing wrong with not knowing then what you know now.