Introduction
The Visitors are the aliens featured in the science fiction phenomenon known as V. This site is dedicated to the Visitors in specific and to V in general.
The Miniseries
The Visitors first appeared in May 1983 in the four-hour miniseries V (read the episode guide synopsis) made by Warner Brothers Television and aired on NBC. Kenneth Johnson was the talent behind V as its creator, writer, director, and executive producer. The show was such a ratings smash that the network ordered a sequel. NBC actually had wanted a weekly series next, but Warner Brothers could not find a way to make it work for the money.
A year later, the second miniseries was V: The Final Battle. Johnson supervised the writing of the script for the sequel, but he left the project shortly thereafter. Daniel Blatt and Robert Singer were brought in as co-executive producers. The six-hour mini-series aired in May 1984, and it was another ratings triumph for NBC. The network asked for a weekly series again (supposedly "just a couple of hours" after The Final Battle aired), and this time Warner Brothers was eager to oblige.
The Series
For the V weekly series, Blatt and Singer stayed on as producers in charge. At the time, it was the most expensive weekly television show at more than $1 million per episode. The series aired Friday nights on NBC and premiered on October 26, 1984. The series lasted only one season and was then cancelled due to a drop in ratings and a lack of viewers. The finale episode aired on March 22, 1985. After that finale episode (which was a cliff-hanger never to be resolved), V: The Series went into reruns on NBC for a short time, with the last rerun shown on July 5, 1985.
The New V
Remake? Reimagination? Reboot? Whatever you call it, a new V is headed to television. Airing on ABC, the new V series will retell the arrival of the Visitors and the truth behind their mission. The series is helmed by executive producer/writer Scott Peters and executive producers Steve Pearlman and Jace Hall. Kenneth Johnson is not involved in this ABC series.
In Print
After the cancellation of the original series, V continued to live on for a short time in paperback novels published by Pinnacle and Tor, and in comic books published by DC Comics. At one time, Joe Straczynski (of Babylon 5 fame) proposed a script for a third final miniseries, but it was rejected by Warner Brothers. Straczynski had reportedly considered developing his script into a novel, but it never happened.
In 2008, Tor published Kenneth Johnson’s long-awaited sequel, V: The Second Generation. The novel takes place 20 years after the original V story, and ignores the characters and events in V: The Final Battle and the weekly series. Tor also published an updated version of A.C. Crispin’s novelization of the original miniseries with some portions added/rewritten by Kenneth Johnson. (The updated edition does not include any of the story from The Final Battle.)
The Future
Kenneth Johnson is reportedly trying to bring V back to the big screen — either as a remake of the original miniseries or as a film version of The Second Generation. While not yet a done deal, it does have interesting potential... Stay tuned!