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V? Y, O, Y?

Actually, I have no idea if the planned remake of V, the great paranoia miniseries of the ’80s, will be good or bad. (Remaking a cult sci-fi TV show without the involvement of the creator has given us some bad stuff, but it’s also given us Battlestar Galactica.) I just wanted to use that subject heading before someone else did.

Creator/writer Kenneth Johnson, who is not involved with the remake, did the miniseries as an allegory about Nazi Germany and fascism, but for many viewers it was also inseparable from the Cold War, and it had some of the same appeal as Red Dawn a year later — a story of America being invaded — in a less jingoistic, more cerebral way. You can see how the concept would be appealing for potential remakers; like Galactica, you can use the premise to make almost any political point you want.

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