Though the television networks don’t seem to notice, remakes of old series rarely meet with much success. While shows like Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, and Melrose Place bring name recognition, they rarely live up to expectations. Still, ABC moved ahead with their plans to revive V. Though it was initially successful, will it ultimately meet the same fate?
Like the original, the new V revolves around the arrival of aliens to the planet Earth. While the visitors profess that they’ve come in peace, their ulterior motives slowly become clear. The cast includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Morena Baccarin, Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, and Scott Wolf.
The new V started out strong with a 5.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 14.3 million total viewers. That was the highest rated debut of the 2009-10 season.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of those viewers didn’t return for the second week. Episode two brought in a 3.8 rating and 10.7 million.
Week three dropped yet again, to a 3.1 in the demo and 9.26 million viewers. Last week, the numbers evened off and episode four attracted a third place 3.1 rating for 18-49 viewers and a total viewership of 9.2 million. While those numbers are pretty good on their own, they do represent a 40% drop in the demo when compared to the premiere.
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If the ratings held steady, the series would likely be headed for a second season. Unfortunately, in part due to backstage problems, ABC has made the risky decision to split up the season into two parts. The first group of V episodes has finished airing and now, the series isn’t expected to return until after the Winter Olympics in March 2010.
If recent viewership trends have taught us anything, they’ve shown that long breaks can be disastrous for a serial drama’s ratings. People naturally become interested in other shows and any momentum is lost. What’s more, because storylines are ongoing and complicated, few new people feel inclined to start watching midseason.
Shows like Lost and Heroes saw significant drops in viewership when they took long midseason breaks. They both had very strong ratings and a lot of buzz going into their respective hiatuses. Fortunately, enough viewers returned to keep them on the air.
The new V doesn’t have nearly as much viewer buzz and can’t afford to lose many more viewers. If a high percentage of people don’t return to watch the second half of the season, V won’t survive and will be cancelled.
What do you think? Are you anxiously awaiting the show’s return? Will the hiatus kill the new V and cause its cancellation?
Image courtesy ABC.
maybe we need to cancel the executives
I can’t wait for it to come back on….It was an interesting series and has me waiting to see what it going to happen next…Thought it would be on January, 2010…But, I read it won’t be back on until March…That’s stinks….I hope they air it and not cancel the show. I remember the old version of this show and liked it back then…This remake is even better….The effects and story are more intense….So, PLEASE HURRY UP AND PUT IT BACK ON THE AIR….
For a remake, this show has been much more interesting and captivating than the original series. The improvement in special effects has helped alot, and and Elizabeth Mitchell is just as wonderful in this series as she was on “Lost”. I wish they had not divided the season, and hopefully it wont be cancelled.
The decision to split the season …making the fans wait months to see the show is plain dumb. People want to watch a show tthat is aired consisitly, or they move in. I liked it. But now I am looking for other shows to take its place.
I think they made too many mistakes with the show that seems to be the trend with these remake shows, they completely lack the heart and creativity of it’s previous version.. The new V could have been great if it was done correctly and it wasn’t so now they are doomed just like Knight Rider.
this is a *****. i find a show that’s kinda cool and almost worth watching and the powers that be do everything in their powers to foul it up. way to go major networks. it was an ok show, my dvr is still set to record when V returns….if V returns
I’m looking forward to “V” returning. I think it is much better than the original “V” taped in the early 80’s.
i didn’t get a chance to watch due to scheduling conflicts, but my brother in law was addicted & swore i had to dvr it to catch up – (we are both total sci-fi geeks!) – i set up the dvr just in time to watch the last episode & from what i’ve seen, i think this show has some serious potential! i wish networks would at least give shows a chance before yanking them right away!
mid-season splitt a very bad Idea!!!!!
Yes, I am anxiously awaiting the return of V, and sorry they had this long midterm break. Bad move! The show moved quickly (unlike the impossibly tedious Lost) right into the reptilian alien aspects, set up multiple, competing loyalties right away, and has that lovely, baddd lead V villainous ambassador played so excellently by Star Gate actress Morena Baccarin! She could sell ice to Eskimo parents while selling their children. Perfect for the role! This is an excellent new series and deserves a several season run!! Thanks ABC. This used to be Sci-Fi Channel work.
I’m the one who is anxiously waiting for the new “V” series. In my opinion it have a great potential both by storyline and actor’s play. This show has everything to be ok – charismatic characters, great conspiracies, super hitech technologies, naturally looking actor’s play. So work have to be continued. Though splitting series in two was not good idea.
Clearly, bringing this particular series back was a mistake. Can’t we leave the 80’s where they belong, in the past? Oh, wait….
ABC show be putting these sitcoms and dramas on cable. They’ve killed the network and show leave it to reality programs, sports and talk shows.
They should of promoted Eastwick more. Didn’t you hear the viewers that if they cancelled Eastwick then the other shows would follow. ABC you did this to yourself by not listening to what the public wanted.
I agree this would be great show if ABC would keep series running consectively. There is really good Cast supporting actors/actress in show….run 3season or make it mini series before cancelling it. quit interupting TV Series with with Sports and Reality Shows they should have there own channel for people who like that stuff