V: Great Debut Ratings But Will They Last? Cancel or Keep It?

The “visitors” are back — with a vengeance. ABC’s remake of V, the NBC mini-series and show of the same name, kicked off (and kicked butt) last night. The numbers look really good but, most importantly, will they last.

The current incarnation of V begins as spaceships appear in the skies over 29 international cities and a benevolent leader, Anna (Morena Baccarin), tells the people of Earth that they come in peace. Several humans doubt the aliens’ sincerity and FBI agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) learns that the aliens have been among us for years, infiltrating governments and businesses. The series also stars Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, and Scott Wolf.

The new V pilot has gotten some mixed reviews but any negativity didn’t seem to discourage TV viewers from giving the show a try. Last night, the premiere scored the highest premiere ratings of the 2009-10 season. V averaged 14.3 million viewers and managed a 5.2/14 rating/share, beating out NCIS in the demo.

But, will it last?

As you may have heard, there’s been quite a bit of backstage upheaval. Series production was put on hold after four episodes so that producers could work on improving the scripts and realign them with the pilot. Not a good sign.

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ABC later announced that the first season would be split into two parts. Four episodes will air in November and the rest will start airing after the Olympics in March 2010. The network claimed that this was being done to promote the series as more of an “event.”

Yesterday, it was reported that Scott Peters had been replaced by Scott Rosenbaum as showrunner on the series. Writer/executive producer Jeffrey Bell, who’d originally been brought in to be the post-pilot showrunner, is expected to leave the show altogether.

Based on last night’s ratings, viewers seemed to like what they saw and stuck with it since viewership grew as the hour progressed. Based on that, the audience looks ready for more but it remains to be seen if the show will be able to meet their expectations.

What do you think? Do you like this new version? Will you tune in next week? Is ABC’s strategy of breaking up the season a good idea or will it kill any ratings momentum (ala Heroes, season one)? Cancel or keep it?