The ratings are in and ABC's V was the highest rated series premier this season with a rating of 5.0, a 13 share which equals 13.9 million viewers. Of course this doesn't mean that many actually liked it and since we were pretty split here at Engadget HD, we wanted to know what you thought of this new Si-Fi show.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JD @ Nov 4th 2009 5:52PM
Where's a; yes I watched it and liked it, but wasn't balls out excited about it. Seeing how's there's only 5 episodes, I'm not getting excited for it because ABC will just cancel it.
neterizon @ Nov 4th 2009 6:01PM
There are 13 ordered episodes. They're airing for this month and then pause until March because of the holidays and the Winter Olympic.
I saw the original on SyFy for the first time last weekend. The original mini-series is slightly better than this remake. However this remake is much better than V: The Final Battle.
zargon @ Nov 4th 2009 6:43PM
"There are 13 ordered episodes. They're airing for this month and then pause until March because of the holidays and the Winter Olympic."
So that means it will be canceled because everyone will forget about it. Haven't these stupid execs learn, just run the show straight through to keep your audience captivated.
cWj @ Nov 5th 2009 4:09PM
which is why they'll remind you, probably with a run of the original five eps, before the "new season" of the next 5 air.
Wes @ Nov 5th 2009 5:22PM
Yes, since they'll be re-running these 5 epsidoes before the new epsidoes in March, there's no real reason you need to watch them week by week right now as you'll probalby see them all day-after-day more than likely in March. Or not at all if the series is cancelled since the hype will be dead and since we have no reason to watch it now, ratings may become poor if people realize the series will only be partially-done/completed.
kcmurphy88 @ Nov 4th 2009 6:13PM
I hear that some folks are avoiding it because of some "anti-Obama" hype. That's just hype and spin from people who put politics in everything. Ignore it.
If it is anti anything, it's anti-reptilian-alien-scum. Die. Die. Die.
WiFiSpy @ Nov 4th 2009 6:16PM
FlashForward is much better!
Jordan @ Nov 4th 2009 8:12PM
FlashForward is a terrible terrible show. I've tried, I watched the first 3 episodes, and then the next episode I found myself reading a book while it was still playing on my tv.
If they want to keep FlashForward a long running show, they're moving too quickly. They also make the viewer feel way too dumb. How many times do they need to shove the same thing in your face. Not to mention, terrible acting.
Miguelitosd @ Nov 4th 2009 9:08PM
I thought the political spin was equal if anything... sure it seemed to be somewhat barely anti-obama with the whole "devotion" angle (and the scene about the questions where the main reporter jumped in). However, they'd already talked like all the current major problems in the world ("unecessary wars, economic problems" etc) were due to the visitor's influence.
Figure they're taking a page from Mel Brooks: Offend everyone, that way no one can claim to have been singled out. :)
Bruce @ Nov 4th 2009 11:52PM
It was clearly mocking Obama worshippers and the Obama loving media...why do you think the showrunner was changed, ABC couldn't stomach the idea of challenging Dear Leader. Aside from that I thought it was very well done...although a little rushed in the pilot.
j0510 @ Nov 4th 2009 6:15PM
It didn't even get a 2 hour premiere. How good can it be?
Bruce @ Nov 4th 2009 11:53PM
It was originally two hours but they were forced to tone down the anti-Obama slant which resulted in a 1 hour premiere.
Punchdrunkbrian @ Nov 4th 2009 6:21PM
I thought it was entertaining, but I wasn't wowed by it. Honestly, though, I don't think it'll last very long. It strikes me as something people will lose interest in. Then again, Fringe is still on the air, so I suppose anything is possible.
miko34 @ Nov 4th 2009 8:21PM
Fringe has gotten steadily better from last year.
Just think about the first season of The X-Files and how it wasn't as good as the season or two later.
The problem with Hollywood is that they cancel series way too quickly.
Pushing Daisies was great from the beginning, but yet many people haven't heard of it.
So, they canceled it instead of letting it grow.
leanbarton @ Nov 27th 2009 8:37PM
@Punchdrunkbrian
You should revisit Fringe. I quit watching it mid-season 1, but recently got caught up and it's pretty awesome now. Finally there's underlying mythology to it.
Michael @ Nov 4th 2009 6:38PM
As long as I don't have to listen to endless political chatter (either from the Glenn Beck whackos or President Obama's ultra-sensitive minions), I might be on board for a few more episodes.
At this point, I'm curious, but I'm a long way from hooked... which is about where I'm at with "Flash-Forward." It was an entertaining pilot, but it definitely had its silly moments. You know... We V's just discovered you earthlings existed a few minutes ago, but we already know all your languages! Lots of other silly little things like that, but I'll play along -- I imagine it's the type of stuff that the characters are eventually going to start to question.
I will say for certain that if I start to get the feeling that they're deliberately injecting politics into the show just to stir controversy and build ratings (which frankly, is brilliant marketing), I won't watch another episode. Now I understand that given what the show is about, there are going to be some that will want to over-analyze and talk about the "hidden agenda," but half the appeal of Sci-Fi is escaping this crappola. If it becomes an overt attempt to drive this type of discussion, I'm done. Who really wants to get dragged into a political debate every time they talk about last night's episode? See the V comments section over at Hulu for a taste of what's to come.
zorkwiz @ Nov 4th 2009 7:30PM
Too bad there wasn't an option for "Hated it: Over acted, over written, badly paced garbage"
I should never have listened to the hype. Almost every performance made me cringe, and despite anyone's political leanings, the "universal health care" line was insulting and stuck out like a sore thumb, which was quite a feat considering the poor dialog throughout,
Ian @ Nov 4th 2009 7:41PM
What this guy said. Acting was terrible TERRIBLE. The only person semi-tolerable was the woman from Lost. Pirate Steve sucked, the kids were HORRENDOUS.
nick @ Nov 4th 2009 7:33PM
I've seen the original mini series, the second mini series, and the original TV series, and I thought this one was much better than all of them. Granted the miniseries ran for a couple of hours over multiple nights and had a sizable cast. So you were introduced to a lot more by the first night. For the ABC series, we've only seen 1 hour thus far and now we have to wait a week for the next part.
And although the kept the same basic idea and structure, there have been some notable differences between the original (mini series) and the ABC series. I'm liking one of the new plot points, that I won't mention here in case it hasn't been seen yet.
V is worth checking out. I've already given up on Lost and Heroes, so this will be a nice change of pace.
It should be noted the special effects on the ABC series have been well done for a series TV show.
As far as the original TV series (on NBC), that one was just bad all around.
NohOne @ Nov 4th 2009 10:32PM
"So you were introduced to a lot more by the first night."
I liked the show, but that was the biggest problem with the new version. In one hour, they arrive and already there are resistance groups and we know they are lizards. If this was just a mini series, then it would be understandable since there is a limited time to tell the story. But since it is a full series they should have taken their time and developed the characters before people started finding out. It was almost as if the writers said "Hey, we know everyone knows they are bad because of the original, so let's just jump into the middle of the story"
dslate @ Nov 4th 2009 8:35PM
Another useless poll. A polling class is desperately needed.
No middle ground from Awesome to Terrible?
No Just show me the results?
It wasn't Awesome nor Terrible and I saw the original, I'll randomly choose one now to see the results.
Ben @ Nov 4th 2009 8:36PM
I know it isn't intuitive, but you can just hit the vote button without choosing something to see the results.
WebDev511 @ Nov 4th 2009 9:53PM
+1
I hope no one is being paid to write these polls.
Keith@buenzow.com @ Nov 4th 2009 10:14PM
Need a speel checker too, owesome?
nrb @ Nov 5th 2009 11:22AM
Keith, you have to remember these are professional writers. Professional writers don't use spell checkers.
They should.
Vidikron @ Nov 5th 2009 1:16PM
I agree. I didn't think it was awesome, but I also didn't think it was terrible. I liked the first episode well enough that I'll watch the next couple to see where it goes. But there's nothing remotely close to a middle ground to select on the poll.
acme @ Nov 4th 2009 9:24PM
never heard of this, whats it about
AltairAntares @ Nov 4th 2009 10:17PM
meh, I'll watch it on hulu when I have some free time.
Marshall @ Nov 4th 2009 11:24PM
Not available until Saturday...because showing it sooner would crush the television industry as we know it. And yes, that would be a bad thing (according to big TV CEOs).
Marshall @ Nov 4th 2009 11:23PM
Slow news day.
Matt @ Nov 5th 2009 12:44AM
Tough to compare after just 1 hour-long episode. It seems like they tried to cover too many plot points in the premiere, but we'll see how the next few go.
Uxorious @ Nov 5th 2009 12:50AM
Well actually my DVR was *supposed* to record it, but the POS known as DirecTV HR21 of course failed to do it - even though I had told it to when it said there were conflicting recordings scheduled. God I hate that box!
Naman @ Nov 5th 2009 2:47AM
I just want to know what kind of HD the aliens put on the bottom of their spaceship. Was it 4K, possibly 8K, or...something even bigger!
clexman @ Nov 5th 2009 4:14AM
It was ok, but the spray-painted "V" is supposed to stand for Victory against the visitors!?!
Rob @ Nov 5th 2009 4:42AM
I wasn't blown away by it, there wasn't anything really original that grabbed me. Giant spaceships are blase. The lizard-skin-under-human-skin affect looked cheesy to me, I think they could have modernized the disguise technique by using genetic engineering or something far out like that. Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin are purty though.
The rebooted BSG had me locked in after the first hour, but that was an exception. Other shows like Firefly, Lost, Sara Connor, I wasn't impressed with immediately but they grew on me after a while. Unfortunately, two of those shows were canceled at the peak of my interest in them.
It might take a few episodes to get its legs, so I'll give it a chance and see where they are going with it. But the writing needs to improve for sure, would be nice to see some original sci-fi ideas employed here.
Richard @ Nov 5th 2009 5:17AM
Is definite the best pilot tv series i see, very little commercial at this one, is almost feel like watching a movie. Great effect and decent acting. So far there's 2 firefly cash in the series.
Jay @ Nov 5th 2009 10:34AM
I'm old so I remember the first one not as a child but as an adult. The first one held onto the "mystery" for a bit. This one just jumped right into AHHH evil aliens! Acting was TV bad in both.
As far as people thinking it's a polemic on the current President they're very confused. Beware of ___ bearing gifts is an age old adage which could, and has been, applied to every politician and leader past, present, and future.
I understand that schools don't teach history effectively anymore but with the age of the internet the only reason people are so ignorant about things is because they choose to be.
nrb @ Nov 5th 2009 11:26AM
I also found it a little odd that they didn't hold onto the mystery. Even if they had, it was all too transparent. The viewer should be lulled into liking the aliens for a while.
Aaron Watkins @ Nov 5th 2009 4:15PM
Well the internet can also make more people ignorant. Have you ever read a blog that said Barack Obama was muslim? Have you ever reader a blog that said President Obama supported death panels? Have you ever met a person that thought the lies preached by theses bloggers is the truth? The problem with the internet is there is very little quality control. Any dumbass can post up whatever they want. How is an ignorant person supposed to know the difference between the truth and the lie if they know nothing about the subject in the first place?
Christian Wolff @ Nov 5th 2009 12:43PM
Awful.
10 minutes in, I was longing to watch "Mars Attacks" again.
20 minutes in, I was longing for "They Live".
After that, I was just annoyed by this miserable failure.
lee @ Nov 5th 2009 9:21PM
Can you say retarded?
J.Smithers @ Nov 9th 2009 9:48AM
I never saw the orginal series but this is a piece of nonesense. Apparently the other beings in the rest of the universe must be condemned as evil since their origins aren't this little planet in Milky Way Galaxy with all it's twisted dogma, fanaticism and disrespect of life.
Indeed, an alien race has survived long enough and with enough harmony, intellegence and subsequent technology to traverse incredible light years to come to Earth--but the only thing that could possibly be on their silly little minds is to exploit and destroy the human race.
You couldn't pay me to watch this show again.