Left Lashes Out at ‘V’, Obama-Friendly ABC Purges Showrunner…
by James HudnallLast night a brave and insightful documentary was aired that accurately portrayed the wave of ObamaMania that swept the nation. It was called “V” and aired on ABC to mostly rave reviews and tremendous ratings.
There was another documentary about the Obama campaign on HBO, but that left out a lot of relevant facts, so spaceships and lizard-people aside, ABC wins the veracity award.
The parable is, an attractive group of aliens show up, out of the blue, and offer universal health care, advanced technology and world peace in exchange for our trust and devotion. All we have to do is believe everything they say without question. Which means, don’t ask anything about their hidden motives or past associations because that would be racist impolite. In fact, one reporter who is offered an exclusive interview with their leader is admonished not to say anything negative or they would be denied access (Hi, Fox!).
And what do you know, the aliens are really here to eat us. And maybe even take over our car companies and banks. That part is unclear. But I’m sure they will reduce unemployment, because there will be less people looking for work. Oops, I guess “V” has nothing to do with Obama, because he sure isn’t doing well on that front. But anyhoo–
The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait was outraged by the pilot. Outraged, I say!
This is not just a right-wing worldview but the worldview of the paranoid Tea Party movement. I’m really not sure how this made it onto network television. Maybe the calculation is that Glenn Beck will start urging his viewers to watch and a ratings bonanza will ensue. (I don’t expect scientists will be the scapegoats in the new series, as the original “V” alien campaign to tar scientists as a fifth column sits uncomfortably close to the current right-wing view that the world’s leading scientific organizations are conspiring to suppress evidence that global warming is a hoax.)
Ah, it’s Glenn Beck’s fault. He’s the new W, don’t you know. The New York Times critic said “V” was unrealistic because no one would trust attractive strangers with a hidden past and motives, who told them what they wanted to hear in such a short amount of time. Yeah, right. Like that would happen.
Naturally, when a show debuts to huge ratings and mostly great reviews, the producer’s career is golden. Not this time. Apparently the network who gave Obama an infomercial and refuses to release the “Path to 9/11″ DVD decided to replace the show runner Scott Peters before the pilot even aired. In fact, ABC hosted a big visit by press people last Monday, but Peters was notably absent. Exec producer Steve Pearlman spoke with the reporters.
Peters has been demoted to exec producer, a largely honorary title and has been replaced by former “The Shield” and “Chuck” alum Scott Rosenbaum.
Was this a case of ABC purging a political dissident from the show to make it more politically subservient? ABC has been very pro-Obama. And while the president’s name is never mentioned once in the show, there’s little doubt what they’re getting at. Critics of the “V” aliens are shown to be viewed as wackos and fringe people, the same way the MSM likes to portray ordinary Americans who don’t drink the kOOl-aid. Journalists who question the motives of the V are treated like they’re “not real news”. Wink!
The show has been very entertaining so far. It tries to get a lot in the first episode so things move very fast. I guess that’s why the NY Times guy found it so unbelievable. After all, lefties were questioning if Obama was black enough in 2007 before they became full on acOlytes a year later.
We’ll have to see if Rosenbaum’s episodes will feature positive portrayals of the “V’s” “death panels” and their reduction of the human population as lowering our carbon footprint and “saving the planet.”
One thing’s certain, I doubt the “V” would find too many people in this administration very appetizing.
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730 Comments
I read Mr. Chait's review earlier today. After reading it, I still wasn't sure whether V was a good show, but it was clear that Chait is a douche.
ABC, which in reality stands for Always Been Clueless strikes again…
Yes, a Stalinist purge is necessary to purify the ideological framework of said entity. Poor Mr Peters. he blithely assumed that success would be rewarded.
Silly lad. This from the same folks that brought you 'Redacted', and the nightly ravings of Maddow, Olbermann and Maher.
An alien invasion parable about loss of freedom. Whatever was he thinking?…
Enjoyed "V" last night
The best part was when Anna said you can't make the visitors look bad or say anything to cast any doubt
It sounded exactly like the WH press briefing
We conservatives kinda are the resistance also
This show is more like a Obama Biography than a Fiction SciFi show
Trade the reptiles for Marxist and it is a reality show
/Hahahahaha
/I moved this from the open thread
javascript: collapseThread(41937755);
This all came up back in the summer — the Obama angle, I mean … click here http://blog.zap2it.com/kate_ohare/2009/11/abcs-v-... — so they've been aware of it for a while. And picking a guy from "The Shield" (not really a liberal-friendly show) and "Chuck (where Adam Baldwin's character publicly worships Reagan) doesn't seem like a obvious purge for ideological reasons. I say, let's watch some more episodes and see if they keep the same tone or change it.
It's way too early to determine what direction V will trend. I am surprised that Chair got into a twists after forty or so minutes of exposition without waiting to see how the show played out. Reading an anti-Obama message into a show that ABC hopes will be around in the springtime as a regular series after its first episode is akin to watching the opening sequence of the director's cut of Miami Vice and assuming it's a well shot documentary on speed boat racing. Let it play out before deciding that ABC purged someone. Chait's thin-skin need not provide us cover to jump the gun here.
Actually, I'm encouraged now that I know a "Chuck" alum is running the show. Maybe we'll actually see some exciting sequences and some interest generated for the characters (in the incredibly boring and expository pilot, they were really more ciphers than characters). I can only hope Peters was purged because the pilot was excruciatingly dull and not because of his political beliefs.
Jonathan Chait says "…I’m really not sure how this made it onto network television…"
Spoken like a true Fascist!
This show is excellent, so far. I hope ABC doesn't cave or Hussein doesn't take them over like he did with NBC.
Jonathan, you dolt, ("This is not just a right-wing worldview but the worldview of the paranoid Tea Party movement. I’m really not sure how this made it onto network television. Maybe the calculation is that Glenn Beck will start urging his viewers to watch and a ratings bonanza will ensue. (I don’t expect scientists will be the scapegoats in the new series, as the original “V” alien campaign to tar scientists as a fifth column sits uncomfortably close to the current right-wing view that the world’s leading scientific organizations are conspiring to suppress evidence that global warming is a hoax") IT'S A REMAKE FGS.
It is so blatant. I think you will see more films like this, but it will not be as mainstream as this one. I hear some movies are on the way.
How long before a poor, innocent V is seen being tortured by Angry Evil Human Extremists? How long before we get the lecture about how the V's are better caretakers of our environment than humans? How long before we hear that human greed and man's cruelty to man is the REAL reason the V's came to earth? How long before we are told that humans must learn to embrace the unique and rich culture of the V's (because, hey, they're not all bad) and celebrate diversity!
I hope this show doesn't take the path of moral relativism (hi, Battlestar Gallactica) but these days, it wouldn't surprise me if it did.
"This is not just a right-wing worldview but the worldview of the paranoid Tea Party movement. I’m really not sure how this made it onto network television." – Jonathan Chait
FAN- F—ING-TASTIC! This idiot's opinion MAKES ME WANT TO SEE THIS PROGRAM!
I'm sorry I missed the premire. I'll be tuning in to this and I rarely stray off cable TV fare to the dinosaur networks, YA!
Always Been Clueless probably was/is so enamoured by the Messiah, it never occurred to them that the aliens in "V" might remind some people of what happened to the USA. Once the movie airs, however, they'll go OMG! What a hoot.
Did the Aliens avoid Fox News?
I agree, however, it looks bad.
Personally. I thought it was entertaining enough. They had a lot to set up in the first episode and I thought it worked fine. Character development is hard with so many players and so much plot to deal with.
I cant believe they had the guts to air this, but i am glad they did, i think after the W/H gets finished with them it will be taken off the air.
you bet- and just because it is eerily similar to the Imperial Presidency of The One doesn't mean it was maent to be so.
As in any good marxist society, that which isn't fealty is criticism- no matter HOW peripheral…
This should create a huge new demand for the uncensored 'V'
Be warned, lowly humans, the health care bill is really a cook book.
I feel the same way James. I don't even have ABC on my television, but I'll find "V" on the internet somewhere and watch it. Just from what I've read, I can't believe the ABC lakeys even let this on their network. It doesn't sound like this "V" show is towing the party line. I'm going to bust out the pop-corn, and turn the volume up real loud when I watch it.
I hope Mark Loyd did'nt watch the show last night. If he did this could be the only show that airs.
This is not just a right-wing worldview but the worldview of the paranoid Tea Party movement.
I may be a (proud) tea-bagger, but at least I'm not a liberal nut-case douche-bagger.
"The New York Times critic said “V” was unrealistic because no one would trust attractive strangers with a hidden past and motives"………………………that's a joke,Right?
Didn't America just elect one President.
It's a terrible shame but not unexpected. The first episode was great, as if anything with Morena Baccarin wouldn't be, but you could already see ABC's destructive touch. The part at the end when the priest asks what their weapon is the FBI lady says some gobbleygook. We all know the original line was "HOPE". ABC is going to wreck this show and change it from a good show with great ratings into some tired pablum of diversity and leftist ideology that no one watches. I rated it a solid A for attacking the Obama cult and casting Alan Tudyk. And we can always use more solid sci-fi shows with fascistic lizard aliens. Now if they only had an Adam Baldwin cameo we could talk an A+…
Let's see.
The lovely actress, Morena Baccarin.
Now Scott Rosenbaum as showrunner(from the decidedly un-PC show, The Shield).
I think this makes me want to watch it even more!
I thought the writing was a touch weak. Better than Flash Forward, but that's damning with faint praise. It felt rushed, though that might be due to half the pilot being chopped, the first four episodes would have created much more dramatic oomph had the knowledge of the infiltrators been revealed towards the end. Again, that pre-supposes the series gets picked up, which I guess ABC was unwilling to do. I'll see it play out, but if it follows the Flash Forward path (interesting premise with inadequate execution) I won't hope for a renewal come spring.
The show was extremely entertaining and the correlations between the current administration/government and the aliens were dead on. From Peace and Change, National Health Care, indoctrination of the youth, and media bias, it was like watching reality tv!
OK, my ol' 'flyover country' noggin is spinning now. Let me try to summarize: ABC has a new show called "V" in which the evil, bloodthirsty aliens are, in fact, a thinly veiled reference to the Obama administration, right? Especially, the part about how everything the aliens? Obama? does has some diabolical, humanity-destroying ulterior motive? And this, in the liberal view, is supposed to be a good thing? Are liberals really stupid enough tot think we're all that stupid? Look, I take a back seat to no one for the length of my 'vile liberals whose art I refuse to enable' list, but, c'mon, even I think that sometimes a cigar is (and, darn it, should be) just a cigar…er, pardon my referencing one of the original vile liberals, BTW.
Actually, we will have to wait till March to find out. The 4 episodes that will be airing now (with ratings beeing the pass/fail indicator for more next year) were completed before Peter's downgrade.
But you do have a point regarding his replacement, Rosenbaum. We shall have to wait and see in March if pressure from above was heeded.
I read chronic State-shtupper Jonathan Chait's review and apparently in the State-shtupper lexicon, "paranoid" is just a synonym for "pro-freedom."
The Left is a bit touchy these days…No need to worry…their boy will be run out at the next cycle of elections and they can lick thier wounds in private….
Such nonsenss….Obama compared to pretty strangers offering universal health care….pshaw….not even close.
If "V" were real life (I mean, with space aliens in power rather than socialists), Chait would undoubtedly be greeting the new overlords bent over and with bared buttocks, while shouting at the rest of us, "You can trust them! They promise hope and change! Submit gracefully!"
That it got to air is remarkable. But it was so on-the-mark, I could not believe it. Plus, I love sci-fi and with a mix of real-time worldly events mixed in, makes me smile.
[...] Here we go again… [...]
I loved the show. I am glad that it did well. I hope that things don't get messed around with to much. The story line from V was simple. tell people what they want to hear and they will do anything. Especially if it is free and takes no effort. Most people are like sheep.( Omba election anyone? ) The hopey changy thing…It Is amazing to me that during the orginal V there wasn't any conflict with the politics of the day. That I can remember.
The left can give it out all day, but they can't take it. Chait is a prime example of the general indignation felt by the left when tv comes a little too close to reality. How dare ABC make fun of the One! Peters was the fall guy, and I'm sure ABC is offering up mea culpas to the White House. I'm sure they will be forced to sit next to Fox the next time they are let back into a press conference.
I take Chait's review as an outstanding endorsement of one of the most relevant and profound sci-fi mini series to come along in twenty years.
Joe S., Agent Provocateur/ Hollywood Dissident Reporting In:
The showrunner was canned because the writing on this show supposedly needed to be made more compelling *as a writer working in this town* I can see the network's point in making this decision after noticing some of the rough edges in the premiere's narrative structure.
To those of you BH fans who think there's a stalinist purge going on, I say withhold your judgement for a while: The real ideological force behind last night's intriguing storyline was not (primarily) the dismissed producer . The creators of this show are striving for a continuation of the vibe and compelling reveals achieved in the recently concluded Battlestar Galactica (a show that realistically addressed existential terrorist threats, sometimes from a *gasp* conservative perspective) . I'm also intrigued that the remaining creative staff on V even includes at least one person who served in uniform- a Marine vet like myself.
I agree that it was totally on-the-mark. When they made the reference to National Health Care I had to laugh.
That might be my new litmus test. If "New Republic" hates it – hey I might like it! Same goes for those anachronisms also know as "Time" and "Newsweek" and the other *hate rags*.
I agree with the poster who thought the pilot was deadly dull (the political comparisons were fun, though). Perhaps it will get better. Or perhaps it just won't ever appeal to me.
And a word of caution for everyone excited about the political/ideological "message:" recall how well "Battlestar Galactica" started out and how badly it ended.
Only if they're afraid of beautiful, brainy, conservative women!
He might notice there were no black V. Uh oh
We should all e-mail him and tell him. It'll make him feel even more icky. How fun!
The joke was the way I translated his argument from subtext to reality
I dig Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost, who is a lead in the show.
It probably won't take long if they follow the NEA and the WH dictim. If it changes, I will quit watching. I've stopped watching a lot of network TV because of their adoration of the won, and liberal ideology.
A second hour would have been appreciated, but there was dancing to be done. I persoanlly cannot wait to see how this plays out. I thoruoghly enjoyed the pilot and hope to be wowed even more in upcoming episodes.
BTW, side note, mini-Firefly reunion (producer of Chuck, enter Adam Baldwin) would have sent my leg a-tingling, but Alan Tudyk is dead, so no tingly for me.
They'll (current administration) probably march them (anyone responsible for putting this on broadcast television) right out in the yard and shoot them.
I'm not sure there was an agenda in replacing Peters. ABC has only ever planned to air four episodes of this show in 2009. The rest won't air until March, after the Olympics. They actually shut down production for a time after the four episodes were produced. Maybe Peters made commitments during the downtime that wouldn't allow him to stay on.
Yes……..and I liked it too. Nice job James.
Sounds like a total copy of the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734684/
Let me guess. The aliens conduct all of their business according to a book titled, To Serve Man. The earthlings think the aliens have arrived to raise the level of man's existence on the planet. But then, too late, it is discovered that the alien book is a cookbook.
I've seen it before. I doubt if this show will top the original Twilight Zone adventure.
An excellent show last night! Anybody checked to see if there is lizard skin under Barry's collar?
My guess is by the end the aliens will be defeated only to find out they were the good guys—this is abc.
I heard that Barry-O watched "V" last night instead of the election results!
I think Tudyk might be back a semi-regular (flashbacks?). That's how he's listed on the wikipedia page (which may or may not be accurate). But it's the kind of character that could make a return.
I can hardly wait to see it now the Lefties are all running around with their panties in a bunch. Besides, actually having an interesting and true to life depiction of the current administration might just save ABC's sagging into oblivion ratings. Look at the only right station (right wing I mean), Fox News and their ratings are soaring.
That reminds me so much of the Simpson's Halloween episode! How to Cook Humans, or was it How to Cook For Humans?
I don't recall any gobbledygook. She said "devotion." I was hoping she'd say "hope" or "change" but devotion seems okay. I just hope the change in producers doesn't wreck the show. It has such promise.
I laughed out loud. I'm really surprised that wasn't edited out. I hope they have the guts to keep it up.
Loved V. It was very timely to mention Universal Health Care. I got a big laugh out of that one.
i stumbled on this show without any prior knowledge let alone opinion. there was "nothing else on" so i watched…and was quite amused by it and current events with the whole Obama fiasco that is going on here in the states. but i doubted my own perceiption of the show…thinking it was just me (and not on ABC!). this article was great to see! i'm not alone…lol
oVama
This parody of Obama's administration is so direct, so affable, so true that it almost defies explanation! I think no one since George Bernard Shaw (the Unsocial Socialist) has anyone perfected the use of the dramatic script so perfectly for political satire. Kudos! I think enough of us saw this and loved it to make the network very leary of changing the tone as it seems they are want to do by changing directors.
Let's all write ABC and demand that they keep the original tone and trash any intent to political correctness or Obama correctness. No one really knows who Obama is. Wouldn't it be rich if he peeledback his face to reveal his true reptilian self at the next press conference. Not likely though.
Starring Richard "Jaws" Kiel from "The Spy Who Loved Me" as the alien
Thank You James Hudnall for an absolutely perfect article. That was hillarious and dead on accurate.
True. One thing even a leftist limousine liberal t.v. executive understands is $$$$$$$$$$$.
CNN is below measureable in ratings and conservative radio has been a $$$$$ machine for decades.
How long can CNN survive? How much money can MSNBC hemorrhage?
Man, the right wing nut-jobs seem to be getting ever further from reality all the time.
They characterize a move that had been "anticipated in Hollywood circles for weeks, since ABC and Warner Bros. TV made the joint decision to halt production on the series in order to get scripts in shape" as a "purging a political dissident from the show to make it more politically subservient"?
it seems everything is part of the grand conspiracy now.
Not true.
Morris Chestnut's character was a visitor.
And siding with the resistance.
Oh… but therefore he's not black.
Hmmm.
In the 'real world' he'd have every black liberal organization ignoring his plight as he's eviscerated by the whitest of liberals.
So he'd be the sci-fi version of Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice etc etc…
Well, it is Jonathan Chait. As author Peter Wood has pointed out, Chait is the man who more or less made it okay for the Left to spew invective at our former president in a public forum: in 2003, he came right out and wrote the words "I hate George W. Bush." As Wood argues, the dam may have been weakening, but it was conclusively broken after that article was published.
Once again..most missed the point of all of this…RATINGS! MONEY! All you conservatives watched! Of course, the show is an allegory..that's not the point. They WERE dying as a news outlet and network…now they have your money to rebuild…Diabolical! Got some news for ya..They read the same newspapers, watch and listen to various news..they know all about narratives even the conservative ones..yes, they might just put something together that is a conservative allegory to draw viewers other than their zombies.
Anybody have the over/under as to when the usual Senatorial suspects threaten to revoke ABC's FCC license?
No, he watched the other</i. documentary about himself.
"To Serve Man"
+1 reference
I don't see this doing well as a weekly series. It's more of a mini-series thing b/c you want as much smash/bam up front to get people hooked. The intensity get lost on a week to week basis.
Of course, the alien/human sex angle has yet to be explored. What earth man or woman will Anna chose to bless with her charms?
OTOH – looks like the sleeper cell aliens have been doing our women for a while now.
Hmmmmmmm….
No kidding. I would love to see good guys who are actually good guys and evil bad guys who aren't conflicted and misunderstood, just plain evil.
this coming from the same blog that was crying over Sesame Street poking fun at Pox- er, i mean Fox News.
hypocrites.
I especially liked how the reporter in the "V" premiere threw out all of his principles to land the interview with the Leader of the V. And then didn't ask any tough questions because he was ordered not to by the Leader. Art imitating life, especially life in the current White House. Can't wait for the next episode!
Agree on BSG. The first 3 seasons were some of the best television I've ever seen in any genre. At the end of season 3 and into season 4, when they decided they needed to "do" Iraq with the New Caprica storyline, things started to go off the rails and never got back on. By the end I'd stopped caring.
Is Glenn Beck replacing George W. Bush as "Blame Czar"? or is he just a Demi-Czar?
If they keep the vibe of the pilot, I'll gladly pay money to watch this show online! (I refuse to watch television in its current Maoist controlled state). I'm sure the Maoists will influence the show now that they notice too many parallels. Remember how the left hated the movie 300, because it hit to close to home with the bribed Senators and other traitorous douche bags?
Isn't this Earth: Final Conflict with a shorter name and eviler aliens?
except for that whole "brave and insightful part" and pretty much anything after it.
Rosenbaum's an encouraging choice. There's a number of worse choices they could've picked.
And to ABC's credit, their new pick for showrunner isn't known for being particularly PC (Scott Rosenbaum of "The Shield").
The show was amazing. Hopefully the next 3 episodes (before the hiatus) are already made and unadulterated. We'll see what happens in March though.
If they edited that out, they would have had to edit out a whole lot more. Interesting in the indoctrination of the youth/people that they are giving them blue coats, as opposed to the Nazi brown coats. Same intent though. If the ratings stay high, hopefully they will have the guts to continue. If they do, I'll keep watching. Can't wait to see what they throw in there next week!
Well if the left sees similarities in the plot of "V" and the current administration, then perhaps they should rethink their positions, not vilify a TV show. If the shoe fits…
Actually, the show was pretty good and basically stayed with the original storyline.
The babes are better and the Aliens sneakier, but the core of the show is and always has been:
"DON'T BELIEVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GIVING YOU FREE STUFF, BECAUSE THEY'LL EVENTUALLY TRY TO EAT YOU!!!!!"
No, it's a 'update' of the 1984 sci-f- mini-series V.
The fact that the Left are getting their collective panties in a twist over V proves, IMHO, that they realize the truth in the parallels between Obama and V. Otherwise, why would they assume this pertains to Obama?
Obama opponents, however – we clearly see the parallel.
Yeah hope seemed like the original word and it would've been a subtle reference to Pandora's Box – hope being the last "curse" of mankind.
Blue coats? Blue as in democrats?
Blue coats…blue states?
There are many reasons to change showrunners; cost overuns, etc. On a show as complex and expensive looking as "V," don't always assume it's political.
Methinks the Obamaworshiping MSM, Orcs and Trolls doth protest too much about this show. I wonder why that might be…Could it be because it hits a bit too close to the truth for them?
I would not be a bit surprised to see ABC screw this show up to please their Obamamessiah, which of course will mean that no one will watch it, just like no one is watching CNN or MSNBC or anything Obamafellating Hollywood is producing.
On the bright side Fox could pick up the rights for it after ABC dumps it. I am sure that they would have no problem with producing it the way it was intended to be, then they would have a big hit on their hands and they would be laughing all the way to the bank.
I know aren’t they? I mean clearly a government funded children’s show targeted at 2-5 yr. olds is virtually the same as a primetime private network show targeting the 10-40 yr. old demographic. And who’s to say that a lifetime of subtle negative programming would give these children a pre-disposition to hate Fox News later in life. Yeah right, like that would happen. Toddlers are smart enough to make up their own minds!
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date.
Well, you know in the original they actually wore orange/red jumpsuits. But now it's been changed to blue coats. The more you watch in the show, the more you notice.
I would like to remind everyone that "Anna" is fictional charecter
. There was also that awkward moment during the third commercial break when David Letterman got knocked up by one of the "Visitors".
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