Aliens invade prime time

ABC's new sci-fi drama features aliens, reptiles, politics, religion and universal health care. "V," the cult sci-fi franchise of the 1980s, chronicled the arrival of the Visitors, also known as the Vs. This 2009 adaptation debuted Nov. 5 to 13.9 million viewers and a whole new generation of sci-fi nerds.

"V" airs Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time on ABC.

One morning, alien ships arrive and hover over the world's major cities, predictably inciting fear and awe. The ships soon reveal themselves as "Visitors" and appear to be human. High Commander Anna, played by the Audrey Hepburn-esque Morena Baccarin, who seems inhumanly beautiful, apologizes for scaring all of humanity and says to the world, "We are of peace. Always." The world erupts in applause. And all I can think is, "You idiots!"

The rest of the ensemble cast, untrusting priest Jack Landry played by Joel Gretsch, single-mom/FBI agent Erica Evans played by the fantastic Elizabeth Mitchell of LOST, her son Tyler played by Logan Huffman, frustrated news anchor Chad Decker played by Scott Wolf and many others, try to make sense of the arrival of the Vs, as they are affectionately nicknamed (because our news outlets can't resist giving nicknames to everything and everyone). And though "V" may seem like a show only for the Star Trek crowd, the underlying message is universal.

All the characters have to ask themselves whether they like new things - we all deal with change on a regular basis. The show seems pretty evenly divided between those who distrust the Vs and those who welcome the Vs with open arms and freely accept their healing methods with no questions asked, like Tyler, who visits the Vs' "mothership" and becomes a "peace ambassador" to the Vs. The cynics are more hesitant to accept the Vs, like Father Landry, who cautions his church (suddenly full of patrons) to ask questions, or the mysterious Ryan Nichols, played by Morris Chestnut, who seems to have a past involving the Vs.

Those who get pulled into the free health care and the seemingly human visitors seem to have no paranoia or cynicism. How do visitors from across the universe speak all of Earth's languages? How do they know our customs? They vaguely avoid questions about their home planet. Their leader, Anna, claims that their race has learned to expel all negative feelings. Most frightening of all: They know how to manipulate the media. As Anna says before her live interview with Chad, "Just be sure not to ask anything that would paint us in a negative light." Shudder. And after providing free medical care and sharing their advances in technology, they want absolutely nothing? Now I know they aren't human.

The cynics (and boy, would I be in with this crowd) find out the conspiracy behind it all: The Vs have been living among humanity for sometime, but they aren't really human. They are reptilian creatures hiding in human suits that plan to enslave the entire world. And I mean reptilian - green skin, yellowish eyes and all. If you're like me, you wonder where they put their tails in their human suits.

As Anna says during her interview with Chad, "Embracing change is never easy. But the reward for doing so can be far greater than anything you can imagine." It might seem like a far-fetched drama for a major broadcasting network like ABC, but I applaud ABC for taking some creative risks in recent years with programs like LOST, FlashForward and V. The resistance, the humans who know the truth, now have to decide who to trust, because they know anyone can be a nasty reptile in a human suit.

The real question, though, is whether we as an audience will trust the show to take us to an interesting place. Although it seems like many themes in the show already have been done (alien ships lighting up over major cities a la "Independence Day," aliens wishing to enslave humanity a la every alien invasion movie ever made), it was a suspenseful and eerie hour of television. Although it might seem like "V" will have a difficult time going anywhere original, it's worth jumping on for the ride. With this invasion of unique television programming, where bland comedies or more medical dramas might pop up, giving this kind of alien, interesting and unique show a chance is definitely a good idea.