Mr. TV: Putting the 'V' in DVR

Other than Lost, the last science fiction show I really got into was cheesy daytime serial Dark Shadows, and that was 40 years ago. Full disclosure: I was actually a member of a local Dark Shadows fan club.So, I imagine you now realize three things about me: I’m old, I’m not a fan of the genre and I’m a bit of a geek. But after ABC’s endless rash of promos for the upcoming remake of V, I will absolutely be tuning in Tuesday at 8 p.m. this week. V, which stands for “visitors,” tells the tale of a group of aliens who come to earth on supposedly peaceful terms, looking to share their advanced technology. But there is, of course, something more sinister on their agenda. While it looks pretty darn good, I am concerned with how ABC has decided to schedule it.For some strange reason, ABC is splitting up the season, with episodes 1-4 slated through November, and the conclusion presented as a miniseries after the Winter Olympics next spring. Apparently, the network has completely forgotten the mistake it made in the fall of 2006 when it sent Lost packing for three months after just six telecasts—its ratings never fully recovered. This leads me to believe that ABC is not overly optimistic about V. If it were, viewers would never be left hanging like that.To be honest, I really don’t understand why ABC decided to remake V to begin with. After two moderately successful miniseries, V initially came and went on NBC in the 1984-85 season with just 19 episodes. I think the series would have a better chance of success on a targeted network like Syfy. But since I don’t watch CBS’ red-hot competing NCIS, NBC’s The Biggest Loser or 90210 on The CW (I refuse to tune into Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance outside of the summer), I’ll give V a shot.Hopefully series star Scott Wolf will have an easier time than he did in one of my all-time favorites, Party of Five. Remember the hell those poor Salinger kids had to go through every season? Death, alcoholism, mental illness, teen pregnancy, cancer, meningitis, financial problems…it was endless. At least Wolf will be spared sharing the screen with Neve Campbell, one of the most notoriously obnoxious actresses in Hollywood. (That’s good fodder for another column during a week when I’m feeling a lot less charitable.)If this is a truly competitive baseball World Series (I’m a Bronx native who grew up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, so go Yankees!), this week might feature as many as three nights of the New York/Philadelphia matchup on Fox. But if potential games on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus college football on ABC Saturday, and Dallas at Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football on NBC are not enough sports for you, head over to CBS on Saturday for boxing special Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. That will feature the world’s No. 1 ranked mixed martial arts heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko of Russia against undefeated American Brett Rogers of Minnesota. DVDs of Rocky are more my speed when it comes to brawling. But what’s interesting about this Fedor vs. Rogers bout is the scheduling. It’s something new to watch on a night in desperate need of a makeover. Don’t get me started on that again, or the next mixed martial art showcase will be me against a network programmer.If you are looking for an original scripted option on Saturday this week, you can head over to feel-good Hallmark Channel for made-for movie Too Late to Say Goodbye, with Rob Lowe and Lauren Holly as the ideal couple whose deceit and affairs result in fatal consequences. It airs at 8 p.m., an hour before my personal Saturday night addiction, The Suze Orman Show on CNBC. One of these days I am going to call into Suze under a different name to see if I can afford to buy the hot tub my wife and kids want.Would you really deny me, girlfriend?

Convergent TV

Mr. TV: Putting the 'V' in DVR

Marc Berman

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Marc Berman