Since humans began to wonder if there was life on other planets, movies and television programs have been made about our alleged extra-terrestrial neighbors. Some movies, like E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, depicted aliens that were our friends. Other movies, like Aliens and War Of The Worlds - showed what may happen if we encounter aliens of an unfriendly nature. But of all the movies and television shows that were done on this topic - one of my all time favorites has always been V.

Written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, V was released as a mini-series in 1983 and is, to date, one of the most popular mini-series' ever aired on network television. It told the story of an alien race that came to Earth in dozens of enormous hovering "mother ships" that were three miles in diameter. When their leader, "John", who looked very much like us, addressed the "Earthlings" - he said that they came to Earth because they needed our help to make a vital chemical to restore their atmosphere. In return for our help, they would share with us, as he said, "all the fruits of their knowledge".

After some high level officials went missing, some skeptical Earthlings formed a resistance and discovered the horrible truth - that the Aliens were, in fact, lizards disguised as humans who wanted, rather than our help making a "vital chemical" - to pump Earth's oceans dry for water - and harvest humans for food.

The series became so popular that it spawned a second mini-series a year later called V: The Final Battle which depicted the big showdown between the Humans and the Visitors - and a television series in 1984 that ran for 19 episodes and became one of the highest rated shows on television that year.

From the first time I saw the mini-series, I instantly became addicted to this epic story. From the get-go, Johnson did an amazing job of making you feel for the characters and sense the emotion of an alien invasion. You felt both the physical and emotional conflict between the humans that believed the Visitors were our friends - and those who knew they were anything but. He even had the main character, Mike Donovan's mother turn against her own son and befriend the Visitors. And when a character was killed, your heart actually hurt for the fallen resistance member. So while the main story line was the invasion of Earth by the Visitors - Johnson made the characters themselves become stories of their own.

As a major V fan, I am pleased to report that both V and V: The Final Battle were just released on DVD, and they might release the 19-episode series on DVD as well. I am also very pleased to announce that currently in production is V: The Second Generation, a brand-new mini-series that will star the same main characters as the original series. Schedule to air in late-2004, the plot is, according to the press release, "twenty years after their arrival on Earth, the Visitors have deeply entrenched themselves on the planet, enslaving the human race and turning them into followers. The Resistance is losing the war with their alien masters, until they gain a powerful and mysterious new ally." I can hardly wait for this new chapter in a series that I have loved since 1983.

So with two mini-series and a television series in its past, and a brand new mini-series coming in the near future, it seems that I am not the only one who holds Kenneth Johnson in very high praise for making a science-fiction series that will live on for many generations to come.