scott wolf

It's still too early to tell whether the reimagined 'V' will be a hit or not, since only a handful of episodes have aired to date -- but a nearly 30% decline in viewership (to a still-respectable 10.7 million) from the premiere to second episode could indicate the show is in trouble.

Reviews of the new series starring Elizabeth Mitchell, Joel Gretsch, Scott Wolf, and Morena Baccarin have generally been favorable, but critics also argue the show feels rushed and doesn't really offer much that's new from the original aside from superficial things such as tone, pacing and effects. Yes, the acting is in a totally different galaxy, but is that enough to make the new series a success? We think not. And while we still think the series has plenty of potential, it could stand for some improvement. Here are seven geeked-out ways to make 'V' the kick-ass show it deserves to be:

Scott Wolf charmed us on 'Party of Five,' 'Everwood' and 'The Nine,' but his newest role on ABC's hit 'V' has us a little on the fence.

Apparently, Chad Decker -- the C-list news anchor he's playing -- is still a mystery to Wolf too, and that's just fine with him. "It's the first character I've ever played that is so hard for me, as an actor, to pin down," Wolf admits. So does he think Chad is a slimy guy or a nice guy? "Yes," Wolf answers with his signature dimpled smile. "We think he's a slimy, nice guy."

Now if you're heading into the last half of the series' first four-episode "pod" (Tues., Nov. 17, 8PM ET) with any doubts about the show maintaining the action and drama, don't. "It's gonna be hard, I think, for people to watch this first part and have to wait ... [but] it's worth the wait."

Watch our full video interview with Wolf now and check out all our 'V' cast interviews, straight from the show's set in Vancouver.

(S01E02) See, now things are starting to make more sense. The important thing, as a fan of the old V, is to remember that this is a whole new kind of war. The Visitors aren't coming down in bright red suits with funny voices. Instead they've been infiltrating our society for years, possibly decades.

The question of why Erica wouldn't just go straight to her bosses at the FBI with what she knows is self-explanatory when you consider that her partner of seven years was a Visitor. They look and act like us, and they could be any one of us. So who do you trust takes on a whole new meaning.

I think it's a smart move to establish more of a guerrilla war against the Visitors. And now that the one resistance cell Erica and Jack found has been scattered to the wind, it's a matter of starting over. But, as seen with the developments this week, it may be a race to uncover the truth before it's too late.

Did you miss the series premiere of V last week? If so, no need to despair, because it's on SlashControl and I've embedded it below. The show scored good ratings, and Jason had great things to say about the premiere, noting some similarities to Battlestar Galactica. He was also glad to see how the writers updated the storyline from the classic 1980s miniseries.

"I wasn't sure how they could modify the storylines from the series I remembered to accurately find parallels to our war on terrorism, and the terrorist movements themselves, but they did," writes Jason. "And they did it all while staying true to the struggles and fears that's kept the original series fresh in our minds for 26 years now."

Have the Visitors arrived on Earth with a message of peace? Time will tell, but not before they fully and irretrievably embed themselves into our society.

(S01E01) We were promised a modern re-imagining of the classic '80s V mini-series, and that's exactly what we got. Gone were the allusions to World War II Nazism and the treatment of Jews in Europe. Instead, we're offered allusions to the war we've been fighting for eight years now.

I wasn't sure how they could modify the storylines from the series I remembered to accurately find parallels to our war on terrorism, and the terrorist movements themselves, but they did. And they did it all while staying true to the struggles and fears that's kept the original series fresh in our minds for 26 years now.

Even better, I watched this with my 10-year old son who's never seen the original, and he was absolutely riveted. Everything I loved about V back then is here, and there's so much more to get excited about. I always thought V should be an ongoing series, and even though we eventually got one, I think this time they've finally got it right.

Scott Wolf has come a long way since he and Jennifer Love Hewitt were making puppy eyes at each other on family drama 'Party of Five' a decade ago. These days, he's turning a more jaded eye toward sexy aliens on 'V,' the ABC remake of the 1983 miniseries that debuts tonight.

In 'V,' Wolf plays Chad Decker, an ambitious TV news correspondent who all too quickly agrees to be the human spokesperson for the seemingly friendly alien visitors. How does Chad's Faustian bargain play out? We may not know for a while, as ABC is airing just four episodes of 'V' before the series goes on a long winter hiatus.

Because we can't get enough of Wolf and his castmates, he called AOL TV yesterday to tout 'V.' He also told us which real-life reporters he may be satirically skewering, how 'V' measures up to the origina and how the alumni of 'Party of Five' have ended up on such weird shows.

Its aliens vs. humans as 'V' co-stars Scott Wolf, Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chestnut and Morena Baccarin discuss the coolest alien tech, their biggest splurge after success and the fringe benefits of being on a successful sci-fi show: nerd marriage.

V (November 3, 8 pm, CTV/ABC)

The latest adaptation of this venerable sci-fi franchise is so flashy, I thought the previews were for a feature film. Here's the basic scoop: good-looking aliens come to Earth, cure all our illnesses, seem nice, but are actually evil. One of them even refuses an interview with Scott Wolf's reporter character, which is reason enough for rebellion, if you ask me. The buzz on this pilot is it's the best thing to come down the pipe in ages.

ABC's remake of V starts on November 3 (for four episodes, then it's going to take a break). Here are the first ten minutes of the pilot (even though the video says eight minutes, it's over 9 minutes long).

It's an effective opening, introducing all of the characters and showing us how the aliens come to our planet. If something happened like this in real life, would people really stand in the street and point and go to the top of buildings to get a better look or would we see a big ship and completely freak out and run out of town?

Remember when the networks hardly did anything with their TV shows online? Heck, remember when we didn't even have official web sites and fan sites for our favorite shows? If we wanted to talk about, say, Knot's Landing, we had to open our windows and yell to our neighbors, "Can you believe Val did that last night?!" Either that or send a letter via mail, and that took days.

But now we have web sites for every show, and fans of ABC's remake of V have already put up a bunch of sites for that show (which premieres November 3 ):

If you were bummed out by the death (?) of Juliet on the season finale of Lost (honestly, who the hell knows what's going to happen in the last season with that storyline), you'll get to see Elizabeth Mitchell on ABC's new version of V this fall. But is Juliet gone from Lost? In this interview with Michael Ausiello, she addresses that question and actually gives a shout out to fans of the show.

One of the best things about being the King of TV is that many times people will ask me questions about shows I have never heard of.

Last week, a young man contacted me through my MySpace page to ask me if I knew the name of a certain TV show. He described it thusly, "I believe it may have been British and/or on PBS. It was not narrated but had an eclectic cast (one of whom was deaf). The show was various vignettes, mostly science based from the ones I remember. The one I really remember is the guy who was making bubbles with cigarette smoke. The biggest clue I can give you was the logo. At the beginning of the show they would show the name, then turn it on its side and reflect it in a mirror. It looked like a cricket, then it bounced off..."

Well, I racked my brain and googled into the early morning but to no avail. I had to admit defeat. Now here is the great part.

ABC has announced casting for some of the networks upcoming pilots:

Scott Wolf will play the lead in a still-untitled comedy for ABC taking place in a law firm, despite only being twelve years old. Okay, he's actually pushing forty, but seriously, the dude looks like he never ages.

Charles Esten will star in another comedy pilot for ABC called American Family. Esten will play the patriarch of a middle class family. One assumes they'll do and say comedic things.

Beats me.

As I mentioned in my Five Canceled Shows post, this show was the most critically-acclaimed new show of the fall season and it had the nice time slot after Lost on Wednesday nights? It had a really strong cast and an intriguing pilot. So what the hell happened? The LA Times investigates, talking to the show's creator Hank Steinberg.

The whole thing was odd from the get-go, as The Nine's very first episode didn't even the numbers that ABC thought it would, and then the ratings fell from there. People who didn't like the show can say that the show didn't live up to the pre-season hype or the quality of the pilot, but that doesn't explain why the pilot wasn't watched by more people.

One thing the article says that I don't quite believe is that the show hasn't been officially canceled by the network. Yeah, if you want to get into semantics. The network says the show might be back in March or April, but at the same time it pulled the show because of low ratings and hasn't ordered anymore.