ABC Cancels V – But Were Controversial Political Reasons Involved?

As a kid growing up in the 1980’s, one of my favorite TV shows was V. The program called V started out as a 1983 sci-fi miniseries based on aliens known as Visitors that were invading Earth. This miniseries expanded to a one-hour TV show airing weekly from 1984 through 1985. Over the years, the V reruns helped gather a very loyal group of followers. This motivated ABC to start a new V series, which first aired in 2009.

When ABC first announced this new series, fans of the original series (including me) were very happy! Unfortunately, the new HD version of V has been cancelled by ABC after just two seasons. Personally, I think this is very disappointing and may involve controversial motives associated with politics. The audience of V was growing and ABC has left a lot of cliffhanger questions in the plot unanswered.

ABC claims that low ratings are the reason why V will not be renewed for a third season. I question if this is the true motive, though. No Ordinary Family and Detroit 1-8-7 also air on Tuesday nights, but V has higher ratings than those two programs which were also cancelled on this Friday the 13th. Although Detroit 1-8-7 started out with impressive ratings, the ratings dropped significantly. But the year-to-year ratings of V clearly showed that the V program had ratings that were increasing as the audience became larger.

One of the really cool things that the new V series did during the second season was bring back Jane Badler to play the role of Diane – the same role she played in 1983. In the new V series, Diane played the mother of the character known as Anna – the Visitor High Commander. Diane had once been Queen but was imprisoned for 15 years because she proposed living in peace with the humans. Although Diane apparently died in the last episode of the second season, you would tend to think that if she survived 15 years and two different shows it would mean the writers could have found a way to bring her back again in the third season. Sadly, we will never know thanks to ABC.

One controversial element that has me wondering if there were underhanded motives for V being cancelled by executives at ABC is the recent death of Osama Bin Laden. Many politicians have always said they noticed parallels between the premise of the show and the Obama administration.

For example, in her review of the V series, Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post made a relatively big deal about the fact that the series was debuting on the first anniversary of President Obama’s election. In an article titled “ABC Executives Sound Coy About New TV Series Political Edge” she says that phrases in the series (such as “hope” and “change”) made it seem as though “Lou Dobbs had taken over the network, as those things only became popular with the current administration.”

I believe words such as “hope” and “change” are simply common words in the world of politics. And the reason why the Visitors were concerned with offering healthcare to all humans (interpreted as President Obama’s “Universal Healthcare” by Republicans watching the program) is because humans need that type of healthcare system! If this parallels what President Obama is trying to do, it proves that President Obama is aiming high while shooting for the stars and achieving impressive results that are out of this world!

Another example can be found in a review of V that was written by Glenn Garvin of the Chicago Tribune. In an article titled “‘V’ aims at Obamamania,” Garvin called V “controversial,” saying the series was "a barbed commentary on Obamamania that will infuriate the president's supporters and delight his detractors.”

This statement proves that many people believe the script of V was mixed with real-world politics in a controversial way. With that in mind, we need to ask ourselves if President Obama’s recent triumphs over Osama Bin Laden and Pakistan have anything to do with the cancellation of V – a series with a growing market of viewers.

All of the cast and crew of V have repeatedly denied charges of political bias associated with real-world politics. Morena Baccarin is the actress that plays Anna – the leader of the alien Visitors. Baccarin says that she is very surprised by all the controversy, acknowledging that she did model her character after politicians but nobody in particular. This is what makes me wonder if somebody at ABC was motivated to cancel V for political reasons.

Think about this for a moment. If the writers at ABC really were writing scripts based on what was happening with the Obama administration, it would mean the third season of V would be filled with praise and respect for the excellent accomplishments of President Barack Obama. If there were Republican executives at ABC, this would generate a motive for the cancellation of V. Either way, I am very disappointed that ABC cancelled V without giving it the ending it deserved.

I just want to remind the political-minded executives at ABC of one thing. Although the V series may have been cancelled, even though the plot left a lot of questions unanswered and a lot of promises unfulfilled, the same cannot be said of the Obama administration. President Obama has fulfilled the promises he made while running for President of the United States of America!

President Obama has restored the stock market, bailed the entire auto industry out of bankruptcy, passed a universal healthcare coverage plan, won the Nobel Peace Prize honor, and invaded Pakistan without permission in order to kill the most wanted criminal in the world, Osama Bin Laden. If there would have been a third season of V, it would have involved some form of new leader being introduced that had all the abilities of Captain America, Superman, and Professor X all rolled into one!

ABC executives knew this, which may be why they cancelled V. But that won’t stop me from voting for Barack Obama! Please share your thoughts on this subject, especially if you are angry at the way ABC failed to give V the ending it deserved.