With the new year comes brand new television and over the following days and weeks, we’ll take a look at the premieres of the Winter’s hottest shows in our Winter 2011 TV Primer!

First up will be the return of ABC’s V!

Tonight, at 9/8 Central on ABC, V is back for a second season, helmed by Scott Rosenbaum (formerly of Chuck and The Shield).

Below is ABC’s official recap summary of Season 1 which does a great job of explaining exactly what V is and what happened previously to catch you up for the Season 2 premiere. Also, embedded below is the latest V podcast that offers a good idea of what’s to come in Season 2.

According to sources, Marc Singer will be joining the cast of ABC’s alien invasion series, V. Singer is no stranger to that world, as the actor played the lead role of Mike Donovan on the original V, which aired in the ’80s. The actor, who is perhaps best known from his lead role in The Beastmaster, will be playing Lars Tremont, one of the members of a secret organization consisting of top military and government leaders from all over the world

This goes along with the news that Jane Badler, who also starred as Diana in the original series opposite of Singer, will be joining the cast of the ABC’s reboot. Badler will take on the role of the evil mother of Anna, played by fanboy favorite Morena Baccarin of Firefly and Serenity fame, and she’ll make her debut on the January 4, 2011 premiere of season 2.

V: The Complete First Season
Blu-ray | DVD
(2009)
Starring Elizabeth Mitchell, Morris Chesnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, Morena Baccarin, Scott Wolf
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: November 2, 2010

I watched the majority of V as it aired, and honestly, a lot of what I saw didn’t blow me away. I liked what I saw for the most part, but like many at the time, I was drawn in by Lost and my attention faded as V aired directly after. A friend of mine was a huge fan of V, and ultimately made me enjoy the great parts of the show. Finally getting to sit and watch the show on Blu-ray on its own, I was far more drawn in, and I was able to enjoy the series for what it is: a fantastic, thoughtful science fiction show that digs into modern day issues while still giving an intriguing story about rebels fighting an invasion.

Based on the cult hit miniseries from the 1980s, the basic premise of V is that several parts of Earth’s skies are overcast by large spaceships as a group of alien Visitors led by Anna (Morena Baccarin) who promise “We are peace. Always.” The atmosphere that is created when they are setting up the arrival of the Visitors so eerie and almost robotic. The tone of the show at this point is that the Visitors are not necessarily to be trusted, but with the help of broadcast journalist, Chad Decker (Scott Wolf), Anna and company are able to gain the trust of the majority of the population. The conspiracy theory portion of the show starts with Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell) as she teams with a group of rebels that don’t trust the group of aliens that have come to their planet.