The Countertop Chronicles

It just arrived from Netflix

Aliens who appear human arrive on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge saucer-like motherships, which hover over key major cities. They appear to be friendly, seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals needed to aid their ailing world. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept, and the Visitors gain considerable influence with authorities.

However, strange things are soon noted. Scientists find themselves facing increasing media hostility, and government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or face discredit. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some exhibiting other unusual behavior, such as suddenly demonstrating an opposite hand preference to the one they are known to have.

Stellar Mini Series from the era of the major network Mini Series.

Series creator Kenneth Johnson has said that the story was inspired by the 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Also, several scenes from the original TV pilot resemble the Bertolt Brecht play The Private Life of the Master Race. A short story entitled To Serve Man (later adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone) had a similar theme of deceptively friendly aliens secretly cultivating humans for food.

In a commentary track on the DVD release of the first miniseries, Johnson reveals that V was originally intended as a straightforward political thriller, charting the rise of a fascist movement in the United States. NBC was interested in a sci-fi hit, to capitalize on the success of films such as the Star Wars trilogy.

The story remains a Nazi allegory, right down to the Swastika-like emblem used by the Visitors and their SS like uniforms. There is a Visitor youth auxiliary with obvious similarities to the Hitler Youth and Visitor broadcasts mimic Nazi era propaganda. The show’s portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears a striking resemblance to stories from Occupied Europe during the Second World War with some citizens choosing collaboration and others choosing to join underground resistance movements.