The renegade reporter and Holocaust-referencing grandparent characters are absent from this version -- and I don't miss them -- and Elizabeth Mitchell is an FBI counter-terrorism agent who is also a parent to a V enthusiast. In the original I think that character was male, and in the military, but I can't quite remember. The point is, counter-terrorism lends itself to some cool detective work and bad-assery, and there is a bit of that in the pilot. Some other characters have been eliminated or emulated, but I now realize I have no idea why I'm doing such an in-depth comparison between the two when a) not that many people even remember the original that well, and b) no one's going to watch this extremely genre series on the network of Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor, so this is going to be canceled right quick. So watch tonight, if you have the time, but I wouldn't get too attached.

If you're sick of having your heart broken by network television, our Week in Preview has other, less-likely-to-be-canceled show suggestions for tonight.