Because I know that we live by the TiVo, I wanted to make sure that everyone got 12 hours or so to watch ABC’s reboot of “V,” which premiered last night before revealing any juicy plot points. I normally don’t wait this long to give details,  but given the buzz on this show, which won the night in ratings, I decided to just this once.

I don’t consider them spoilers, because the show’s already aired, and if you’re gonna recap something, you can’t possibly know when everybody at home is going to read that recap. So if you don’t want to know what happened, DON’T READ ANY FURTHER. You’ve been warned.

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Back in 1984, it was fashionable with my goofy eighth-grade friends to refer to each other as the “V” baby, as in the half-human, half-alien, all gross and reptilian off-spring born in NBC’s space invaders mini-series. It was this disgusting, scaly thing which made it both repellent and irresistable to middle schoolers, along with everyone else.

I don’t know if an updated version of the “V” baby will be featured in ABC’s new take on the story, but if it did, it could only stand to ratchet up the excellent creepy tension that laces Tuesday’s premiere. It’s got all the essentials – the hot but mildly menacing leader Anna (Morena Baccarin, the space hooker from Joss Whedon’s cult-tastic “Firefly”), the burgeoning resistance led by skeptical FBI agent Erica (“Lost”‘s Elizabeth Mitchell), a human flunky (“Party of Five”‘s Scott Wolf as a guilible reporter) and a Visitor double agent who’s changed his mind about the invastion (Morris Chestnut, of “Boyz N The Hood,” “The Best Man”). “Firefly” alum Alan Tudyk also makes an impression as Erica’s FBI partner – I do love a good Tudyk sighting.

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Morena Baccarin plays Anna, leader of the alien visitors, in ABC's 'V'. (ABC)

Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care.

The news media swoons in admiration — one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: “Why don’t you show some respect?!!” The public is likewise smitten, except for a few nut cases who circulate batty rumors on the Internet about the leader’s origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: “Embracing change is never easy.”

So, does that sound like anyone you know? Oh, wait — did I mention the leader is secretly a totalitarian space lizard who’s come here to eat us?

Welcome to ABC’s V, the final, the most fascinating and bound to be the most controversial new show of the fall television season. Nominally a rousing sci-fi space opera about alien invaders bent on the conquest (and digestion) of all humanity, it’s also a barbed commentary on Obamamania that will infuriate the president’s supporters and delight his detractors.
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