Pop culture Q&A

July 24, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Newspapers

Q. With the cancellation of “V” and “The Event,” are we to imagine the ending, or will they ever present an ending to these two shows?

A. I would recommend you give your imagination a workout. There has been talk about an “Event” miniseries to wrap up that NBC series’ story line, but the most lively talk involved it being picked up by NBC’s corporate sibling, Syfy, and that speculation was later shot down.

“V,” meanwhile, is one of those shows where I would never say never. Although ABC has no plans for a wrap-up, it’s a concept that began with a miniseries in 1983 and 1984, became a weekly series later in 1984-’85, and was revived in 2009 as a weekly series. The series continued into 2010 and was brought back for a second season in 2011 before ABC dropped it. There’s been enough ongoing interest that I could see at least a TV movie to continue the present run, although there is nothing definite at this writing.

That said, this overall issue of unresolved serials comes up just about every TV season. Audiences are drawn to some serialized shows. “The Event,” for example, aimed at the “Lost” audience after that show ended. But if the audience is not large enough to satisfy the show’s network, then it may be canceled before all the plot threads are tied up.

Q. Long ago, there was a movie with Hal Holbrook. He was a POW and put on TV to say he and other prisoners were being treated well. But on this interview, someone in the military noticed him blinking his eyes — and that it was Morse code saying the prisoners were being mistreated. No one we talk with even remembers this movie. Are we dreaming?

A. No. You are remembering a 1979 TV movie called “When Hell Was in Session,” based on a memoir by Jeremiah Denton, a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than seven years. Denton famously blinked the word “torture” in Morse code. Holbrook played Denton in the film.

Q. How long was “The Virginian” on the air? I have been watching reruns and find the stories to be well-written and very entertaining.

A. Starring James Drury, the series aired from 1962 to 1970 as “The Virginian” and then, with some changes, as “The Men From Shiloh” in 1970-SSRq71. By the way, it was also the first 90-minute Western.

2011, Akron Beacon Journal

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