When production on ABC’s sci-fi series V was shut down at the beginning of the month Warner Bros. Television and ABC announced the reason was to “take advantage of our November premiere to maximize creative opportunities and deliver the audience the best show possible.”

At the time two rumors were floating around that stripped away some of the fluffiness of the official statement.  One rumor suggested the studio was unhappy with the quality of the first seven episodes by comparison to the quality of the pilot.  This rumor suggested the studio had shut down production to evaluate its options.

The second rumor related to a Writers Guild of America dispute between the creator of the original 1980’s V series, Kenneth Johnson, and the producers of the new show. The dispute was, of all things, over whether or not the new show was entirely original or whether or not Johnson deserved some credit for it.

As you would expect and just as they should have, the WGA awarded in favor of Johnson.  The upshot of this particular issue is that the credits of the new series will now feature Johnson’s name as the creator of the original series.

It is possible that this issue was in some way connected to the production halt, however from an outsiders perspective it also seems highly unlikely that such a dispute should halt production at all let alone for two weeks just one month prior to the slated premiere.

With that in mind a new rumor has been added to the mix which seems a little more credible.

The new rumor comes from Ausiello:

I hear the studio wasn’t happy with the quality and the timeliness of the scripts show-runner Jeff Bell was delivering, so they bumped him to the No. 2 spot and put exec producer Scott Peters in charge. Too bad. I like Jeff Bell.

Whatever the truth of this and the other rumors, the one thing we know for certain is that production was shut down.  If the studio’s decision to halt production relates to quality issues then the show is certainly off to a very bad start.

Of course, the positive side of the situation is that no matter what the cause of the production hiatus is, the official reason remains “to deliver the audience the best show possible.”

Here’s hoping they do.

Related posts:

• ‘V’ S01E11 ‘Fruition’ Promo Trailer and Images
• ‘V’ S01E10 ‘Hearts and Minds’ Trailer and Promo Images
• ‘V’ S01E09 ‘Heretic’s Fork’ Promo Trailer and Images
• ‘V’ S01E08 ‘We Can’t Win’ Promo Trailer and Images
• ‘V’ S01E07 ‘John May’ Promo Trailer and Images
• V Means More Violence
• ‘V’ S01E06 ‘Pound of Flesh’ Promo’s
• ‘V’ S01E05 ‘Welcome to the War’ Preview Clips and Images
• ‘V’ After 4 Episodes Will Only Continue in March 2010
• ‘V’ S01E04 ‘It’s Only The Beginning’ Promo Trailer and Images