ABC is developing a new adaptation of V, the 1980s miniseries about alien lizards visiting Earth - which spawned a second mini and TV spinoff - written by The 4400 co-creator/exec producer Scott Peters.

According to Variety, the original V served as an allegory for the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. Peters said he won't duplicate that concept, except that the new V will still focus on what happens when the masses have blind faith in their leaders.

In this case, the new V will center on Erica Evans, a Homeland Security agent with an aimless son who's got problems. When the aliens arrive, her son gloms on to them - causing tension within the family. As in the original V, several storylines will unfold simultaneously.

But even without the same storyline, the original V's bones will remain: As in the '80s version, the show will open with an enormous army of spaceships hovering over the world's major cities. The visitors say they've come to help Earth, but their motives are nefarious (in the original, they wanted to steal the world's water supply).