Looks like ABC may have a winner on its hands with its "V" reboot after drawing an estimated 14 million viewers to its Tuesday premiere.

That's too bad; it leaves the air in three more weeks.

Yep, that's right. ABC plans to pull it after three more episodes.

At that time, the network either will cancel it (if Nielsen ratings plummet) or bring it back in March for the final nine episodes. The plan now is for it to come back in March.

Ugh!

I guess ABC wanted to whet our appetites, assuming we'll come back after the long hiatus.

But, more than likely, the downtime is because "V" has a new showrunner in "Chuck" executive producer Scott Rosenbaum. He'll oversee episodes five through 13.

He takes over for Scott Peters, who will remain with the show after shooting the first four episodes. Peters penned the pilot.

According to news reports, "V" originally was slotted as a midseason replacement, but the network moved up the premiere to this month because it didn't want to debut a new show against "American Idol" (Fox) and the Winter Olympics (NBC).

To make it happen, ABC asked Peters to condense the first six episodes into four for November, which supposedly caused some script problems, reshoots and Peters' demotion.

Anyway, it's too bad for viewers and for "V." When a show is put on a long hiatus, it inevitably loses the casual viewers who have committed to other shows. "V" will need a loyal (and large) diehard base to keep going.

The drama, like "Lost" (ABC) and "Battlestar Galactica" (Syfy) before it, has the potential to build a strong base. "V" has enough intrigue and star power to make it happen.

I was a little wary of the reboot, having been a fan of the 1980s miniseries. But Peters and his crew are off to a good start, introducing principal characters without bogging down story development.

Some scenes were especially well done, including the TV interview by Scott Wolf's news anchor of Morena Baccarin's alien leader Anna, and the "reveal" in the warehouse. Finding out Alan Tudyk's FBI agent was a Visitor was one of those I-didn't-see-it-coming moments.

And I love the chemistry between Joel Gretsch's priest and Elizabeth Mitchell's FBI agent, the key figures in the resistance against the Visitors.

I'm on board. I'm just bummed "V" will leave us for so long. Seems like ABC could have handled it better.

Across the remote

Last week, I wrote that a CBS spokesperson told me there was no Nebraska connection in "The Big Bang Theory," which aired an episode involving Husker football last week.

Lo and behold, there is one. Executive producer Lee Aronsohn lived in Lincoln in the mid-1970s. He was the original owner of Trade-A-Tape Comic Center.

Thanks to Scott Stewart and Larry Lorenz (the current Trade-A-Tape owner) for the heads-up. I just knew there had to be something there.

Aronsohn, by the way, also is a co-creator (with Chuck Lorre) and executive producer of CBS' megahit "Two and a Half Men." He wrote the comedy's opening theme ("Men, men, men ...") with Lorre and Grant Geissman.

*Looks like "Trauma" is done for.

NBC has decided not to order any more episodes of the new Monday night drama series after it finishes its original 13-episode order.

Meanwhile, the network has asked for six additional episodes of spy dramedy "Chuck," which wasn't scheduled to return until March after the Winter Olympics.

That either means "Chuck" returns in January or runs into the summer. My guess is it comes back in January before the Olympics' two-week run in February.

*"Southland" lives again, thanks to TNT.

The cable network will air John Wells' gritty cop drama beginning Jan. 12.

TNT plans to repeat the first seven episodes and air the six that were produced but not aired after NBC canceled it.

How those episodes do will determine if TNT asks for more.

*Quick hits ... CBS ordered five more episodes of Jenna Elfman's "Accidentally on Purpose" ... Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7 ... ABC will air a Janet Jackson interview, her first since the death of her brother, Michael, on Nov. 18 ... Kirstie Alley ("Cheers") will star in a docu-series on A&E next year about life as a single mom and her efforts to lose weight ... Fox has ordered a sixth season of the animated "American Dad."

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.