Differences and similarities with old mini-series and 2009 series?

The differences can be summed up very simply: almost everything.

Whereas the original miniseries V and the Final Battle had a pretty compelling plot, and actually kept people watching - this new thing just really diverged into a whole lot of stupid subplots that never really added anything to the story, especially the stupid love story between the alien-queen's daughter and the FBI agent's son.

What had been a very enjoyable 80's set of miniseries (let's ignore the TV series that followed, as it was total crap due to limited budgets) was utterly ruined in the remake.

If they had taken the original script and altered it a bit to fit a modern setting, that would have been great to watch - but what they made was really bad programming. What is even worse is that the main cast was a pretty good set of actors and actresses - but with the scripts as terrible as they were, they had no chance to redeem it!

Kenneth Johnson (creator of the original V) didn't have anything to do with the 2009 series, so they pretty much just changed it all at their own whim. Then it all started to unravel during season 2, became a travesty of monumental proportions and I was glad they put the series out of its misery. The original deserved a sequel/reboot so much better than this.

The whole point of Kenneth's original "V" was the destruction of the Lizards at the hands of the Insects. Yes, Kenneth's original V was heavily influenced by "Starship Troopers." Not only was insects used as the "bad guys," but the Lizards played the role of the benevolent dictators to the humans. If you pay attention, even the Lizards make references to how the humans would serve as excellent soldiers against the Insects.

You can tell the exact moment when Kenneth was pulled from the project. It happens between the end of the first movie and the beginning of "The Final Battle." It's when the humans stop trying to contact the Insects. At the end of the first movie the human rebels come to the conclusion that the "enemy of my enemy is my friend." and hence, they attempt communication with the Insect homeworld via captured satellite dishes. BUT at the beginning of "The Final Battle," all is forgotten about the insects. And at that point, the original concept of V was scrapped and Kenneth was removed from the project.