Natalie Chaidez and John Wirth join V staff

Writers Natalie Chaidez and John Wirth, who previously worked on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, have joined the staff of V. The two were responsible for some of the best episodes of the good old Terminator, including "The Turk," "Queen's Gambit," "Earthlings Welcome Here," and "Complications."

More details about their roles on V below, from Airlock Alpha:

John Wirth and Natalie Chaidez are the newest additions to the "V" staff, making the move from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" where Wirth was an executive producer and Chaidez was a co-executive producer. An ABC spokesman has confirmed that Chaidez will become a co-executive producer of "V" while Wirth will serve as a consulting producer.

Sources say the two are expected to be a huge boost to the show's writing team, and signal what could be continued confidence in the long-term vitality of "V" by ABC.

Wirth and Chaidez do bring impressive resumes to the table. Chaidez wrote four episodes of "Sarah Connor," which was canceled by Fox last season. She also was a co-executive producer for NBC's "Heroes" in 2006 and 2007 writing the episodes "Better Halves" and "The Fix." Other shows she worked on include "Judging Amy" and "New York Undercover."

Wirth has been a key part of several popular shows over his career including "Sarah Connor," "Ghost Whisperer," "Nash Bridges" "Picket Fences" and "The District." He wrote four episodes of "Sarah Connor," including the popular episode "The Turk."

ABC confirms episode orders for V and Flash Forward

ABC has issued a press release, saying that they have ordered 12 total hours of V this season. This is one episode less than originally reported. The also cut the episode order for Flash Forward by an hour, to 24 total episodes.

V will return with the remaining eight episodes on March 30, 2010.

From the press release:

ABC has locked in its scripted commitments for the 2009-10 season.

The news, which was confirmed to the site exclusively by network and studio sources, includes some adjustments to its previously indicated episode orders.

Newcomers "V" and "FlashForward" are set to film 12 and 24 total hours, respectively, both one episode shy of numbers reported earlier this fall. Come 2010 then the Alphabet will have eight new episodes of "V" (returning March 30) while "FlashForward" (returning March 4) will offer up 14 fresh installments.

At midseason, seven episodes of "The Deep End" and "Romantically Challenged" as well as eight hours of "Happy Town" are on tap.

As for its returning slate, "Grey's Anatomy" is set to film 24 episodes while "Desperate Housewives" and "Private Practice"* are booked for 23 hours.

The rest of its lineup - including "Castle," "The Middle," "Modern Family," "Cougar Town," "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" - currently have the standard full seasons of 22 episodes.

Rounding out the bunch then are "Lost" and "The Forgotten" with 18 episodes each and "Scrubs" and "Better Off Ted" with 13 episodes apiece.

Sources however were quick to note that the option still exists to order additional episodes of several of the aforementioned series.

V will return on March 30, 2010

Hollywood Reporter writes:

Some ABC viewers just had a flashback.

The network ran a promo at the end of Thursday's "FlashForward" letting viewers know the show would return in March -- March 4, to be exact. It's similar to the announcement made at the end of "V," saying the show would return that same month. But while the "V" message met with relief (it's coming back!), the "FlashForward" push is being met with dismay (that long?), especially since fans expected the show to continue in January.

ABC wants to get the show out of the way of the Winter Olympics and air the show straight through without repeats. The network also is setting a firm date for the return of "V" -- March 30.