There are certain television creators whose work is not to be missed. Any time a new J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon show premieres, you know you’re in for something +different and brilliant. The same can be said for Ronald D. Moore, whose reimagining of Battlestar Galactica redefined science fiction. Now he’s done it again with Virtuality, a special premiere presentation tonight at 8pm on FOX.
The best way to describe Virtuality is as a cross between 2001: A Space Odyssey and the reality series Big Brother. A crew of 12 men and women live together on a space station traveling to a far off galaxy to search for inhabitable life while Earth is less than a century from total destruction.
Their mission is filmed with cameras everywhere and beamed back to the world as the most popular reality show on TV, earning more than a billion viewers every week. To keep themselves sane during the 10-year mission, the crew has advanced virtual reality technology so they can transport themselves to whatever fantasy world they desire, from being a Civil War general to playing a Japanese rock star/super spy.
The two-hour “TV movie” was originally intended as a pilot for a new series, which will be obvious to anyone who watches. Rather than pick it up as a series, FOX has decided to air it as a two-hour movie with a possibility of turning it into a series if it does well enough. It’s the same way Battlestar Galactica came into existence, starting with a four-hour miniseries as developing into a series.
However, Virtuality was clearly never intended to be a miniseries. It’s fascinating to watch, but the ending may leave many viewers frustrated and wishing that another episode was coming next week. To try and make that a reality, fans need to watch, tell everyone they know to watch, watch it again online, and keep Virtuality alive.
If FOX was smart, they’d order the show and slot it on Friday nights with Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, creating the most powerful night of sci-fi television ever.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
