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Unwanted Cast-Off or Cult Hit in the Making
Fox airs Virtuality from the creators of BSG By
Rob Vaux
June 22, 2009
Virtuality coming to our TV Wasteland this summer courtesy of the BSG creators(2009).
© Mania.com/Robert Trate
Fox is airing a Neither Fish Nor Fowl effort this Friday, which is bound to raise some eyebrows simply by the names attached. Virtuality--billed as a TV movie but actually filmed as a pilot--comes to us courtesy of Battlestar Galactica bigwigs Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor. It follows the adventures of a deep space vessel, in the midst of a ten-year journey, which uses a virtual reality machine to help the crew members handle the stress. The machine malfunctions, of course, causing all manner of problems. But that's not the twist: the twist is that the entire voyage is being filmed as a reality program and beamed back to an eager audience on Earth.
Those ill-disposed towards Fox may see another conspiracy here. The pilot was not picked up as a series, and its presentation in June as a stand-alone movie suggests that they're simply burning off some excess programming. On the other hand, Fox has reversed a number of similar fiats lately--witness the revival of Futurama and the snatched-from-the-icy-fingers-of-death renewal of Dollhouse. Moore has expressed a great deal of optimism about Virtuality's future, and while it seems unfounded, good reviews and strong ratings may push a mid-summer castaway into something with a future. Regardless of its eventual fate, it constitutes a respite for BSG fans waiting for Caprica to start… and even if it stinks, its network competition is practically nonexistent. Tune in to Fox on June 26th at 8:00 PM to see for yourself.
Monday
Babylon A.D. (Cinemax, 10:00 PM EDT)
This wretched Vin Diesel movie from last August highlights a fairly quiet night for genre programming. Tune in at your peril… or because you love Michele Yeoh so much you'd watch her in anything.
Futurama: Bender's Game (Comedy, 9:00 PM EDT)
Though it's one of the weaker Futurama movies to be released, it still contains a modest amount of laughs as the Planet Express crew gets sucked into a fantasy role-playing universe a la Dungeons and Dragons.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (SciFi, 8:00 PM EDT)
I don't normally cover SciFi's Monday night screenings of TNG here, but tonight merits a mild exception. "The Best of Both Worlds"--a two-part mini-masterpiece generally regarded as a high point of the entire franchise--kicks off at 8. If you haven't seen it in awhile, it hasn't lost an ounce of its power over the years.
Tuesday
Life After People (History, 10:00 PM EDT)
Water. We don't think much about it, but if we were all to vanish suddenly, it would apparently wreak untold havoc on the cities left behind. Tune in to the History Channel tonight and they'll tell you all about it.
Exorcist: The Beginning (AMC, 8:00 PM EDT)
It's on--I'm just sayin'--but prolonged viewing is not recommended. Note that this is the Renny Harlin version with the CGI hyenas, not the duller but more intellectually complex Paul Schrader version.
Wednesday
MonsterQuest (History, 9:00 PM EDT)
This week's title is "The Last Dinosaur." They're being pretty coy about the details, but nothing with dinosaurs in it can be a total waste of time.
Dr. Strangelove (TCM, 7:30 PM EDT)
One of the best science fiction movies of all time airs tonight, directly opposite one of the worst. For the first half of the equation, tune in to TCM for Stanley Kubrick's horrifyingly funny classic about the end of the world.
Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (Cinemax, 8:15 PM EDT)
The opposite end of the cinematic scale arrives courtesy of Cinemax. I'm sure everyone would love to see the hotly anticipated Alien/Predator hybrid again. Unfortunately, you can't, because the directors of this turd forgot to properly light the freaking thing.
Thursday
The Listener (NBC, 10:01 PM EDT)
Everyone's favorite bland, Canadian, mind-reading EMT (Craig Olejnik) uncovers a group of runaways and tries to help them out.
River Monsters (Discovery, 8:00 PM EDT)
The Discovery Channel airs another double dose of their giant-fishes-that-eat-people series. The first episode sounds fairly pedestrian, discussing whether sharks can survive in freshwater rivers. The second episode looks like the real winner, however: covering tales of a giant scaly beast in the Amazon.
The Devil's Rejects (IFC, 8:00 PM EDT)
Rob Zombie's follow-up to his dreadful House of 1000 Corpses constitutes a generous step forward in the extreme horror department. Only those with strong stomachs need apply, but at least IFC won't censor anything.
Friday
Virtuality (Fox, 8:00 PM EDT)
Peter Berg directs this sci-fi tale created by the Battlestar Galactica crew. See the top of the article for more.
Primeval (SciFi, 10:00 PM EDT)
There's a little confusion over this week's offering. TV Guide reports that it's the same episode as last week. Other sources claim that it will be an all-new episode in which the team is menaced by giant scorpions. I'm inclined to believe the latter just because TV Guide has burned me before.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Cartoon, 8:30 PM EDT)
Same deal here. Either the show isn't airing this week in favor of Spy Kids 3 or there's an all-new episode featuring OMAC. Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm setting the TiVo just in case.
Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man: Armored Adventures are reruns this week.
Saturday
Kings (NBC, 8:00 PM EDT)
Silas (Ian McShane) and David (Christopher Egan) head to the country to talk about Silas' non-king-related activities.
Eli Stone (ABC, 10:00 PM EDT)
Eli goes to bat for a newscaster down on his luck as ABC continues to air the last remaining episodes of this cancelled series.
Mutant Chronicles (SciFi, 9:00 PM EDT)
The game adaptation with the stunningly convoluted distribution history hits SciFi this week. Ron Perlman's in it and he kind of rocks. As for the rest of the film… we guarantee nothing.
Sunday
True Blood (HBO, 9:00 PM EDT)
Sookie (Anna Paquin) is attacked by a freaky thing in the woods--were gonna say it's a minotaur, but don't quote us--while Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) lands herself an accommodating new beau.
Merlin (NBC, 8:00 PM EDT)
Another shot of double episodes from NBC, both covering various plagues and poisons which trouble the land of Camelot.
Impact (ABC, 9:00 PM EDT)
The conclusion to the two-part miniseries finds our noble scientists searching madly for a way to keep the moon from striking the Earth.
Thor: Hammer of the Gods (SciFi, 9:00 PM EDT)
SciFi aired this little epic earlier in the year, but in case you missed it, they're bringing it back in all of its nothing-to-do-with-the-Marvel-superhero-of-the-same-name glory.
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Rob, you let me down my man. If it wasn't for fellow maniac Butch I wouldn't have known that the new season of The Spectacular Spider-Man starts today at 7pm est on DISNEY-XD
I didn't know Peter Berg directed Virtuality. Maybe I will check it out.