Comments on: Friday Ratings: NBC Wins With Jackson & Fawcett, Fox's Virtuality Is Virtually Unwatched

By: Television Review – Virtuality « Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:15:31 +0000

[...] reinforce that thought, the movie barely registered in the Nielsens pulling only a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 1.8 million viewers (and for those of you [...]

By: Virtuality’s Ratings Flatline in Friday Night Dead Space - Screen Rant

Virtuality’s Ratings Flatline in Friday Night Dead Space - Screen Rant — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:06:24 +0000

[...] Ratings source: TV By The Numbers [...]

By: Careless

Careless — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:28:53 +0000

Virtuality was not good. A show that made a point about getting the science right, then got it wrong. A show that was about a reality show that would be boring as hell to watch. A show with maybe one memorable character that was supposed to be character driven.

Just a mess.

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:31:56 +0000

I thought Virtuality had a lot of potential. Certainly more original then Mental, which is a House re-tread, and more watchable than the first episodes of Dollhouse.

A waste but it was probably too intelligent for Fox.

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:02:41 +0000

This entire thread proves why networks shouldn’t be bothered burning off unsold pilots anymore — particularly ones with high geek appeal.

Instead of being happy they’re getting to see the thing at all, it’s “Waaaah! They didn’t promote it!” Yeah, no shit. It’s an unsold pilot. What were you expecting? A national convention? I doubt you’ll be seeing the pilots for “Cop House,” “Boldly Going Nowhere,” “Two Dollar Beer,” “Eva Adams,” “Maggie Hill” or “Masterwork” on the air anytime soon, but I guess geeks don’t care about any of them. And what is FOX’s fascination with people in wheelchairs all of a sudden? Is that going to be the theme of FOX Fridays from now on? Because I’m not sure shows have high crip appeal.

By: Virtuality Virtually Unwatched | InfoAddict

Virtuality Virtually Unwatched | InfoAddict — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:31:31 +0000

[...] From TVByTheNumbers: [...]

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:08:22 +0000

I thought Virtuality had potential. I was quite annoyed that it wasn’t a series when I went to record the next episode. Hopefully a cable station will pick it up. I wonder how much the death specials took away from the ratings.

By: richard less

richard less — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:04:54 +0000

Not a big Ronald D. Moore fan, so I’m not cryin’ over this result. Cable is where its at today.

By: Entertainment Link-Off: I <3 Science Fiction! « The Lowdown Blog

Entertainment Link-Off: I <3 Science Fiction! « The Lowdown Blog — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:00:56 +0000

[...] FOX’s defuct TV-pilot turned TV-movie “Virtuality” aired on Friday. While there was a small glimmer of hope that it can be turned into a series if enough eyeballs tuned in, it seems like that dream will remain a fantasy. (TV by the Numbers) [...]

By: AniMatsuri

AniMatsuri — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:41:07 +0000

Virt is confusing because the ending pretty much cancels out everything you saw before making you wonder if anything you saw was real. Critics and some Sci-Fi fans love that kind of stuff. General public not so much.

By: Some guy named John

Some guy named John — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:10:41 +0000

I didn’t even know it was on Friday night. So as far as advertising for the show it wasn’t done properly. Second, two big time celebrity deaths occurred and would grab anyones attention over a show with some basically unknown cast set in the Sci-fi genre on a Friday night. Fox should have known better and this should have aired on a Sunday or Monday night.

I watched it on Hulu, where it was labeled a movie. I thought it seemed original but short sighted. I don’t think it could make a a few seasons even if it was picked up.

This should have stayed on a Universal network like SciFi, where the ratings it made would be called decent. I feel bad that Peter Berg was associated with this.

Little thing I noticed was the Captain was named Pike, which I guess was a nod to Star Trek’s original captain in its own TV pilot.

By: Lanie Grace

Lanie Grace — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:07:34 +0000

I love it!

Brian D Said
“Virtuality turned into a two hour movie when Dollhouse got renewed”

Dollhouse is a machine! First it killed TSCC and now Virtuality before it was born.

~Lanie~

PS For you hardcore LG haters, the above is said sarcastically

By: JustTunedIn

JustTunedIn — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:27:10 +0000

I just finished watching virtuosity and quite liked it. I did feel a lot like 2001 (which I also liked). I agree with those who say people will have very opposing views on it (as we can read here). Too bad it didn’t turn into a series. I think it would have made a nice little mini series.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:06:14 +0000

cant wait for new Flashpoint July 17th

By: Ender Wiggin

Ender Wiggin — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:21:54 +0000

Well, I was also bored by it, and I love sci-fi (BSG, Firefly, TSCC, STNG, STV, DS9, STE), the biggest problem for me was the characters in Virtuality were not memorable or interesting, I neither liked them or hated them, I just didn’t care about them… compared to Caprica, this pilot was weak. But like Dollhouse, which also started weak for me, and I only watched out of respect for Joss, I would probably continue watching this show even though I especially disliked the reality TV show angle…

By: Brian D

Brian D — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:02:20 +0000

Virtuality was a pilot turned into a 2 hr movie supposedly when Fox renewed Dollhouse. Regardless I just finished watching it and it’s flipping horrible. I honestly thought this would be decent based on reading a little about it. They spent way too much time focusing on insignificant parts that were pointless. I expect more out of Peter Berg and Ron Moore then this crap definitely a F rating that would have been yanked from TV had this been the start of a show.

By: JustTunedIn

JustTunedIn — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:53:18 +0000

@ Budo: There certainly is that market. Plenty of Sci Fi shows have been succesfull in the past. And Currently as well (Fringe is doing OK). I think the many years of Star Trek meant that it had been popular enough.

It’s just that right now there isn’t something to measure up to it; although in general demos seem to be down across the board.

By: Mumbo

Mumbo — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:33:35 +0000

Even Privileged, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Game reruns look kind of competitive in the demos compared to Virtuality.

Yikes.

By: Budo

Budo — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:34:02 +0000

It’s funny – there’s no middle ground: people either loved it or got bored and flipped the channel. I’d love to believe there’s a market for sci-fi that strays off the familiar territory of summer blockbuster films, but it’s obvious there isn’t. Ah, the curse of being less likely to be popular, yet requiring a lot more money to make…

By: Terry

Terry — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:07:14 +0000

I’m really surprised by the numbers. I was randomly flipping channels and came across Virtuality. I didn’t find it dense at all. Once they got past introducing the characters, I was hooked and glued throughout the whole show and the ending was mind-bending astonishing! It’s too bad that this cool and smart scifi will not find a series because of the low numbers.

By: GryphonStalker

GryphonStalker — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:45:07 +0000

“The Virtuality pilot was one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen. I also haven’t watched FOX on a Friday night in probably over a year but did last night.”

I concur, I thought it was brilliant. It’s not their fault that two well known Celebrities passed away on the same day and the channels have been going crazy with specials and tributes. I found it a great distraction from all the hoopla.

By: Sycore

Sycore — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:39:45 +0000

It sucked Cylon balls. Boring as hell. Only good thing was that me and my friends took a shot ever time they said GO/NO GO, so we were hammered by the awful ending. Get use to those Friday numbers FOX, they are the new reality for the death of broadcast TV. Time to die off like newspapers and magazines.

By: Budo

Budo — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:27:27 +0000

I liked Virtuality a lot. I can also see why it would never work with the audiences. Not enough Horatio Cane putting glasses on and spewing one-liners every week. It’s a shame it came at this point in time which is pretty much the worst for serialized sci-fi ever.

By: redeem147

redeem147 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:02:20 +0000

Such a shame. Virtuality was one of the best SF shows I’ve seen. I really want more.

But I won’t get it. I only knew it was on because I saw an article in the newspaper about it.

By: John T. Folden

John T. Folden — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:48:16 +0000

The number of people that find Virtuality “confusing” is just mind boggling to me. I can understand if someone was bored by it, especially during the first 45 minutes or so, but confusing? I don’t get that. It had un-answered questions, as any good pilot should.

One of the FOX suits called it “dense” and I thought he was insulting his audience… maybe not.

By: Master Moron

Master Moron — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:23:59 +0000

Fox wasn’t testing Virtuality to see if it would do well. There was no chance they were going to pick it up. It was a pilot for a series that they never ordered and they figured rather than let it sit in their vaults for eternity they might as well air it. There would be no point in airing it during the Fall season or on a different night because they didn’t really expect it to do well and if it did it wouldn’t have mattered.

By: Kermonk

Kermonk — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:04:22 +0000

Wired like it “Excellent acting bolsters thoughtful premise.”
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/06/review-virtuality/

But as a pilot, not a stand alone.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:32:40 +0000

We watched about 12-15 minutes of Virtuality because we were playing with the HD and it was on. My husband thought it was awful and it wasn’t holding my interest either. Did like the beginning with the Civil War setting but the part right after that was boring. Once it was established that he was on some sort of space station we didn’t need to watch him walk in real time to his next destination. Sci-fi really needs to grab your attention immediately and hold it.

By: Yamu

Yamu — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:18:44 +0000

I think that Virtuality will get picked up by Sci-Fi(SYFy) after Stargate Universe crashes. For a Science Fiction movie with it’s premise, I think that the pilot was decent. Probaly would of helped if the movie was more during primetime, when people acculy watch TV.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:06:09 +0000

I thought Virtuality was a confusing mess. Some aspects of it seemed interesting but overall, it was poorly handled. So… not disappointed that this one won’t go to series. Very split opinions on it, I see!

By: Chad

Chad — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:18:07 +0000

I quite enjoyed Virtuality. Unfortunately most viewers believe quality sci-fi is Eliza Dushku showing off her cleavage and kicking people.

I expected the pilot to be a mess for a “movie”.

By: HeroesforGhosts

HeroesforGhosts — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:08:26 +0000

It’s pretty sad that more people watched Surviving Suburbia than all three CW shows combined.

By: AniMatsuri

AniMatsuri — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:07:21 +0000

BT, Virt was beat by a rerun of Ghost Whisperer and a canceled ABC sitcom. Anyone that greenlights more of this mess needs to be fired. I’d to see the numbers for this show as the night wore on. No doubt they go even lower.

By: BT

BT — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:42:02 +0000

Considering that it was a Friday summer night, with everyone more concerned about coverage of Michael Jackson’s and Farrah’s deaths, how could there be good numbers for Virtuality? This wasn’t an accurate test. It was a *great* pilot, full of layers and complex possibilities. I hope FOX (or SciFi) will take the timing into consideration and give this show a chance. I would absolutely watch it as a series, and have already re-watched the pilot at fox.com.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:38:25 +0000

I think it has to do with bad timing (death of celebrities) and not enough advertising that did this show in. I’d be interested in seeing if they allow for streaming and if more people watch it steamed, or sometime later they air it again. I doubt they will, this is Fox.

By: huddy80

huddy80 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:04:29 +0000

I just watched Virtuality. Unfortunately, I will never get those two hours of my life back. What a horrible premise for a television show. I thought it would be cool with the virtual reality, and boy, was I wrong! It’s no wonder Fox burned off this mess now. 1.8 million viewers for a premiere-ouch!

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:01:52 +0000

i didnt know it was even on i dont watch much fox Abc, NBC and Cbs in the summer cause i am mostly on TNT and Usa and HBO

By: craigward

craigward — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:47:13 +0000

I was flipping around and caught some of virtuality. The writing was dreadful, so I didn’t keep it on. I didn’t know what show it was, so I figured it was a movie, but the special effects were too cheap-looking.

By: Brady

Brady — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:46:21 +0000

I’m hoping that SyFy will pick up Virtuality. I thought that the pilot was absolutely fantastic, and it would be a real shame if the show wasn’t explored more. It would do much better on SyFy. It was produced by NBC Universal, and it’s another Ronald D. Moore show. I really hope to see more, but it’s very unlikely.

By: LJ

LJ — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:31:30 +0000

It’s too bad, I would’ve loved to have seen Jill Valentine on tv weekly.

By: Chief

Chief — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:11:29 +0000

Virtuality’s numbers are a crying shame. It was easily the best original programming on any broadcast network this summer. Damn you Princess Protection Program!!!!!!! You took away the millions and millions of tween girls that surely would have been watching Virtuality otherwise.

By: AniMatsuri

AniMatsuri — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:01:03 +0000

So I was the only one who saw the promos for Virtuality during So You Think You Can Dance and probably other Fox shows? Virt got plenty of promo for pilot of a series that wasn’t picked up.

I watched about 1/2 through and Virt seemed like a remake of 2001: Space Oddessey with Virtual Reality tossed in as one the ways the ship was trying to kill the crew. Boring and whinney in my opinion. Something I’d expect from the guy who is responsible for the low rated Bionic Woman & BSG remakes.

Told a friend of mine who was really liking this show yesterday that I was sure this it would get beat out by a rerun of Ghost Whisperer and I was right.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:47:19 +0000

Numbers went up in reapets last week like 4 something last week and 5 this week

By: Doghouse Reilly

Doghouse Reilly — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:33:49 +0000

The fact that FOX aired Virtuality at all was a gift. It could have been shelved just like the dozens of other unsold pilots developed for 2009-2010. FOX could have done better with repeats of its game shows. I’m surprised it was aired at all, let alone promoted (and I did see at least one promotional spot for it).

By: So Long Virtuality « Sci Fi Alert

So Long Virtuality « Sci Fi Alert — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:56:57 +0000

[...] a comment » Considering it was beat in the ratings by repeats of Farrah’s Story and Ghost Whisperer it’s doubtful we’ll see any more of [...]

By: 0megapart!cle

0megapart!cle — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:53:30 +0000

They absolutely did not promote Virtuality nearly enough as would be needed for such a unique project. They killed it, plain and simple.

By: star title

star title — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:48:26 +0000

IS THAT A RECORD FOR LOWEST PREMIERE EVER?

By: Fringefan

Fringefan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:44:32 +0000

1.81 million is even bad for HBO, much less Fox.

By: Fringefan

Fringefan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:43:12 +0000

Adam wrote:
“FOX just doesn’t know how to treat their Sci-Fi anymore. First, you need to promote it. They didn’t do it. Then you need to put it on a night people will watch, they didn’t do it.”

Totally not true. Just look at how well they’ve been marketing Fringe and Dollhouse. While Dollhouse is no hit, Fringe has definitely become a sci-fi 18-49 hit for the network.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:30:02 +0000

To everyone complaining FOX didn’t promote Virtuality, THR disagrees:
Considering its airless time period, Fox didn’t forsake this project entirely. The network generated a fair amount of publicity for the program in recent weeks rather than simply throwing it on.