I have to agree with the detractors. I thought the idea was interesting but the acting was bad. I only recognized the chick that was in Carnival/T3 and she was much better in both of thiose. It’s like the cast knew “This is never gonna get picked up” so why bother. I think the ending suggested a Matrix like fake reality as well. FYI, did anyone think that after Terminator-TSC and Dollhouse that Fox is a little gun shy for SciFi shows? This may have worked better as a mini-series. I just don’t see how the story could stretch over several seasons.

Stargate Universe will provide me with a similar themed sci-fi series. So it’s not a major loss to me, and it also means I have no reason to bother with Fox outside of Fringe. There is a bit of concern that the new series will become Stargate Voyager 90210.

Anyway… I was under the impression that more episodes of Virtuality were already produced, but weren’t airing outside of the two hour pilot. I guess I was wrong.

In fact, maybe somebody should start a channel called “The Pilot Channel” just showing all the pilots that were never picked up. There must be thousands – you could run the channel for five years just on previous unsold pilots, thus allowing new pilots to stack up so you could keep going afterward.

I was disappointed after watching the Global Frequency pilot that it wasn’t picked up, but in reality if they actually tried doing the GF stories as they were in the comic, the FCC would have banned the show anyway.

As far as people saying we should be “thankful” for them running Virtuality–I think not. It’s not about the fact that they actually put it up there, it’s simply the annoyance that people feel when they spend a bunch of time watching the damn show and then it not even being continued.

This always seems to happen with a ton of shows on Fox… I mean seriously…Glee? Dollhouse? Who are they advertising to anyways?

Nononono, the only thing Dollhouse killed is Joss Whedons credibility as a writer.

OMG, see what I did there?

Kidding. Kinda. ;D

Dollhouse killed TSCC. And Virtuality. And Firefly.

But, Dollhouse will get axed after 13 episodes, if not sooner come fall. Then there will be 4 failed FOX sci fi shows. BTW I liked TSCC and Virtuality and Firefly. Dollhouse I found mind-numbingly bad. Just all around horrible. But, hey, some people enjoy it so wtf do I know? And this is not hostility toward DH. It’s just an opinion from a TV watcher. Some shows i enjoy, some I don’t.

@Chad,

Not only will Virtuality not bring in the 18-34 males, it misses in all catagories. FOX doesn’t need SciFi at all if you want to get right down to it.

Science Fiction alone will not keep a network on the air, hence, the renaming of SciFi to SyFy and the shifting from a pure Science Fiction channel by SCiFi over the past couple of years to a broader audience.

In today’s high tech world, SciFi isn’t “All that WOW” like it was even 10, 15 or 20 years ago.

~Lanie~

And yeah, I can see why Fox won’t pick it up. It’s not mainstream enough, it won’t bring in the 18-34 males. Fox needs more Dushku cleavage, now that’s quality sci-fi. Right?

I liked the premise of the virtual-reality-game-gone-haywire, as well as the go/no-go plot device, but found the reality show idea to be lame. I don’t watch reality shows ever, so why would I want to watch a show depicting a reality show? I think the story would have plenty of tension if it had been told in a more straight-forward fashion, sort of like the Alien movies, only with the boogie man in the virtual reality game instead of a monster. The faux tension introduced by the lame reality show plot device was not only annoying but unnecessary.

But the chief sin of this show was to be utterly humorless and to take itself too seriously. There wasn’t a single flash of redeeming wit throughout the entire two hours. I like science fiction, but even so I won’t tolerate stupid or bad drama.

Besides, Vrituality was pre-canceled – we knew that.

Wonder if she’d like playing a vampire on True Blood…She’d do vampire good, I think.

Wouldn’t mind seeing her on Burn Notice getting into fights with Fiona…

There wasn’t anything wrong with my reading comprehension, you are simply junping at any opportunity to express your fanatical anger over your little robot show getting cancelled due to lack of interest in it. The Robot Show is dead and gone, never coming back in any form. There is and never will be a S3, get over it.

Virtuality was bad, definitly not one of RDM’s better creations. Robert was dead on about the virtuality head gear, infact I thought I saw a “Caprica” logo on the one in the opening sequence LOL

Richard Steven Hack also has a valid point about the show getting claustrophobic by being confined in a ship for ten years and it does seem like a ST:TNG and DS9 holodeck ripoff. However; RSH mentions the “Q”, perhaps this could happen…..

Q could introduce the crew to a lethal human like killing machine much in the way he did with exposing Picard et al to the “Borg”. With a simple wave of his hand to punish humanity a sphere forms melting everything in it’s path.

As it subsides we see a crouched, naked Summer Glau rise and the only way for the crew to live is to run endlessly through adventure after adventure, jumping from one holodeck sequence to the next being chased all across the holodeck universe by Jameron! I know you are all over that!

But then again, FOX is too stupid to know a good show when they see one ha?

~Lanie~

–And that still wouldn’t deter that you need some reading comprehension, plus a better attitude.

I was going to go with “bitchy little girls” out of homage to Burn Notice (“you know spies are a bunch of bitchy little girls”) but I didn’t want to disparage the little girls.

And for the record, official scoring is still less than one hand! A couple of those instances were not attributed to me (one was a Gossip Girl Episode name and one was a direct quote of a line of dialogue from LOST).

God I love the haters, ok, here for the mentally deficient that need my comments written in crayon,

Robert you make an excellent point in the fact that Ron Moore would have two shows that the central plot was the result and/or created by virtual reality headgear.

Probably not a great idea.

Andrea, glad I could be of help. If there is anything else that confuses you like door knobs, forks and spoons or those annoying traffic signs with four letter words, just email me. Always glad to help.

~Lanie~

instead of guessing what this show was about, why not check it out on Hulu?

“On Friday June 26, 2009 Jessica Blank, wife of actor Erik Jensen who portrayed Dr. Jules Braun, posted a call to action on her husband’s Facebook page urging people to watch the movie and write in support of more episodes.”

Oh, here we go…

It appears this thing was an extended version of Star Trek:NG’s “holodeck”. Lame premise. Any series limited to a single star ship with no chance of landing anywhere for ten years (at near light speed they’re not going to slow down) is going to become claustrophobic within a few episodes – unless of course they run into the Borg or Q. VR adventures aren’t going to change that.

Clearly this would have been better as a mini-series or simply a TV movie or two.

Wow, reading comprehension please!

In addition to Virtuality being just plain bad you make an EXCELLENT point of Ron Moore having two virtual reality based SCI FI shows going at once.

I am also surprised I haven’t seen any conspiracy theorys that Michael Jackson’s untimely demise was some sort of plot hatched by Joss Wheddon and Dollhouse to kill Virtuality, much in the same manner DH was the reason TSCC was canned.

Real fans know numbers and profit really have nothing to do with the renewal.LOL

~Lanie~

It’s a shame that quality “hard” sci-fi is such a tough brand for a network to sell these days, but the whole 40 year old virgin geek in grandma’s basement stereotype is so pervasive that those who really should know better-see: Gina Bellafonte’s New York Times review-often work to marginalize potential viewers even further than they already are. Not to mention the fact that the primary demo for a show like ‘Virtuality’ stays away from the TV in droves on Friday nights anyway.

It’s easy to blame FOX given their track record, but at least Kevin Reilly had the grace to show the pilot on something other than July 4th weekend. And It’s good that we at least had the opportunity to see it, when so many unordered pilots are just shelved. I’d just wish they’d realize that with netflix, the internet, live streaming on your x-box, opening weekend-take-all theatrical releases, and the all important ‘getting plastered at your fine local drinking establishment’, that the sub AARP target demo for growing a genre show (e.g. ‘The X-Files’) on Friday night just doesn’t exist anymore, and likely never will again.

I guess I don’t understand why things that ‘take risks’ where those piles of pilot cash are already spent aren’t aired in time slots where the appropriate demos will be around to take advantage of them. (Ok, to be honest T:TSCC was given a pretty fair shake before being banished to the Friday night death slot.) And if FOX wants to create an audience for scripted programming on Friday’s, why not commission the next ‘Matlock’, or just dump something like ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ into a Friday slot that’ll still have a demographic carry-over. Otherwise you end up flushing an expensive, difficult to market, but ultimately very high quality piece of work like Virtuality down the toilet at a place and time that dooms it to oblivion.

Sure, miracles like the ‘Dollhouse’ renewal have happened. But fans don’t want miracles, we want Wednesday nights in November.

Speaking of the different set of people working there when his precious “Firefly” was stinking up the ratings, one of them was the producer of “Virtuality.” Does this mean now somebody will have to massage her to come back? For the second time?

Pity for poor Princess Whedon that it was a different-different set of people working there right after “Dullhouse” started.

“They have not made an official word, but they’re scheduling it on a night that I think has been characterized as the butt-end of the television universe. It’s sad for me and Ron — they said, “Hey come aboard. We love what you do.” And then we did what we do, and they went, “Ooh, s— man this is kind of much for us.” Given the scheduling time and the lack of promotion, call it a New Orleans funeral: We’ll be having a good time, and we’re grateful people at least have the opportunity to see what we did.”

http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2009/06/michael-taylor-interview.php

I *do* think FOX passed on Virtuality because its sci-fi but I doubt it was any more sci-fi before they ordered the pilot than it was in the pilot. The question I have is, why did they order it in the first place? I can’t do anything but speculate and not knowing things like how much FOX paid for the pilot, it’s hard to do anything but wildly speculate. Another day, perhaps.

Here’s a clue – fans whine when someone takes their candy away. It’s not rational, it’s often pathetic, but it is what it is. People don’t like losing something they enjoy, knowing they will never get it back.

It’s possible to make the case that Fox gave Virtuality a fair break (in my opinion, they did – barely) without being abusive and condescending.

I agree that online comments can exaggerate things, but based on what Joss, Michael Taylor, others have said in interviews is what puts up the red flag for me. Joss really had to be massaged to come back to FOX; he said it was a different set of people working there, and they were willing to give him creative room (after initially pulling on the restraints) as well as a second season–although there is still room for things to go seriously wrong with that.

I’m not so sure Ron Moore will come back to FOX–or the guys who made “Back To You”.

BTW, why do you think FOX may have passed on Virtuality if not it being too sci-fi?

Yeah, cause fringe is pretty simple what with the alternate reality storylines and both of the male protagonists being, for lack of a better term, criminals.

Sci Fi on primetime has always been limited, hell who remembers space: Above and Beyond – I do – 10 times better than this and FOX gave it little support and cancelled it too early – but if no one watches no one watches – the people who post on blogs like this are NOT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN TV VIEWER – the nielsen system, archaic and broken as it is is the arbiter of what will live and what will die.

Besides, why have quality tv that might require the average (moron) american to think when you can put together more reality shows that let the average american think it has a clue what ‘talent’ is.

Andrea, yeah I read about the dense comments. I’m not sure I buy it, but maybe that’s what the tests indicated.

As for a bad rep among the creative community, maybe. I don’t think it’s a great rep to have, but that’s the sort of thing that seemingly manifests in blog posts and comments but doesn’t wind up mattering much anywhere else. Joss Whedon was willing to work with FOX again even after Firefly! Though I’d guess you could probably find comments like that about almost every studio/network, there are only a very limited set of shops around to sign the paychecks and like everyone else, the creative people want to get paid too.

I hate to see it not continue, HATE. :_(

Virtuality is up on Hulu and FOX On Demand, if you are in the States.

FOX has stated that the show was too complicated (the actual word used was “dense”) for its viewers and that’s why it was passed on.

I also heard it was bumped up a week because FOX’s option doesn’t expire until Wednesday.

As you can be certain Ron Moore and Michael Taylor are not happy with FOX–they never received any answers on the state of the show until they heard about the “movie” as advertised by FOX instead of what it actually was–an open-ended pilot.

Forget about the viewers, it’s a bad thing when FOX TV has a bad rep among the creative community.

Dollhouse returns in 81 days! It rul3z!