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Virtuality is a serious science fiction story that follows the 12 person crew of the Phaeton on its one-way journey to a distance star in search of intelligent life and hopefully someway to save a failing Earth or at least a way to keep the human race alive (or that's how I interpret it, anyway). That much of it sounds like something we've seen before and that's not entirely a bad thing, there's some comfort in watching a well-established concept... but things are a little different on the Phaeton.

First of all, the entire journey is being filmed by various cameras positioned within and outside the ship, edited onboard, and beamed back to Earth as a reality television program with 5 billion loyal fans. No pressure guys... Second, as a way to give the crew their needed privacy and a break from the stresses of long-term space travel, they have been provided with a virtual reality system. Think of it like Star Trek: The Next Generation's holodeck, except initiated through a set of goggles instead of a special room. Third, there's a glitch in the system.

Since this two hour feature was meant to be a pilot for a television series, we get some basic insight into several of the characters and their motivations and personal tragedies. We see their breaking points and what they do to find release from these stresses. Most of the actors are entirely new to me and those I do recognize aren't big names that I immediately know. Yet, they're all quite good and I found their performances, which felt rather reality show-like (complete with a Real World style confessional) to be convincing and satisfying.

There are some really intriguing conflicts set up throughout the program and by the end things have really gotten complicated. It's all setting up for what could be a really good weekly drama... only, it almost certainly won't be. The show aired on FOX on a Friday night with no advertising to speak of resulting in only 1.5 million viewers. That's half of what other shows like the now canceled Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles earned. This saddens me. Virtuality looks to have been a really entertaining science fiction drama that definitely would have kept me tuned in every week. Way to go FOX. If you want a chance to see it, you can find Virtuality on Hulu right now, but only for 14 more days.

4/5

I found this article on io9 explaining a bit about SyFy's plans for a reboot of the movie/TV series Alien Nation. I rather enjoyed the movie and followed the series with interest, though not dedication. SyFy has gotten Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) to do the writing (with a team, I am sure).

Though the article doesn't mention it, I actually find the current series, The Unusuals to be a great buddy-cop series, especially since it follows three sets of cop-buddies.

I think what interests me the most about Alien Nation is to see what sort of look they give it. BSG was great drama, sure, but the setting and effects really cemented the sense of reality the series was trying to convey. So I'm curious how the sense of an enormous alien spacecraft crashing on earth and then integrating the ships slave crew into modern society is going to feel, ya know?

I just finished watching the fourth episode of NBC's new series Merlin and I think I like it. The show follows a young Merlin (approximately 17 or 18) as a servant of Arthur Pendragon at Camelot. The king, Uther Pendragon is played by the only actor I actually recognize, Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Repo), who plays a really wonderful mean old king who is extremely over-protective of his children and also hates the smallfolk (which includes Merlin) even though Merlin has saved his son's life approximately five times in four episodes... which is kind of the problem with this series. It's getting difficult to believe that Uther is going to keep spewing this hatred for Merlin even though the young chap has proven his faithfulness and dedication and trustworthiness time and again by doing a significantly better job at keeping his son alive than he seems capable of himself. Besides this constant conflict, we find the typical elements of television drama such as young romance, family conflict, trust issues, and fear of the unknown (generally in the form of magic). Unfortunately, the show lacks witty dialog and seems to feature fairly low-budget effects. Still, it's entertaining given the current drought of new programming and I'm a sucker for fantasy, especially in prime time on a major network.

3/5

ABC is remaking the 1980s sci-fi miniseries "V" this time starring a short-haired Morena Baccarin (Firefly, Stargate SG-1) as the leader of the alien race. ABC has posted some preview clips from the upcoming series, expected to run four seasons with 13-22 episodes each season.

I'm still not sure what to feel when confronted by yet another remake of a program I remember fondly from my childhood. On the one hand, I wonder why we aren't getting any original programming, and on the other, I am extremely excited to revisit something I enjoyed so much, but with better writing and effects. I'll give it a chance.

Consolidating some of what I've seen in the news on i09 today, Dollhouse and Chuck will return next season, though both with slightly lower budgets, and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles has officially been terminated.

It's definitely bittersweet news. I really like Dollhouse and TSCC both, and it's tough for me to say which I would choose to live and which to die. In the end, I'm just happy at least one of them will be living on, even if it is getting hooked up to life-support.

Based on a tweet from Eliza Dushku (via io9), "DOLLHOUSE talk's are goin' on~..." I think I still have one episode left to watch, but I would definitely love to see more Dollhouse next season.

Imagine, if you will, a world in which teenagers and children are entrusted with the safety and security of the world, nae, the galaxy through the application of advanced technology and, quite often, giant robots! You're probably thinking, "Hey, we've seen this before! Voltron(s), Power Rangers, G-Force, etc."

The highly intelligent and humorous bunch from Robot Chicken have developed a show that tries to demonstrate what would really happen if we entrusted our teenagers with giant robots... Enter Titan Maximum!

I'm sold.

As if it's any surprise at all, FOX has decided not to air the Dollhouse finale. To be clear, the episode they will be airing as final is the ending Joss had wanted with closure, but not a true ending to the whole thing. Plus, the final episode features both Felicia Day and Alan Tudyk.

Seriously, FOX can fucking taste it.

On my drive home this evening I had this crazy random thought about semi-trucks and wondered why they don't make them sleeker, you know, like from that '80s series "The Highwayman?" Which inspired me to actually look up some information on this series to see if I am remembering it correctly. Obviously I dug up the Wikipedia article, but I also found the fantastically '80s intro for the show, plus some footage of the truck and the transformation from truck to helicopter. Wow.

After reading more about it, the cast is actually pretty interesting. It stars Sam Jones who starred as Flash in "Flash Gordon," Claudia Christian who was Ivanova in Babylon 5, Jane Badler who was in the series V, and Tim Russ who was Tuvok in Star Trek Voyager (who I just found out, was born in Washington DC). And don't forget the narration by William Conrad who voiced Marshal Matt Dillon in the old radio series Gunsmoke. Alright, I know that because I listen to NPR on Sunday nights...

It's always fun looking back at old TV programs and movies to discover actors you never thought about at the time have been a part of some of your favorite films and movies since.

The curtains have been drawn on one of the best shows on television. The finale episode aired tonight (well, technically last night) and it was a doozy. It tied up most of the loose ends and explained a lot of the big lingering questions. Not everything was neat and tidy, mind you, but I don't (yet) feel bothered by that. I guess I feel pretty good about it in general. No need for spoilers or anything, I don't really feel a need to burst out with the "OMG, how could they!" issues. It was big, it was flashy, it was sad and emotional and hopeful. It was good. It was really really good and I think they did a great job of tying up an extremely complicated show in a way that didn't insult the fans. Good job folks!