"Virtuality": Did It Suck or Not?

You may have missed it last Friday, but Fox aired a groovy sci-fi show titled "Virtuality." See the video below for a clip. What hooked me what that it was created by some of the same folks behind the already-classic remake of "Battlestar Galactica."

The premise is basically Earth is in environmental collapse, and this ship and its crew are looking for an alternative home for us Earthlings. Switch it up by adding that the ship's crew is also part of a reality TV show, and every waking moment is being filmed for their millions of fans back home trying to survive tsunamis, etc. The crew breaks up the tedium of space travel and research and not knowing whether it's really day or night by fighting with each other and by escaping into their own virtuality reality--sort of like the holodeck on "Star Trek: Voyager." The only problem is, someone is screwing with their fantasies and trying to either rape or kill them!

The show played with interesting concepts of consciousness, whether anything we perceive is "real" and how humans handle that (or don't). We get a real idea of how tedious and maddening space travel might be, and what it's really like to throw 13 people into a small space for 10 years. And I thought "Big Brother" was icky!

"Virtuality" looked promising: compelling premise, interesting characters and writing and production values. It even had hunky men--like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (pictured), previously of Fox's cancelled "New Amsterdam"--and a gay astronaut couple! Although some of the crew conflict scenes grated on my nerves, I realled wanted to find out who was tinkering with their "holodeck" and exactly where Commander Pike's apparent near-death experience would lead. But since Fox isn't picking up the show for a full series, I'll never know! The show ended with a great cliffhanger--and that's it! Did Pike really die? Had the crew been lied to about their mission?

If you saw it, I'd love to hear your opinion. It looked like an intelligent show. Meanwhile, we have "Dance Your A** Off!"

Here's what one critic had to say. Check out a video clip below.