[Televisionary]

I'm really bummed that more people didn't tune in to watch Friday night's broadcast of Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor's superlative two-hour pilot for Virtuality , directed by Peter Berg. You read my advance review of the gripping and haunting two-hour pilot of FOX's Virtuality but, now that it's aired, I am curious to hear what you think. (Missed the two-hour pilot? You can watch the whole thing at Hulu .) According to Hollywood Reporter 's The Live Feed , "The two-hour premiere of Ron Moore's sci-fi pilot drew only 1.8 million viewers and received a 0.5 adult demo rating -- tying ABC's "The Goode Family" as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network Friday night and putting Fox into fourth place for the evening." What I'm wondering is: why didn't more of you tune in to watch what was one of the more original and unique projects to come along in a long time? Were you put off by the twisty subject matter? O...

"I'm alive/And I'm alone/And I've never wanted to be either of those." - Chemical Brothers It's rare that a network ever airs a pilot that it doesn't intend to order to series, much less one that has engendered quite so much support from viewers ahead of its broadcast. And yet that's just what FOX is doing tonight with the gripping and sensational two-hour pilot for sci-fi drama Virtuality , from creators Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor of Battlestar Galactica fame. (You can find an exclusive interview with Michael Taylor here and a write-up of a press call with Ron Moore here .) Virtuality , gorgeously directed by Peter Berg ( Friday Night Lights ) is a mind-bending, acid-trip exploration of deepest space and the innermost recesses of the human heart. Deftly combining space-set action with reality television, Virtuality seeks to answer some eternal questions about the nature of reality itself. What is real? What's fantasy? And what happens w...

Following up on my recent exclusive (and candid) interview with Michael Taylor , co-writer/executive producer of FOX's Virtuality , which will air its two-hour pilot on Friday night, I participated in a recent press call with Taylor's co-creator on the project, Battlestar Galactica 's Ronald D. Moore, to get his take on the project, its viability, and the series' virtual worlds. So is Virtuality doomed to be a one-off movie or is there still hope that FOX could pick this up to series after airing the two-hour pilot, directed by Peter Berg? "I think you never say never," said Moore. "They haven’t picked it up to date. Their attitude, I think, is kind of wait and see. I think they want to see what the reaction is going to be. What are the critics going to say? Is it going to get word of mouth? Are fans going to gravitate to it or is the science fiction community really going to turn up for it? Is there going to be a certain buzz and excitement? I think rig...

What would you take with you into space? There's just a week to go before FOX airs the two-hour pilot for Ron Moore and Michael Taylor's sci-fi opus Virtuality . FOX has released official trailers for Virtuality , interviews with the cast, and webisodes based around Virtuality 's reality show-within-a-show, entitled "Edge of Never." Of course, this being a project with two writers involved with Sci Fi's trippy Battlestar Galactica , expect things to be not quite what they seem. With that said, dive into the virtual and not-so-virtual worlds of Virtuality . (And you can read my exclusive interview with co-creator Michael Taylor here .) Virtuality Preview - Everything's About to Change! Virtuality Preview - Fantasy vs. Reality! Virtuality Cast Interview: What would you bring to Space? Virtuality Preview - Host Intro! Virtuality Preview - Leap of Faith! Virtuality Preview - Robot Hand! Virtuality Preview - Space Painting! Virtuality Preview - Surfing ...

One of the most eagerly anticipated series from last season was the sci-fi suspense series Virtuality , created by Battlestar Galactica 's Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor and directed by Friday Night Lights ' Peter Berg, which will finally air its two-hour pilot later this month on FOX. I caught up with co-creator/executive producer Michael Taylor this morning for a one-on-one interview, in which he discusses the likelihood of FOX picking up Virtuality to series, what his and Ron's ideas were for the first season's storylines, Sci Fi's interest in the series, that jaw-dropping slingshot sequence, and, oh, a punk-rock Japanese version of the theme song from The Munsters . Televisionary: Can you describe for people who might not be familiar with the series, the overall concept of Virtuality ? Michael Taylor: It's set in a near future, 20-30 years out against a backdrop of an Earth that's experiencing a severe global warming, something that we could well be...

FOX has now shifted the world broadcast premiere of the two-hour sci-fi telepic Virtuality , from Battlestar Galactica 's Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor and director Peter Berg, from its July 4th airdate to Friday, June 26th at 8 pm ET/PT. The film, originally meant to be a two-hour backdoor pilot for an ongoing series , stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ( New Amsterdam ) as Commander Frank Pike, the head of the crew of interstellar vessel Phaeton who find escape from the mundanity of their ten-year journey by venturing into virtual worlds, where--thanks to a glitch in the system--they are seemingly attacked by a malevolent figure. FOX describes Virtuality 's themes with the following: "The two-hour movie raises fascinating questions about the lines (or lack thereof) between reality and virtual reality. What would you do if you were faced with the prospect of going on a 10-year space journey to another planet in order to save an Earth ravaged by global warming, food shortag...

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. While the fate of NBC's on the bubble action comedy series Chuck is still unknown, executive producer McG--who helmed the pilot episode--is feeling positive about an eleventh hour renewal. "We're optimistic," he told SCI FI Wire. "We're going to find out in a week. But the fans have spoken. People really rallied and articulated their love of the show, but it's a cold-hearted numbers business. And I'm happy to report that the people at NBC like the show." ( SCI FI Wire ) ABC has given an early series order of thirteen episodes to single-camera comedy Modern Family , from writer/executive producers Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan. The 20th Century Fox Television-producted project, formerly known as My American Family , will track the lives of three American families--one a traditional nuclear family, one a gay couple with an adopted Vietnamese baby, and the last an older man with a young Lat...

At yesterday's Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour press Q&A , Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly didn't directly mention drama pilot Virtuality , from Battlestar Galactica 's Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor, by name but he did speak about the network's commitment to airing programs that are "bold" with a "point of view." By its very definition, Virtuality , about the crew of interstellar vessel Phaeton who find escape from their mundane existence in virtual reality (where they are seemingly attacked by a glitch in the system), would seem to perfectly fit that description. The two-hour pilot, directed by Peter Berg ( Friday Night Lights ) and produced by Universal Media Studios, stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, James D'Arcy, Sienna Guillory, Clea DuVall, Kerry Bishe, Joy Bryant, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Erik Jensen, Gene Farber, Omar Metwally, Jimmi Simpson, and Richie Coster. After the press Q&A, James Hibberd of Hollywood ...