Fox has announced, through recent press materials, that the Ronald D. Moore creation, Virtuality, will be airing on Fox on Friday, June 26 from 8 to 10 pm (EST). This is good news to fans and gives the tiniest glimmer of hope that Fox might end up giving Virtuality a midseason series order, though the prospects remain dim. It had originally been reported that Fox would air Virtuality on July 4, not only a Saturday night, but also on a holiday, almost ensuring that hardly anyone would see the series hopeful. The move not only pulls Virtuality away from the July 4th holiday, it puts it on a Friday night as well, a night that Moore did well with during Battlestar Galactica.
Virtuality follows the journey of Earth's first starship, the Phaeton, on a 10-year journey that is critical to the survival of Earth. While on their 10 year mission the 12 astronauts are given virtual reality modules to keep themselves sane, embarking on adventures or merely relaxing on a beach somewhere; whatever they can imagine. The virtual reality modules are ultra-life-like, but there's some kind of bug in the system.
It becomes obvious that a virus has been placed into their private worlds and suspicions are raised that it could be one of the crew. Before the captain can shut down the modules a tragic event happens that threatens the mission, but it isn't clear whether the event is real, or virtual. However, it hardly matters as it's too late to turn back. As if that isn't enough, the crew must also deal with surveillance cameras that capture everything they do for a reality series back on Earth.
Virtuality was originally shot as a two-hour pilot for a new Fox series, however last month when Fox announced that it would air over the summer as a movie of the week, the prospects seemed low. They grew further dim when Virtuality was not included in Fox's fall schedule at their upfront presentations. Typically, pilots of this nature are aired over the summer in an attempt for the network to break even on their investment, however if Virtuality were to pull in enough viewers, it is possible that the series could end up being picked up as a midseason replacement. Although the prospects seem very dim for Virtuality, if it were to prove popular enough, things could change. Until then we'll have to settle for the small piece that we get on June 26.
