The TV Addict 

Good News: According to TLC, Jon and Kate Gosselin will no longer be speaking to the media in an effort to focus soley on the needs of their family. Bad News: Rest assured, that’s not about to stop People, Us Weekly, InTouch, Star and OK! magazine from covering the family thanks to the now ubiquitous “sources close to Jon & Kate…” [Source]

Good News: BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT phenom Susan Boyle has reportedly been offered a cameo on the new season of UGLY BETTY. Bad News: Three words: Jump. The. Shark. [Source] According to ABC, rumors of Susan Boyle appearing on UGLY BETTY have been greatly exaggerated. And by that we mean, false!

Good News: Over the weekend, VIRTUALITY made headlines for FOX. Bad News: For delivering a fourth place finish on Friday night after attracting a mere 1.8 million viewers. [Source]

By: Aleks Chan

Ronald D. Moore, he of various STAR TREK incarnations, ROSWELL, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, has earned enough creditability in the last 15 years that when his name is attached to a project, just enough eager heads turn to look. Like his fellow auteurs JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon, he garners a viewership that – no matter where he takes them – is willing to at least have a peek and look around. Their devotion is anchored mostly by one or two hits: Whedon’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER helps drive what little viewership DOLLHOUSE has – the fact that JJ Abrams is one of the masterminds behind LOST and FRINGE probably didn’t hurt the recent Star Trek film’s box office gross.

Which is part of the initial allure of VIRTUALITY (airing tonight at 8PM on FOX), the hope that lighting can indeed strike twice. Set in a nondescript future, a team of 12 astronauts travel the far reaches of the Milky Way on a 10-year journey to a faraway star system that could hold the salvation of the human race – scientists back on earth have concluded that the planet will succumb to environmental doom in the next century. They travel in, by comparison to BATTLESTAR’s cramped, rickety ship, a luxury cruiser called Phaeton, equipped with a talking computer system that speaks in calm, dulcet tones, and seemingly has complete control over the ship’s functions.

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With FOX unveiling Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor’s much buzzed about first post-BATTLESTAR GALACTICA project tonight at 8PM on FOX, this TV Addict thought now would be as good a time as any to dedicate today’s Top 5 to things you should know about VIRTUALITY.

1. It’s reality TV in space
Recognizing what co-creator Ronald D. Moore calls, “a fundamental interest of people watching other real people or at least what they perceive as real people as opposed to watching fictional programming,” Moore alongside co-creator Michael Taylor cleverly built their series around exactly that; a reality TV show entitled Edge of Never: Life on the Phaeton. Complete with branded crew uniforms, confessionals, not to mention a group of really good looking actors — fans of SURVIVOR and THE AMAZING RACE will be right at home, as the good, bad and ugly from the Phaeton crew’s 10-year mission is ‘broadcast’ back to earth.

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Veteran television producer Michael Taylor (STAR TREK VOYAGER, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, CAPRICA) is no dummy. He understands how the television industry works and knows all too well that the only way VIRTUALITY (the show in which he co-created with BSG’s Ron Moore) has a shot of getting picked up as a regular series is if the fans tune into the pilot two-hour movie that FOX is dumping airing tomorrow night at 8PM.

“I think all of the online attention is important. Letter-writing campaigns, all that stuff, is wonderful. But really, it’s eyeballs on televisions on Friday night. That’s what it comes down to. People have to turn out and watch this show,” explained Taylor in an interview posted earlier today on HITFIX.com, “There’s a big audience out there and if FOX sees a hint of that big audience, or more than a hint, it could be a series.”

Which is why this TV Addict wanted to do his part by sharing with you Taylor’s Top 10 Reasons to check out VIRTUALITY — in the hopes that in turn, you’d share it with a friend or two via your blog, facebook, twitter etc. After-all, the success of quality fare like VIRTUALITY means less room for FOX to continue to contribute to television’s downfall with reality TV like MORE TO LOVE, the reality show which chronicles a ‘regular’ guy’s search for love among a group of real women, which incidentally comes to a small screen near you on Tuesday, July 28 at 9PM on FOX.

10. Free “Friend of Ron Moore” ball cap (normally only available on “Ron Moore Day” at Dodgers stadium).

9. Get reserved seats at the hottest panel at Comicon next year!

8. Receive your very own easy-to-assemble Starship Phaeton, no pilot’s license needed to operate provided you stay within the solar system and always wear a helmet.

7. What else are you gonna do on a Friday night? Um, okay, so maybe that’s a crappy reason but hey, that’s why it’s up here at number 7.

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In a surprising move, FOX has quietly pushed up the premiere of VIRTUALITY, Ronald D. Moore’s two-hour movie (read: failed pilot) from July 4th to June 26. More peculiar still is that to coincide with said under-the-radar movie, an email found its way into theTVaddict.com’s inbox this morning asking if we’d be interested in interviewing any of the show’s producers/ writers/ and stars (yes please!) Begging the question: Does the one-two combo of FOX moving VIRTUALITY off of what is traditionally one of the least watched night’s of television of the year (July 4th, America’s Birthday), and the networks sudden/ unexpected need to promote the movie lend credence to the incessant rumors that VIRTUALITY is not nearly as dead as we all initially thought? Discuss.