VR.5

This article is about the television series. For other uses, see VR-5.

VR.5
220px VR.5 DVD cover
Created by	Jeannine Renshaw
Starring	Lori Singer Michael Easton Will Patton Anthony Head David McCallum Louise Fletcher Tracey Needham
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	44 min (approx.)
Production company(s)	Samoset Productions Rysher Entertainment
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	March 10 – May 12, 1995
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

VR.5 is an American science fiction television series first broadcast on the Fox network from March 10, 1995 to May 12, 1995. Ten of its thirteen episodes were aired during its original run. The title of the show refers to the degree of immersion the protagonist experiences in virtual reality.

Plot

Prior to the events of the series, Sydney Bloom (Lori Singer) was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Bloom (David McCallum), a computer scientist who was working on developing virtual reality. His wife Nora Bloom (Louise Fletcher), a neurochemist, was also involved in the project. Sydney's father, and her sister Samantha (Tracey Needham), died in a car accident.

Now Sydney is a telephone lineworker and computer hobbyist. One day she accidentally discovers that she can enter an advanced type of virtual reality, where she can interact with other people. Her actions in the virtual world have an effect on the real world. She subsequently agrees to use her abilities to help a mysterious secret organization called the Committee. She receives her covert assignments from Frank Morgan (Will Patton), and later from Oliver Sampson (Anthony Head). Sydney's friend Duncan (Michael Easton) advises her and helps her when he can.

The show frequently uses inconsistencies in continuity and a distinctive color scheme as clues to suggest what is actually happening at various points throughout the series.

Cast

• Lori Singer as Sydney Bloom
• Michael Easton as Duncan
• Will Patton as Frank Morgan (episodes 1-4)
• Anthony Head as Oliver Sampson (episodes 5-13)
• David McCallum as Joseph Bloom
• Louise Fletcher as Nora Bloom
• Tracey Needham as Samantha Bloom

Production

Development

VR.5, a mid-season replacement, debuted shortly after the rise to popularity of The X-Files, and executive producer Thania St. John stated that "VR will try to capture that same, creepy feeling."

Filming

The show's visual effects for when characters were inside virtual reality were created by shooting on black-and-white film and then manually adding color to each image. This effect took four weeks to create for each episode and added to the cost of the show, which was about US $1.5 million per episode. While distributor Rysher Entertainment never confirmed it, the high cost of the production, coupled with a difficult time slot, contributed to the show's commercial failure.

Music

The music for VR.5 was created by composer John Frizzell. The opening theme music came to Frizzell in a dream. Dee Carstensen and Eileen Frizzell provided the vocals in the opening theme. The music supervisor of the series was Abby Treloggen.

Episodes

Main article: list of VR.5 episodes

US order of episodes

No.	Title	Airdate
1	"Pilot"	10 March 1995
2	"Dr. Strangechild"	17 March 1999
3	"Sisters"	N/A
4	"Love and Death"	24 March 1995
5	"5D"	31 March 1995
6	"Escape"	7 April 1995
7	"Facing the Fire"	14 April 1995
8	"Simon's Choice"	21 April 1995
9	"Send Me an Angel	N/A
10	"Control Freak"	28 April 1995
11	"The Many Faces of Alex"	5 May 1995
12	"Parallel Lives"	N/A
13	"Reunion"	12 May 1995

• "Sisters," "Send Me An Angel," and "Parallel Lives" were not broadcast on Fox. They are called the "missing episodes" and were broadcast in countries like Canada, Norway, and the UK. The series was eventually shown in its entirety on the Sci Fi Channel.

UK order of episodes

Sky TV in the UK broadcast VR.5 out of order:

UK no.	Title	US no.
1	"Pilot"	1
2	"Dr. Strangechild"	2
3	"Love and Death"	4
4	"5D"	5
5	"Escape"	6
6	"Facing the Fire"	7
7	"Simon's Choice"	8
8	"Control Freak"	10
9	"The Many Faces of Alex"	11
10	"Send Me an Angel"	9
11	"Reunion"	13
12	"Parallel Lives"	12

• The episode "Sisters" was not aired to make room for an "X-Files" documentary.

Legacy

The series was broadcast on CBS Drama in Europe in early 2014.

Virtual Storm, an online community, lobbied Fox to develop a movie featuring the cast and crew of VR.5, but the project was dropped after the scripting stage.

External links

• VR.5 at IMDb
• VR.5 at epguides.com
• VR.5 at TV.com
• VR.5 FAQCenter Episode Guide
• FAQ with VR levels.