Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503080009
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Even viewers who don't know Internet from an interstate will be able to connect with the drama based on the concept of computer-generated virtual reality, they insist.
``We've been pegged as a science-fiction show, and I beg to differ,'' says co-producer Geoffrey Hemwall. ``From the day we conceived of this, we stayed away from that label.
``Fox was concerned that this would be a show about a bunch of computer geeks.
``No,'' Hemwall says firmly.
``Our cards are on the table,'' adds writer and co-creator Jeannine Renshaw. ``If you have a sense of fantasy and enjoy watching good storytelling, you'll enjoy the show.''
``VR.5'' toys with science to give freer reign to dramatic and visual possibilities, they say. Its executive producer is John Sacret Young, whose credits include the Emmy-winning drama ``China Beach.''
Making its debut on Friday (at 8 p.m. on WJPR/WFXR-Channel 21/27), ``VR.5'' stars Lori Singer as Sydney Bloom, a withdrawn woman who stumbles onto a way to turn computer games into wild, potentially dangerous adventures.
Sydney tries to use her new-found skills to probe a haunting family tragedy while also helping others in need of VR first aid.
The series precedes ``The X-Files,'' the stylish scarefest that also resisted the sci-fi tag and became a hit for Fox. The network hopes ``VR.5'' is a good match. It replaces ``MANTIS,'' which failed to capitalize on the ``X-Files'' success.
Co-starring in ``VR.5'' are David McCallum and Louise Fletcher as Sydney's parents, Michael Easton as her childhood pal and Will Patton as a professor who becomes her mentor and the link to a shadowy group, the Committee.
Anthony Stewart Head (of Taster's Choice coffee commercial fame) plays the cool-but-sexy head of the Committee.
A little pseudoscientific explanation is in order: Sydney breezes past virtual reality as it now exists - such as ``experiencing'' events like flying a plane - into a fictional fifth level, VR.5.
She enters computer-generated worlds that offer a window to the subconscious. Joining her on these unpredictable forays are unwitting fellow travelers Sydney pulls in via telephone modem.
The role of the shy, troubled young woman is a heroic one, says Singer, a film actress (``Short Cuts,'' ``Trouble in Mind'') who made her acting debut in the TV series ``Fame,'' based on the 1980 movie.
``She's facing down her own past,'' Singer says of the character. ``She's searching for her own answers ... yet at the same time she's on a quest to help others.''
The willowy Singer also gets the pleasure of taking on a number of guises. In virtual reality, the socially inept, unkempt Sydney can suddenly become a leather-clad seductress.
Charting Sydney's emotional growth is another of the show's strengths, Renshaw says.
``It's the idea of having a woman who becomes empowered through her mind,'' Renshaw says. ``She invents this incredible tool, and over the episodes she becomes empowered by what she has.
``You don't get a chance to see the lead character in a show evolve as much as we're having her evolve. She's taking charge. She's smart and she changes.''
Sydney's virtual reality trips allow for startling images, some drenched in crayon-bright colors, others sepia-toned. Special photography and film colorization (made infamous by use on movie classics) are the means.
``We can have turquoise bushes and lime-green clouds - and we do,'' Renshaw says. But the effects are there to serve the storyline, not the reverse, she says.
``We're not focused or obsessed or even all that excited by the special effects,'' she says. ``We're trying to find a way to do something unusual with story and concept and ways of revealing character that don't depend on `Oh, wow, what a neat effect.'''
The music also avoids high-tech overkill, Renshaw says. ``You will not hear a synthesized sound score,'' she vows. Composer John Frizell relies on opera as a key element.
``VR.5'' does not target computer buffs, but the producers invite them along,'' Renshaw says. ``And they're prepared for the comments likely to pop up on the Internet, which lets computer junkies talk to each other worldwide.
``We're all hooked up. Every one of us is on line. Although I still really don't know how to turn it on - someone does that for me.''
by CNB