Jul 14, 2009

Syphye's Choice



Here's an honest question.

If you could pick between Virtuality and Warehouse 13 which would you choose to get a full season?

I would choose Virtuality in a heartbeat. Its about as hard of SF as I've seen on TV in the last 5 years. It's a unique take, an SF show set within the next 100 years of space exploration. Wide cast of characters, plenty of potential past the 3-person Warehouse 13. Not to mention that Ron Moore gave us Battlestar which is one of the best SF show of the last 5 years.

Warehouse 13 on the other hand is the exact opposite. We've got a fairly standard set-up: Two government agents (one male, one female) with conflicting personalities get paired up and tasked with dealing with bizarre and unusual cases. X-Files/Fringe/Eureka. Throw in some sexual tension, a weird character for a little comic relief (See the Lone Gunman/John Noble/Fargo), and a loose overall arc and you've got yourself a show. We've already got Eureka, we didn't need Eureka light.

Don't get me wrong, there was nothing explicitly wrong with Warehouse 13. I will most likely be watching it as long as it improves on the pilot. It's just that it's more of the same. And while it's safe (see ratings for proof), it's also going to be forgetable. You create classics (Star Trek, X-Files, Lost) by stepping outside the box, by doing something different. I can't guarantee that Virtuality will enter that Pantheon of Genre TV but unless someone is willing to give a new idea a shot, no show ever will.

Now realistically, there's a 1% chance of getting more Virtuality and a 99% chance of getting at least 13 episodes of Warehouse 13. You can file Virtuality in the Warehouse 13 of television along with Firefly, Farscape, and the one television executive willing to cancel Smallville.

But we can always hope.

2 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more. When I got done watching Warehouse 13 I felt I could take it or leave it. I wasn't special or creative in any way. I wanted to find in it what I had read other people saying, that it was great; but it wasn't

    Even though Virtuality felt like the holodeck from Star Trek, I liked that the antagonist seemed to be something coming from within. Also, they had to decide whether to continue beyond the no return point made it interesting. I did think the issue with the doctor being sick was too much. Long term missions in space always seem to lose their doctors early on (ST:Voyager?).

    If I had to choose, though, it would be Virtuality. I think it is more creative the Warehouse 13.

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  2. I was watching Episode 2 this week and I was thinking that instead of Warehouse 13 I would have loved to see The Lost Room SyFy miniseries expanded into a TV show. Same base premise of people looking for mystic artifacts but framed in a story I find much more interesting.

    If you haven't seen The Lost Room, I would recommend it.

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