VR.5

VR.5 is an American television program originally 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 the virtual world.

VR.5 (1995) is an American science fiction drama broadcast on Fox, created by Michael Katleman, Adam Cherry, Jeannine Renshaw, Geoffrey Hemwall and Thania St. John. Lori Singer plays Sydney Bloom, a protagonist whose experiences inside a virtual world begin to blur with her waking life, and Anthony Stewart Head plays Oliver Sampson, one of the figures drawn into the unsettling technology surrounding her. Michael Easton as Duncan and Will Patton as Dr. Frank Morgan round out the principal cast. The engine of the series is the protagonist's struggle to understand how deeply the virtual system has taken hold of her, while the people around her pursue their own agendas. The show runs as a single season of thirteen episodes, with ten broadcast during its original run, and it follows a serialized mystery structure built around the virtual environment. Its tone is paranoid and eerie, with a 1990s techno-thriller texture and an emphasis on the uneasy seam between simulation and the physical world. Fans of Lawnmower Man, Strange Days and Dark Angel will find a similar appetite for near-future technology dread and digital identity.

• Lawnmower Manshared virtual reality premise, near-future tech paranoia, and 1990s techno-thriller tone
• Strange Daysshared cyberpunk-adjacent tech thriller tone and digital reality as a site of danger
• Dark Angelshared near-future technology thriller with a conspiratorial corporate edge and a dual-reality premise

Created by

Michael Katleman, Adam Cherry, Jeannine Renshaw, Geoffrey Hemwall, Thania St. John

Release Date

1995-03-10

Episode runtime

43 min

Rating

7.3 / 10 (20)

What is VR.5 about?

A 1995 Fox science fiction series in which a woman immersed in a virtual world must navigate the line between simulation and reality.

What is VR.5 like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of VR.5 as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is VR.5 violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in VR.5 as mild.

Which shows are like VR.5?

Shows with a similar feel include Lawnmower Man, Strange Days, and Dark Angel.

How long is VR.5?

VR.5: 1 season, 13 episodes.

Is VR.5 still running?

No, VR.5 has ended.