Sydney Bloom, a telephone repair person, discovers that she has the ability to suck people's subconscious minds into her virtual computer simulations. All she has to do is call them. With the support of her best friend, Duncan, she explores her talents. Further complications arise due to a mysterious group called The Committee. During the course of the series, The Committee sent two different men to watch over her who become torn between their feelings for Sydney and their loyalty to the Committee. Sydney also discovers that her twin sister and father did not die as she remembers. They may very well be alive and in the clutches of The Committee. This mysterious group may also be behind how she received her gift in the first place. When the series ends, Sidney finds her father and sister. However she may have lost herself by using an advanced form of VR to awaken her mother from her vegetative state. The series was left in a permanent cliff hanger.
The show originally ran from March 10th to May 12th 1995 on the Fox Network. It has since been shown on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States and on other networks internationally. Occasionally, it has aired on SPACE in Canada. Fox has since cancelled other series before their time that I liked. Johnny Zero looked like it could have been fun but my experience with VR.5 as well as its replacement, Stange Luck, has taught me that FOX just doesn't give innovative programming a chance unless it has good ratings right away. The occasional good programme gets through like Dark Angel and Futurama. Both of those shows had powerful people behind them. Even so, Dark Angel - like VR.5 - was left with a cliff hanger ending.
| Actor | Character Name | Role in VR5 | Other Movie and TV Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| LORI SINGER | Sydney Bloom | the heroine | |
| MICHEAL EASTON | Duncan Magnum | her best friend | He has starred in two other short-lived series - Two, which was bad, and Total Recall 2070, which I liked. I have also seen him recently on One Life to Live. I draw the line at daytime soap operas because I watch too much TV as it is. |
| WILL PATTON | Dr. Frank Morgan | Sydney's first committee connection who dies defending her from them |
the coach who became assistant coach to Denzel Washington's character in Remember the Titans |
| ANTHONY STEWART HEAD | Oliver Sampson | Sydney's second protector | Rupert Giles was the librarian at Sunnydale high school before it blew up as well as Buffy's watcher on Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
| DAVID McCALLUM | Dr. Joseph Bloom | Sydney's father who invented VR.5 technology. Sydney believes he is dead at first. |
He guest starred on Jeremiah as the leader of a sect of monks who believed that the virus which wiped out all humanity above the age of puberty would return. Currently he co-stars on NCIS - a CBS program. |
| LOUISE FLETCHER | Nora Bloom | Sydney's mother is comatose throughout most of the series. | Kai Winn on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine a snarly piano teacher on Joan of Arcadia an interviewee on A&E Biography of Jack Nicholson |
| KACI WILLIAMS | young Sydney | Reoccurs in flashbacks about a possibly simulated car crash that supposedly killed her sister and father | |
| KIMBERLY CULLUM | young Samantha Bloom | Sydney's fraternal twin sister who is also in the car crash scenes | |
| TRACEY NEEDHAM | adult Samantha | Sydney's sister and father have been on the run from the committee for years |