Sci-fi geeks have been excited about this for ages, but I’ve never said a word until now about “Virtuality,” a two-hour movie that will air on Fox tonight.  The story is this: in the near future, 12 people will be sent on a mission to go explore a new planet/star system that may support life.  And because it’s the near future, of course there are cameras and it’s a reality show.  THEN the people of Earth learn that oh crap this planet is F’d and it will only support life for another hundred years, so there’s extra pressure on the crew.  (UNLESS that’s just a trick by the TV producers to ratchet up tension onboard!)

Anyway, it seems like a pretty cool premise except for the inclusion of virtual reality into the plot.  Like, seriously?  Virtual reality hasn’t been part of the collective vision of the future for a good ten years now.  And while it worked as a plot device in Strange Days, I think we’ve all gotten to the point of laughing at virtual reality as something silly that we mistakenly thought was cool in the ’90s.  Like women in overalls, Cross Colours, Color Me Badd, and pushing me down the stairs between classes.