If you're looking for something different on television, "VR.5" might be the show for you.
But if you're looking for something both different and good, this new hour from Fox is more than a little iffy."VR.5" (7 p.m., Ch. 13) is an acronym for the fifth level of virtual reality. And it's into this world - a window into the subconscious mind - that Sydney Bloom (Lori Singer) accidentally thrusts herself.
Sydney works by day as a linesman for the telephone company but spends her off hours in front of her "home brew" computer. Somewhat of a social misfit since the accidental deaths of her father (David McCallum) and twin sister some 15 years earlier, Sydney is more at home in cyberspace than in the real world.
But, by means of a simple error, Sydney discovers a way to go far beyond the virtual reality mock-ups in her computer - a way into a virtual world accessed at the sub-conscious level. The experiences are, for all intents and purposes, real for the user - but may or may not be remembered by those Sydney takes into VR.5 with her.
All of which becomes rather intriguing as Sydney discovers that she can communicate with her catatonic mother (Louise Fletcher) and even catches glimpses of her father - a scientist who was at the cutting edge of VR technology at the time of his death.
But then - is he really dead?
Sydney's breakthrough brings her to the attention of The Committee, a shadowy group that sometimes seems to be the good guys and sometimes seems to be the bad guys. It never seems very clear.
Unfortunately, the promise of "VR.5" is not kept - at least not in the three episodes provided to critics. The intriguing premise is squandered on disjointed, unintelligible plots that seem more intent on creating style than substance.
Intrigue and mystery are fine, but there has to be something behind that for viewers to latch on to.
And the casting of Singer is no help. The character she creates is so distant that it's difficult to care much what happens to her.
The world of VR.5 itself is relatively low-tech, as special effects go. Most of the film footage is simply 35mm film that's changed to black-and-white before having various weird colors programmed back into it.
There are some computer-generated effects, but they just add to the general weirdness of the show.
And this show is very, very weird.
If you do get sucked into "VR.5," there is light at the end of the tunnel. The producers promise that the mysteries they're creating will be cleared up by the end of the show's initial run of 13 episodes.
But, by then, we'll have a whole new set of mysteries for "VR.5" to spin off into should the show continue beyond that point.
Chances are, it won't.
AN EASY GIG: Asked what it's like to play a character in a coma, Louise Fletcher quipped, "It's very restful."
"No, actually, I'm more catatonic than in a coma," she added. "But then there are other parts where my daughter can call me into virtual reality and I am conscious. . . . But in reality, as opposed to virtual reality, I am traumatized and in a catatonic state."
And David McCallum's role as Fletcher's husband and Singer's father is also rather odd.
"I turned up for a couple of days work, and I found out that I was dead," he said. "And then I did my death. And then I thought, `Well, it's time to go home.'
"But then (the producers) said, `Well, the death was kind of interesting. We'd like to do a bit more of it.' So, this character literally comes out of the grave. We're now on episode seven or eight, and I'm still dead. I keep meeting Lori under the most wild and wonderful circumstances."
For McCallum, it's a relatively stress-free way to appear in a weekly television series.
"I do one day's work and then everybody talks about me for six days. So I don't have to be there," he said. "But I just worry that if he ever does come back out of virtual reality that the reality might not be as interesting. . . . But at the moment, I am recurring quite regularly. Still dead."
(Are you confused? If so, you've caught the spirit of "VR.5"
RESCHEDULED ON KUTV: The folks at NBC have decided to let the folks at KUTV-Ch. 2 air the original programming the station pre-empted on Thursday for Utah basketball and the programming it will pre-empt Saturday for high school basketball.
"Mad About You" will air Sunday at 11:15 p.m. The very good new sitcom "Hope & Gloria" will follow at 11:45 p.m.
(The "Seinfeld" that aired Thursday was a 3-year-old repeat and will not be seen this weekend on Ch. 2.)
The women's figure skating finals at the World Championships - which NBC is broadcasting on tape-delay - will be joined in progress Saturday after the basketball game (approximately 9 p.m.). The entire three-hour program will be rebroadcast Saturday (early Sunday) at 12:05 a.m.
CASTING CALL: There's a cattle call . . . er, casting call for those of you who've always wanted to be an extra in a made-for-TV movie.
The casting directors for an upcoming CBS movie "For the Love of my Daughter" - starring Joanna Kerns ("Growing Pains") - are looking for "a lot of people, all ages and all ethnic groups, from babies to senior citizens."
If you fit into that group, go to the Crossroads Mall in downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., fill out a form and turn over a recent picture. (Polaroids are OK.)
And good luck.
QUICK HOOK: "The Great Defender" has made history on Fox.
It's the first show that network has ever canceled after only one airing.
That's right. "The Great Defender" has been yanked off the air following its premiere episode last Sunday at 6 p.m. The reason? Ratings, of course. Or, rather, lack thereof.
"Defender" finished 87th out of 87 shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox last week. Worse yet, it pulled a 3.4 rating and a 6 share. (Each rating point equals 954,000 homes, and the share is the percentage of TV homes actually watching TV.)
That's incredibly bad.
This Sunday, Fox will air a couple of "Martin" reruns in place of "The Great Defender." On March 19, "Encounters: The Hidden Truth" will return for a while.
Fox programmers also say that the seven remaining episodes of "Defender" might air sometime, someplace. Maybe.
But not if they get a 6 share.