The First Season

V.I.P. is an action/comedy television series with former Playboy Playmate Pamela Anderson as the headlining actress. When this series was airing on television, I caught a few episodes here and there, but never really got into it. I can't fathom how a show with Pamela Anderson could be a success. Regardless, the show aired for four seasons and even won an Emmy (for editing, not content or acting).

The show is about Vallery Irons (Pamela Anderson), who finds her self in the wrong place at the right time and ends up as the head figure for an exclusive celebrity bodyguard protection service. The show's tone is pretty relaxed with lots of overacting, explosions, cheesy dialogue, hard to stomach storylines, and just about everything else needed to make a horrible show.

As it turns out, V.I.P. is so bad that it is good. The cheesy demeanor of the show and its cast work out nicely and produce an enjoyable action series with dabs of comedy to keep you entertained. While you won't find yourself dying to see what happens next, it should prove entertaining if you enjoy bad action flicks.

In the pilot episode "Beats Work At A Hot Dog Stand", Vallery Irons' life is introduced. She came to Los Angeles from a small country town in hope of finding fame and glory. Of course, she ends up working a minimum wage job serving hot dogs from a hot dog stand with her close friend Maxine De La Cruz (Angelle Brooks). One boring day, a famous action celebrity Brad Cliff stopped by for a hot dog. Val was star struck by Brad's visitation, and even more so when he asked Val to join him for the premiere of his latest movie.

While at the movie premiere, an angered moviegoer pointed a gun at Brad and he hide behind Val. Out of shock and surprise, more than anything, Val knocked the gun out the assailant's hand and giving security ample time to restrain him. Embarrassed, Brad told the press Val was his bodyguard and not his date. Feeling sorry for him, she played along with it.

Meanwhile the head of Colt Arrow Security, a celebrity bodyguard agency, recently hightailed it out of the country when he found out the IRS was investigating him for tax fraud. Without a big name to catch celebrity's attention, the agency had to find someone new. The name Vallery Irons happened to fit the bill. And so, the agency was renamed Vallery Irons Protection (V.I.P.) and became an instant success.

The rest of the cast members include Tasha Dexter (Molly Culver), an ex-CIA operative who is the real brains and brawn behind the operation, Nikki Franco (Natalie Raitano), a tough, aggressive beauty who likes shoot first and ask questions later and is oddly enough connected to the Russian Mafia, Quick Williams (Shaun Baker), the male only in the agency who provides a steady hand and his boyish charm, and finally, Kay Simmons (Leah Lail), the receptionist who is the computer expert and helps out in the field from time to time.

The stories in each episode are pretty hollow. They feature some unbelievable stories with many gaps. If you try to take them seriously, you won't enjoy it at all. With that said, they still turn out to be entertaining. The stories are complimented by the other many cheesy aspects of the series, which make for some enjoyable entertainment. There is also a comic aspect to characters, which make for a few quick laughs.

In the end, V.I.P. has enough bad elements that many will be turned away from it, which includes its cheesy dialogue, over the top acting performances, and all around bad action sequences. Despite, I found it all ties nicely together to produce some fun filled entertainment. The characters are all likeable and easy to get to know, although at times their back stories and whatnot will leave you rolling your eyes in disgust. While not the best television series I have encountered, V.I.P. is entertaining enough to keep your attention.

Episode Guide
1. Beats Working At A Hot Dog Stand
2. What To Do With Vallery When You're Dead
3. One Wedding And Val's Funeral
4. Bloody Val-entine
5. Scents And Sensibility
6. Diamonds Are A Val's Best Friend
7. Deconstructing Peri
8. Val Got Game
9. Vallery Of The Dolls
10. Midnight In The Garden Of Ronnie Beeman
11. Good Val Hunting
12. Escape From Val-Catraz
13. The Last Temptation Of Val
14. Val Under Siege With A Vengeance
15. Val On The Run (a.k.a. The Defiant One)
16. Thunder Val
17. The Quiet Brawler
18. K-Val
19. Mudslide Val
20. Raging Val
21. Three Days To Kill
22. Val The Hard Way

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 full frame color with some 1.33:1 full frame segments matted in widescreen. The picture quality looks pretty good and offers a fairly clean picture. There are traces of edge enhancement and compression artifacts. Colors usually look good, but there are occasions when they are slightly off.

Audio:
The audio is given in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The sound quality is adequate and like most TV on DVD releases provides an audible track with dialogue that is easy to hear throughout each episode. The track makes good use of the stereo capabilities. There are no subtitles included, but the release has support for English closed captioning.

Extras:
The first set of extras is three episode introductions. The introductions are short clips with various cast members introducing the episode. They include "Bloody Val-entine" with Molly Culver, "Diamonds Are A Val's Best Friend" with Natalie Raitano, and "Three Days To Kill" with Leah Lail. The next item is the behind the scenes featurette. It features executive producers J.F. Lawton and Morgan Gendel, along with composer Frankie Blue. The featurette last nine minutes and covers discussion about the series including the guest stars such as Jay Leno, Eva Mendes, Ice T, and Pauly Shore. Neither the episode introductions or the featurette turned out to be very exciting. The last item is the only real extra of value. It is an episode commentary for the season finale "Val The Hard Way" with J.F. Lawton, Morgan Gendel, Natalie Raitano, and Steve Kriozere. Overall the extras are not very appealing and will probably only please the true fans of the series.

Final Thoughts:
I remember V.I.P. not being a really great show and after watching season one, I have confirmed that fact. Without a doubt, V.I.P. is a bad show. However it turns out to be so bad, it's good. The show has lots of cheesy dialogue, unbelievable storylines, and over the top acting performances that tie together to produce some cheesy, yet entertaining material. There is enough goofy action with bits of comedy to keep you amused and entertained. In the end, season one of V.I.P. should make for a great rental.