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V.I.P. (American TV series)

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V.I.P.
Genre
Created byJ. F. Lawton
Starring
Theme music composerFrankie Blue
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes88 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Pamela Anderson
  • J. F. Lawton
Running time45–48 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkSyndication
ReleaseSeptember 26, 1998 (1998-09-26) –
May 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)

V.I.P. is an American action comedy television series created by J. F. Lawton.[1] The series stars Pamela Anderson as Vallery Irons, a woman who accidentally saves a celebrity and then is hired by a real bodyguard agency V.I.P. a.k.a. Vallery Irons Protection.[2] Anderson served as an executive producer of the series.[3] It aired in syndication for four seasons from 1998 to 2002.

Synopsis

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Anderson stars as Vallery Irons, a woman who accidentally saves a celebrity and then is hired by a real bodyguard agency (V.I.P. a.k.a. Vallery Irons Protection) as a famous figurehead while the rest of the agency's professionals work to solve cases. Her lack of investigation skills ends up defeating the antagonists in every episode.[4]

The other team members are an assortment of people of different backgrounds: a former member of the KGB, CIA, FBI, a computer expert, a former law officer, a former street boxer/martial artist and, later, a karate master/stuntman joined.[5]

The series uses a mixture of action, comedy, and camp, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image.[6] In November 2001, a video game version of V.I.P. was released on the PlayStation console.

Many first season episodes opened with cameos of famous celebrities being protected by Vallery. Among them were Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jay Leno, Charles Barkley, Jerry Springer and Alfonso Ribeiro.[6] Loni Anderson, of no relation to Pamela Anderson, guest-starred in one episode as Vallery's mother. In season 2, Lisa Marie Varon had an uncredited appearance as a bodyguard. Kathleen Kinmont-See was a guest star in the season 4 episode "South by Southwest".

Cast

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Main

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  • Pamela Anderson — Vallery Irons, the glamorous figurehead
  • Molly Culver — Natasha "Tasha" Dexter, Vallery Iron's lead associate, a former spy and model
  • Natalie Raitano — Nicole "Nikki" Franco, the team's weapons and explosives expert
  • Angelle Brooks — Maxine De La Cruz (Seasons 3–4, recurring seasons 1–2), Vallery's best friend
  • Shaun Baker — Quick Williams, a former boxer and martial artist
  • Dustin Nguyen — Johnny Loh (Seasons 3–4, recurring seasons 1–2), a karate master and stuntman
  • Leah Lail — Kay Simmons, the team's computer expert

Recurring

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Guest stars

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Episodes

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SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
122September 26, 1998 (1998-09-26)May 22, 1999 (1999-05-22)
222September 25, 1999 (1999-09-25)May 20, 2000 (2000-05-20)
322October 7, 2000 (2000-10-07)May 19, 2001 (2001-05-19)
422September 22, 2001 (2001-09-22)May 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)

Merchandise

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On March 14, 2006, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the first season of V.I.P. on DVD in Region 1.[7]

V.I.P. received video game adaptations from Ubi Soft, for the PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance in 2001 and 2002. An adaptation for Xbox was announced but cancelled.[8]

In 2000, Johnny Lightning released two sets of V.I.P. themed diecast cars in 1/64 scale. There were 8 different vehicles issued in total.

TV Comics! published a comic based on the series in 2000.

The series V.I.P. was co-produced with Telewizja Polsat from Poland. This is the first foreign series co-created by Telewizja Polsat, which exclusively aired the show in Poland.[9]

Awards and nominations

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In 1999, the series was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. In 2002, V.I.P. was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Single Camera Editing.

Syndication

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External videos
video icon V.I.P. FULL PILOT EPISODE | V.I.P. (1998) on YouTube official upload of the series' pilot episode.

The show premiered in syndication on September 26, 1998.[citation needed] Among the stations that carried it was the ensemble of Fox's 22 owned-and-operated stations, who signed when the show was in pre-production in December 1997.[10] As of 2026, the series is currently airing on MeTV+ and is available for streaming online on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel (both via the Howdy subscription-video-on-demand streaming service that Roku owned) and the Fox Corporation-owned Tubi (that added in May 2021), but formerly on Crackle (until 2023). Episodes in Spanish debuted on CineSony on February 14, 2014.[11][12][13]

Select episodes of the show (including the pilot episode) are also available on the Piece of the Action and Throw Back TV YouTube channels (managed by Sony Pictures Television, the show's current international distributor).

Notes

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  1. ↑ Credited as Columbia TriStar Television Distribution
    (1998–2001)
    (seasons 1–4).

References

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  1. ↑ "V.I.P." The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ Tishman, Sasha (July 24, 2025). "27 Years Before The Naked Gun, Pamela Anderson Stole the Show in This Forgotten Cult Classic Action Series". CBR.
  3. ↑ Klotz, Jonathan (February 24, 2026). "Raunchy 90s Series Starring The Most Downloaded Woman On The Internet Is A Campy Good Time".
  4. ↑ ENDRST, JAMES (December 27, 1999). "Lee Has Campy Sexcapade Genre Down Pat". Retrieved August 14, 2017 – via LA Times.(subscription required)
  5. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (October 9, 2002). Crime Fighting Heroes of Television: Over 10,000 Facts from 151 Shows, 1949-2001. McFarland. ISBN 9780786413959. Retrieved August 14, 2017 – via Google Books.(subscription required)
  6. 1 2 "A Show So Dumb, It's Smart". The New York Times. October 8, 2000. Retrieved August 14, 2017.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ "V.I.P." TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2006.
  8. ↑ I. G. N. Staff (May 12, 2000). "V.I.P." IGN. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Polsat i Tołstoj". Newsweek.[dead link]
  10. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (December 11, 1997). "Fox stations sign on for Lee's 'V.I.P.'". Variety.
  11. ↑ "Watch V.I.P." Amazon Prime Video. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Watch V.I.P." Tubi. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ "How to watch and stream V.I.P." Roku. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
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