V.I.P. (American TV series)

V.I.P. is an American action/dramedy television series starring Pamela Anderson. Created by J. F. Lawton, the series aired in syndication for four seasons from 1998 to 2002.

Synopsis
Anderson stars as Vallery Irons, a woman who accidentally saves a celebrity and then is hired by a real bodyguard agency (V.I.P. aka 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.

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.

The series uses a mixture of action, comedy, and camp, with Anderson often poking fun at her tabloid image. 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. Loni Anderson guest-starred in one episode as Vallery's mother and the two Andersons are not related. In season 2, Lisa Marie Varon had an uncredited appearance as a bodyguard. Kathleen Kinmont-See (Fraternity Vacation) was a guest star in the season-4 episode: South By Southwest.

Cast

 * Pamela Anderson — Vallery Irons, the glamorous figurehead
 * Molly Culver —Natasha "Tasha" Dexter, Vallery Iron's lead associates, a former spy and model
 * Natalie Raitano — Nicole "Nikki" Franco, 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, teams computer expert

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

Before the DVD, V.I.P. expanded to video game from Ubi Soft, for the PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance in 2001 and 2002.

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.

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

The series V.I.P. was co-produced with Telewizja Polsat from Poland. This is the first foreign series co-created by this station. This station is the exclusive broadcasting company in Poland.

Awards and nominations
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
The show premiered in syndication on September 26, 1998. As of February 2009, the show can be streamed for free in the US on Internet Movie Database, Hulu, Tubi and Minisodes and full episodes are available on Crackle. In Canada, episodes are available on Netflix. Episodes in Spanish debuted on CineSony on February 14, 2014.