Cool News
What Says Hercules of NBC's JOURNEYMAN, HEROES' New Sci-Fi Companion Series??
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
I say this for “Journeyman”: I like it a whole lot better than Moon Bloodgood’s last time-hopping extravaganza, ABC’s short-lived “Lost” substitute “Day Break.”
A sci-fi tale from Emmy-winning writer-producer Kevin Falls (“Sports Night,” “The West Wing”), it’s about a San Francisco newspaper reporter, Dan Vasser (the great “Rome” lead Kevin McKidd, perhaps the last modern Brit actor who still struggles with an American accent), who finds himself unexpectedly and involuntarily transported back to earlier eras in time for reasons he (like the viewing audience) does not entirely understand.
One of the cooler things about “Journeyman” is its protagonist is at one point in the pilot plucked from his proper “now” while he’s driving a car, which results in all manner of present-day vehicular mayhem. So Vasser can’t really drive cars anymore. On the upside, Vasser does gets to take with him any of our 2007 gadgets he’s carrying when he’s shot into the past.
The Bloodgood character is one of the series’ most interesting elements. She’s a regular even though she’s been dead for years.
A fun element is how Vasser copes with his predicament, stealing antiquated cell-phone chargers from his younger self and trying (Kirk-like) to explain to 1990s cabdrivers why the picture of Andrew Jackson is so big and colorful on his $20 bills.
Less interesting, at least for the moment, are the personal problems of guest-characters Vasser appears to have been dispatched to fix in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Are these episode-specific characters cogs in a greater machine we’ll get a better look at later? Are people from the future making Vasser straighten these smallish kinks in the timeline, a la “The 4400”? Has God Himself unstuck Vasser in time? If so, His motivations are not altogether apparent.
Also straining credulity is the fact that Vasser manages to keep his newspaper job despite all his bizarre extended and poorly explained absences.
Does the series have good answers for the many intriguing questions it poses? Will NBC keeps it around long enough to provide any? The first two episodes, at least, leave me determined enough to see what might be revealed in episode three.
Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B” and says:
… The time-travel cues are maddeningly unsubtle (lots of calendars, newspapers, and watches are employed), but overall, Journeyman is an enjoyable romp — one that provides the accessibility of a procedural as well as the continuing mystery of a Lost or Heroes. …
USA Today gives it one and a half stars (out of four) and says:
… We might accept mystery and ambiguity, as we do with Lost, if there were other compensation: a few great performances, a sense of adventure, an interesting plot. Journeyman doesn't just lack answers, it also lacks any inducement to stick around for them. …
The New York Times says:
… As in HBO’s “Tell Me You Love Me,” it is the possibility of an affair — all the talk and thinking around it — that is used to titillate, not the practice. “Journeyman” is a science-fiction series in which the scariest possible outcome is an extramarital relationship with someone who doesn’t legitimately exist.
The Los Angeles Times says:
… Much attention is paid in "Journeyman" to some details, like cellphones and currency, while other huge areas are manipulated for effect -- Dan works in perhaps the most architecturally cool newsroom in the world, yet he never seems to write a word. Perhaps because he is too busy Googling (well, not Googling -- that would be trademark infringement) the people from his fractured past. Amazingly, all he has to do is put in a name and suddenly there it all is: addresses, phone numbers and very decent photographs. This, as any real reporter can tell you, is where we enter the realm of science fiction. Forget time travel, give us Dan's search engine.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… if you can overlook some distressing questions about how he does it without getting caught (or divorced or institutionalized), this is a series that may overcome its own contrivances to really succeed. …
The Washington Post says:
… this is one of those high-concept deals that seem to get high on their own concepts. …
The Boston Herald says:
… “Journeyman” asks you to take a lot on faith - I suspect it’s because the producers don’t have a clue, either. …
The Boston Globe says:
… Once you start thinking about how the show handles time travel, that way madness lies. … Perhaps such confusions will clear up as the series develops and the reason behind his journeys emerges. I suspect not. With its pleasing San Francisco locales and McKidd's sympathetic performance, "Journeyman" is entertaining enough. You'll have to check your reason at the opening credits.
Variety says:
… Although the series has fun spoofing the past (starting with the size of cellphones) and appears more compatible with "Heroes" than the string of lead-outs that died in its timeslot last season, the show will need to get its bearings soon if it wants to maintain its hold on this reality.…
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… fairly mind-blowing and harrowing, laying out a preposterous scenario that it makes feel nonetheless believable. The pilot premiere, penned by creator/executive producer (and "West Wing" alumnus) Kevin Falls, sets a compelling table that -- while leaving plot holes and questions aplenty -- has us fairly pining to find out what's in store. … No doubt answers to all are forthcoming in the trippy and well-acted "Journeyman," which has been handed a favorable time slot after the sophomore sensation "Heroes." If it can maintain the absorbing energy of the pilot, it could be a schedule sticker …
10 p.m. Monday. NBC.
60% Off Justice League & More!!
Angel: Complete Series Collector's Set * Battlestar Galactica 1.x [HD-DVD] * Battlestar Galactica: Razor * Chappelle's Show: Complete Series * The Colbert Report: Best Of * Doctor Who 3.x * Dr. Katz: The Complete Series * Entourage 3.x Vol. 2 * The Film Crew: Giant of Marathon * The Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo * Frasier: The Complete Series * Futurama Movie I: Bender's Big Score * Gilmore Girls: The Complete Series * Grey's Anatomy 3.x * How I Met Your Mother 2.x * Jekyll: The Complete Series * Jericho 1.x * Looney Tunes: Golden Collection Vol. 5 * Lost 3.x * The L-Word 4.x * Medium 3.x * Michael Palin: Pole To Pole * MXC: Most Extreme Eliminatiion Challenge 3.x * My So-Called Life: The Complete Series * Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Vol. 12 * Northern Exposure: The Complete Series * The OC: The Complete Series * The Sarah Silverman Program 1.x * Saturday Night Live 2.x * Scrubs 6.x * Seinfeld 9.x * Seinfeld: The Complete Series * Smallville 6.x * Smallville 1.x / Supernatural 1.x * The Sopranos 6.x Vol. 2 * Stargate Atlantis 3.x![](http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=aintitcoolcoa-20&l=ur2&o=1" width=)
* Star Trek 1.x [DVD/HD-DVD] * Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Series * Studio 60: The Complete Series * Superman: Doomsday * Supernatural 2.x * Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians; * Twin Peaks: The Complete Series * Two And A Half Men 1.x * The Unit 2.x * Veronica Mars 3.x * The Wire 4.x * The X-Files: Ultimate Collection * Young Indiana Jones Vol. 1
-
+ Expand All
-
It's QL with cell phones and wry, post modern humor and no Al or Ziggy?
-
Or maybe McKidd will jump back to ancient Rome and drive a Vespa scooter over his alter-ego Vorenus. Talk about your space-time-SAG-continuum dilemmas!
-
The Time Traveler's Wife.
-
Journeyman is darker and (if it holds uo to the pilot) deeper than Quantum Leap. Second best new network show after Pushing Daisies.
-
The whole digital revolution would start some 15 years earlier.
-
Dude, it's God. You honestly think God would have apparent motives? Go read the last chapter of Job.
Besides, we all know the real motive is to get Sam Beckett back to the future. -
Where are people going to store their songs? Hard drive space was very expensive back then, and no one used the Internet to steal songs. While it may have started dominating earlier, the iPod was a result of technological convergence (cheap hard drive space, broadband, compression), not the cause.
-
thank you! i've been saying that for months now! it looks like a QT rip without the fun.
-
I thought it was pretty good and will continue to watch it for now. It definitely had that Quantaum Leap(which I liked) feel and I think if they keep the stories fresh and not keep what is going on and why secretive, it will do well. Too many of the new shows string the viewer along for a season only to get cancelled, so the viewer is the one jipped. It is scheduled to be recorded on my DVR weekly.
-
after 5 episodes with the same basic story recycled week after week [Start in Present -> go back in time -> agonize over some problem in the past and fix it using modern know-how -> jump back to present -> and show by telling friend how he dealt with problem and/or looking pensively out a window because no one knows what he's going through] At some point I'm sure they'll introduce the "evil" time traveler and/or the "entity" responsible for his quantum leaping. And wouldn't it be great if this guy happened to be a stock broker?
-
You'd think a weekly change of his own past would really screw up the guy. Any news on an American version of Life on Mars (the one about a Cop stuck in the 70's by time travel and/or all in his head due to a coma)?
-
Answer: it wouldn't. Different types of transmit/receive tech. (not to mention which carrier network he would be using, since he didn't sign up with one for his future-phone in the past!) maybe they explain that in the show, I don't know...
-
I liked JOURNEYMAN it is pretty good.
way better than that train wreck of a show BW. -
Finally, hope we get a Babe Ruth episode!!!
-
Studio 60- Averaged 8.5 Million Viewers, Gone in 5 months
Black Donnelys- Averaged 6.7 Million Viewers, Gone after 6 episodes
Real Wedding Crashers- Averaged 5.8 Million Viewers, Gone after 4 episodes
I give Journeyman 6 weeks -
Release the damn rest on DVD, dammit! And no, I'm not going to finish it off online. That just feels wrong.
-
without Booster.
-
Well, IIRC his cell phone doesn't work in the past in the pilot episode, so I guess they don't have to explain that.
-
All things considered, this was much better than I expected. I grew to like it more as the pilot went on. There were a couple of changeups past the halfway point that really altered how I felt about it: one that made me think "Oh, that's how they're going to handle that" and another that made me realize there was more to it than I had assumed.
-
this is a total rip-off of the time traveler's wife
-
....this show is basically "Quantum Leap" meets the British show "Life on Mars" (which is in development at ABC with Colm Meaney as one of the stars, methinks). I was a big fan of Kevin McKidd in Rome so this gets a shot.
-
...is the series I want back. Kickass premise, actors and a huge open end.
Day Break was awesome too. Should've continued. Bastards.
At least Science Fiction appears to be making a comeback. -
Personally, I liked the pilot episode. As Fount of Useless Info mentioned, it definitely improves as you go along. I noticed that many of the critics didn't like how the time traveling aspect was handled with such mystery, how it wasn't explained. I felt that this added a very interesting aspect to the show, and to me, is one of the draws for watching more episodes. Hopefully, they take a lesson from Heroes and not from Lost, and not have that mystery go on too long. One season sounds about right. Anyways, this show does pass the "Will I watch the next episode?" test for me. Life, another hyped NBC show, doesn't. Never really liked the "Procedurals with a quirky detective" sub-genre (shows like "Monk", "Psych", or "Medium").
-
Sep 24, 2007 8:20:36 PM CDT
I hate people watching 2 episodes and judging the serie
by greatczarsghost
Watching the first two episodes and declaring the show a dude or bad is crazy. Hell half the time the people doing the show don't have any idea what comes after the sixth episode since so many new shows are canceled by then. Give the show a chance and just watch it.
-
its completely unecessary. They didn't need to explain it in Groundhog Day, and it didn't matter. Because it's not the point, it's just a conceit to set up dramatic situations - which this show did well. I really liked the reactions of his friends and family in the present, and his dilemma of staying faithful to his wife while in the past vs. his feeling for his old girlfriend. It was all handled very well. Unfortunately, I know they not going to leave it alone. They're going to try to drum up some Lost-style mystery, like when he meets the other time traveler. Thats the one thing I really hated in the pilot. Still, a lot of good in it.
-
I read on the NBC website that the producer claimed to have never read it, then another story said that he later admitted to reading 50 pages but there's no relation and he thought it all up himself. What a douche! Give credit where it deserves, with Audrey Niffenegger. EVERY major theme is clearly ripped off from the book. This has nothing to do with "Leap". He's not leaping into other bodies. He's unstuck in time exactly like "Wife". He goes through the exact same problems just like "Wife" and the whole wife/ soulmate theme is represented EXACTLY the same. This guy better give loads of money to Audrey Niffenegger or he's despicable.
-
that made me sit up in my chair. i'm enjoying it so far, and had already decided to give the show another hour, but that little twist sealed the deal for me.
-
relationship angle, but much of this is clearly stolen
-
okay, I really liked that too.
-
Oh, he's on BSG, that's right...Aside from the absence of Al's LEGO transmitter, JOURNEYMAN still has some charm. The "other" journey-people was unexpected yet the big draw for me is the idea of having an affair with someone who "may or may not exist" and the moral implications of that.
-
Yummy.
-
sure its a mix of quantum leap and time traveller's wive.. but those arent the most original premises in the world either. it was done pretty well (as was mentioned.. the 'affair' angle, and the showing of other journeymen..or women.. both pretty interesting.) so far its good enough to have reserved a place in my DVR taping schedule. hope it keeps up the momentum.
-
It's one of the most original premises I've ever read, and I've never heard of that particular type of uncontrollable time traveling before anywhere (until J-man copied it). Combine that with the unique love story where they each meet the other while one is adult and the other a youth, thereby having each partner knowing their destiny from an early age), and you have a completely unprecedented idea as far as I know. Come to think of it, what show/book/movie had someone leaping from body to body in order to right wrongs like Quantum Leap? Please cite your examples how these are not original.
-
his wife (Gretchen Egolf) kind of looks like an alien or the Geico Gecko? She has that creepy, Lisa Rinna look about her with less plastic surgery. Weird. And I concur. Moon Bloodgood is hot!
-
10 years is a long time. The whole, young version's left the room and time traveling version comes back to take his place, thing is a tad unbelievable. Then again, it's a show about time travel and people easily buying into your explanations as a means to a wrap-up in under an hour. Though I'm not really complaining. I enjoyed it.
-
Catch her yummy tummy??!!
I liked the opener, interesting idea of having him jump back and forth to change events. Saved that dude...oops...he kills his wife and kid. Jump back, figure it out kill the dude save the wife and kids. Only like Quantum Leap cuz of the jumping back in time...he doesnt take over bodies and he can return to the present. -
i guess i meant to say the premise of time traveling to ones own past isnt the most original thing ever. ive read time travelers wife and enjoyed it. and yeah it had some great original ideas in it. same with quantum leap. i dont want to seem like im ripping on those shows. im just saying with a premise like this that has been done before, there is still room for originality, even in jouneryman. (for examples of people going into their own past see: the butterfly effect; Peggy Sue Got Married; The Lake House; Seven Days; Lost 'desmond's story'; obviously the time machine; Slaughterhouse-Five.. etc.. point being, the concept has existed for a while, done differently.) that being said ill concede journeyman is a little closer to TTW that other time traveller stories.
-
This is actually a very good show, and if enough people watch it, they'll like it. I really think critics have done their jobs for so long they forget to think like everyday people and just enjoy a good show. Y'know? It was well written, fast paced, clever and even funny--with enough mystery in it to keep you watching. Hats off to the writers.
-
Moon Bloodgood! Not only is she an exotic hottie, her name is cool as hell. Like, "oh my god, you're gorgeous. Who are you?" "Moon Bloodgood." and you immediately break a chicken's neck and dance around the bloody remains chanting her name...
-
Last season, I would get pissed off when Heroes was over because the shows following it sucked, this season its going to be "can't wait for next week, now Journeyman is on!" Journeyman is very entertaining, didn't think First Spear Centurion Lucius Vorenus could be convincing as an '07 everyman American time-traveling hero but he pulled it off. Great supporting cast, Reed Diamond looks like he could be McKidd's brother, the wife is sympathetic and Moon Bloodgood is exotically beautiful. Love living in the west coast because I can watch Monday Night Football on ESPN and tune in to NBC after the game!
-
Regardless of what this may be compared to, I thought it was excelent. The writing weaved the relationship angle into the story rather than having someone lay it out blatently. If I was going to compare it to anything it'd be Medium....mainly for the acting and writing, not the plot.
-
For a first episode, I thought it was pretty strong. In fact, I think I liked that first episode than the season opener of Heroes, and I'm a big Heroes fan. I like that they introduced his old flame as a time traveler as well...talk about a mind fuck...geez. "I thought you were dead?" "Nope, just zipping through time, don't mind me." necgray, I suppose it's a good thing that her name induces animal mutilation in her honor. In fact, I'm sure it is. Case closed.
-
The show was OK... The girlfriend in the past is unreal, she is beautiful! Who is she?
-
interfering with a woman's right to choose, now you've got time travelers showing up to preach anti-abortion as well.
-
I would assume that she too can return to her present time, so I wonder why she didn't go searching for him? Especially since it seems like you are limited to the city that you are in when going back in time. I wonder if he leaves San Fran if he will travel back in time, but in that city in which he's in at that particular instant?
-
Sorry, had to. Sad, pathetic, I know. But what is Kev doing in this neutered numpty shite? Tired premise; awful script. Let's remember him how we loved him best: hacking the living fuck out of large men with chunks of forged, honed steel.
-
...for the episode where Vassar jumps back in time to stop his brother from going to Vietnam and plays "Imagine" for his sister.
-
Can go back in time to say, Caesar, not a good time to visit the senate today...trust me.
-
DS9's ep "Visionary" is the very same concept. The Chief went back and forth through time at any odd moment and ended up changing a few things. It's been the concept behind episodes of other sci-fi shows and movies too, but "Visionary" was my most vivid memory of it.
There's no such thing as an original plot. People just need to accept that. There's nothing wrong with that either -- just means writers need to be smarter with their characters and ideas. I admit I was kinda ho-hum about the show until I saw the other journeypeople angle. That was a cool touch. The toolbox thing was pretty cliche though. Saw that coming. And I wish they had left mckidd keep his accent.
-- Ku -
I really think this has the potential to become a real crowd pleaser.
-
The other Journey people bit, when it was revealed really made me sit up and take notice. I read on a talkback the other day that someone called this show, "slow burning" which sounds right to me... I can only hope NBC keeps it on until the end of the season, because I imagine the season finale is going to be intense!
-
Critics AGAIN misread the audience. I think what makes the difference in this show is the brisk writing. Simply explaining what the show is about is NOT the same as watching it. The twist with Moon Bloodgood is Bloody Good. I hope it keeps going. It helps lots that it is right after Heroes, when the audience, with jaws dropped can't believe the hour is done, sit stupefied just long enough to get into the next episode of journeyman...till they're too invested to change the channel or brush their teeth. It's a good fill in for the sci-fi interruptus one feels after the fast hour of Heroes.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts