Have you ever watched a TV series from the very beginning and become so enamored of it that you made it a point to watch it every week? Was the writing so smart and the acting so spot on that you found yourself drawn to the characters, even caring what happens to them?
Then the network pulls the plug.
The TV series you've looked forward to and enjoyed week after week is suddenly gone. No good explanations. The actors are fired. The producers have moved on to other projects. Something lame has replaced your former favorite on the network's schedule.
It's not fair. Life isn't fair, we're told. I have to ask why not?
My new favorite television show last season was NBC's
Journeyman. It had all the qualities of good television. So why didn't it last?
The demise of
Journeyman has not been explained to my satisfaction. NBC claims poor ratings that only declined as time progressed. However, NBC's promotion and support of the series was virtually non-existent. Meanwhile, every other ad on NBC was for one of the many "reality" series that NBC airs. I will not give further promotion by mentioning them here.
Journeyman was well written and well acted. The emphasis was not one the science fiction aspect, but on the people involved. It asked the question "What if you could change what was for the better?" The premise of the story was similar to
Quantum Leap in that it involved a time traveler who had no control over when and where he would go, and that his "mission" was to change events for the better. But that's where the similarities ended.
Where
Quantum Leap could sometimes become cheesy and maybe even a little campy, and didn't necessarily take itself seriously,
Journeyman never became that.
The lead character, Dan Vasser, is suddenly and involuntarily thrust back in time. He has trouble explaining to his wife what has happened... and she doesn't believe him anyway.
Imagine that you're a woman and your husband disappears for hours or even days at a time. What would you think? Even if he was upgrading your wedding ring for your anniversary?
During one of his trips back in time in the opening episode, he buys a newspaper and a steel box. He places the newspaper and the upgraded wedding ring into it and buries it in the back yard of his future home. Upon returning to the present, he takes his wife to the back yard. A patio is there now, and his wife, Katie, says it was installed right after they moved into the house seven years ago.
Dan picks up a sledge hammer and begins pounding into the pavement and bricks. "What are you doing?!?" Katie asks.
"Saving my marriage," he replies.
"Uh, not really," she says, as Dan continues digging. The paver bricks fly and Dan finds what he's after: The red metal box. He opens it in front of his wife. From within it, he pulls out a newspaper and hands it to her. It is dated December 31, 1997. He also pulls out the upgraded wedding ring mentioned at the beginning of the episode, and holds it up, offering it to her. She recognizes it. But how could her wedding ring be inside a box buried so many years ago? Then a look of realization crosses her face. There's only one answer: Dan's fantastic story about being a time traveler is true.
"I'll always come home." She gently slides the ring onto her finger as it begins to rain.
This was perhaps one of the coolest, most moving moments I've seen on television in a very long time. What better way to redeem one’s self of a fantastic story like "I'm a time traveler" than to be able to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt?!?
And this was only the beginning of the series!
Journeyman only got better from there.
Although this series has not yet been released on DVD, you can watch the show from beginning to end at TV's Greatest Hits:
Click here.
They say that those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. NBC should remember
its history.
I'm reminded of events in the late 1960s involving another science-fiction themed TV series that aired on NBC. Those are two words that can send NBC execs old enough to remember weeping to their mamas.
Of all the reviews I've ever read of
Journeyman, not one was a disparaging comment.
Not one.
http://www.tvsgreatesthits.com/
