NBC has given Journeyman an amazing sign of confidence by granting it the plum post-Heroes timeslot on Mondays at 10 pm. It's a testament to the depth of this series, the creativity of its creators, and the strength of McKidd's leadership that the network would get so fully behind a high concept like this one.
If Journeyman proves as thought-provoking and thoughtful as the pilot episode indicated (as well as lure in both male and female audiences), the Peacock may have finally found a promising companion for its sole break-out drama hit. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, it's sorta like Quantum Leap, only his travels are much more random, and he doesn't (so far, at least) stay in the other time too long. But this could be a ton of fun if it catches on. Lots of references to past events (Michael Jackson, a snippet of Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel on a 1987 Today Show, giant cell phones, etc) and a good pop music soundtrack. I also like the fact that at the end of the screener, his wife...well, you can see it when it airs. I like the fact that this isn't just some hero going back in time to save strangers, there's also a personal story going on here too, about an old girlfriend and the key she might hold to his travels. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would.
"Journeyman" Who's in it: Kevin McKidd, Reed Diamond, Moon Bloodgood and Gretchen Egolf What it's about: A San Francisco newspaper reporter begins traveling back in time for reasons unknown to help improve the lives of strangers. In the present, his wife and brother think he's crazy or on drugs; in the past, he keeps bumping into his long-missing ex-fiancee. Pluses: McKidd's a strong leading man (albeit not nearly as insane as he was on "Rome"). Nice use of San Francisco landmarks to help create McKidd's feeling of dislocation each time he finds himself in the past. Diamond is so well-cast as McKidd's brother that you have to wonder if there's a biological connection in the real world we don't know about. There's an especially lovely moment at the end where McKidd figures out a way to convince his wife that he's not losing his mind. Minuses: McKidd's first "mission" in the past, or whatever it is, isn't that interesting. I'll forgive that in a pilot where establishing the characters and the premise is more important, but not long-term, especially not if Dean Stockwell isn't going to be popping up to crack one-liners and walk through walls. Overall, the show seems a less-compatible fit with "Heroes" than either of "Chuck" or, especially, "Bionic Woman."
Show: "Journeyman" (NBC drama) The Pitch: "Early Edition" meets "Quantum Leap" Quick Response: I've seen "Day Break." I've watched "Day Break" and "Journeyman," it's not that you're no "Day Break," but have I mentioned that I've seen "Day Break"? Kevin McKidd plays a journalist who keeps popping back to different parts of the past, where he's supposed to do something to somebody to either prevent something from happening or to make something else happen. Or something. I stopped caring about anything early on except for the fact that, like "Day Break," it's another TV show about people going back in time to try to save Moon Bloodgood's life, forcing viewers to utilize similar audio clues (musical cliches and sports results) to keep track of the narrative. McKidd has the requisite star presence to carry a show like this (more than Taye Diggs, at least), even if his American accent is downright weird. And I'm happy to watch Bloodgood. But is anybody else in this show? And does anybody have any idea of the mechanism or purpose behind the main character's time travel? It became too much work for me in a hurry. Desire to Watch Again: Moderate. I'll definitely watch a second episode, but no promises on a third.
"Very good show. I think it would be a good fit with just about anything on NBC. It has the kind of quality. When they asked if I would watch again, I said yes I would."
From IMDB:
"I was lucky enough to be able to critic this show in universal studios. I will say that I enjoyed very much. The majority of the actors did a steller job. The show was full of suspense and excitment. I really hope that this show will come out and be successful."
Didn't really like this pilot. And I was one of the very few people who actually liked "Day Break." I thought Day Break was pretty ambitious, maybe even a concept ahead of its time. It tried to set a lot of rules for its time-travel mechanism, but the problem was it often ended up being too complicated and convoluted for its own good.
This one is like a way dumbed-down version, to the point that all the time travels seem to pop up at random and are bound by no rules except that he travels to whenever it's convenient.
I think the dude from "Rome" is gonna be a better actor than Taye Diggs, as one of the above reviews says, but I'm wary about the procedural aspect of this, and I'm hoping the whole time-travel mechanism gets explained a little more as we move along. But I'll still watch a couple more eps by default, since Mon 10pm is pretty bad otherwise.
I saw it and the themes, the tone, and case of the week aspect, remind me of Cold Case with some Ghost Whisperer thrown in. The emo, touchy-feely stories both in the past and the present, the near-weepiness of it, have the show begging for a near-weepy female lead, not the male it has. The lead's performance is almost wooden in the face of freaky crises suddenly happening in his life.
Unless the tone changes in future, the lead is misconceived. In fact, none of the other regular actors' performances match the emo material they are given. Too late to recast, huh? Then show will have to rely on its guest actors and the strength of its writing for the case of the week.
NBC needs to realize that they need something of quality here. I'd say this snoozer is gone by January and that Bionic Woman will get an opportunity here. Even though that one sounds poorly produced, I still think it should've been tested behind Heroes.
I'm not sure it was an acting problem. I think Kevin McKidd is pretty talented. I think the real problem was in the script. I think the whole time travel deal was written to be a lot more trivial than it seems like it should be, and there was absolutely no effort to make sense of why it's happening. It's like it isn't even that big of a surprise.
As someone who can't stay awake for five minutes of The Dead Zone, I think this show was better than that, but that ain't saying much. (And I'm quite certain McKidd is better than Anthony Michael Hall.) I think this could potentially be good, but it's going to take a lot of improvement from the pilot.
I just watched the pilot and I enjoyed it, but I didnt really think it was amazing. But my reaction for it was the same reaction that I had for Medium (and now I love that series), when it originally premiered, and that show went on to do well in its freshman season. So I still think there's a chance that a show like this could do well after Heroes.
I would like to see a few more episodes though, just to see where its going. I read that there is suppose to be a season long story arc, so hopefully things will get more interesting then the pilot. But if it fails... Medium will be waiting to replace it.
If you have Comcast Cable, they have the pilot episode available to watch via OnDemand. I plan on watching this tonight with some of the other pilots available.
I think some other cable outlets may have this too, so check local PPV listings.
quote:
Originally posted by Legends: Has anyone here seen the pilot? I'll definitely watch the first episode but I'm still not sure if its my kind of show.
Originally posted by TV-aholic: If you have Comcast Cable, they have the pilot episode available to watch via OnDemand. I plan on watching this tonight with some of the other pilots available.
I think some other cable outlets may have this too, so check local PPV listings.
quote:
Originally posted by Legends: Has anyone here seen the pilot? I'll definitely watch the first episode but I'm still not sure if its my kind of show.
I saw the pilot. It was okay. I wish he understood how to use his powers though.
Posts: 1625 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 24 March 2007
This wasn't mediocre, but I wouldn't call it strong or compelling either, at least at this point. The writing would have to be sharper from an intrigue standpoint, but that could change, and, as touched on above, some pilots are more raw than others.
Posts: 1555 | Location: Western Pennsylvania | Registered: 13 December 2006
The best I can say about Journeyman was it wasn't completely horrible, but I fear they will keep the show murky and try to stretch out what is happening for as long as possible. I will give the show a few more episodes , but I don't think I will be watching for much longer.
