Not Just a Quantum Leap

Television Review: Journeyman

It is not often that I would take the time to review a TV show, but today I feel it is important for me to get the word out. NBC strikes again and decides not to pick up the option for another great TV show thus alienating their viewers. I do my best to review movies (and DVDs to come soon), but TV seems like a harder medium to review as my opinion can change from episode to episode and I hate to come off as wishy-washy. That said, with Journeyman's fate apparently sealed, I felt the time for a Lindy-rant had come.

Let me start with the premise. I have been flip with friends in describing it as Quantum Leap meets Early Edition, but it really is so much more than that. This show is about a man, Dan Vassar (Kevin McKidd) who is ripped from the present and sent back "attached" to an individual in the past. The catch is that he has little idea who he is there to help and has no control over when he will jump home or back to the past once again. He has a wife, Katie (Gretchen Egolf), a son, Zach (Charles Henry Wyson) and a good job as a newspaper reporter in San Francisco (and yes folks, this one really seems to be shot in SF, not like the random location shots a Women's Murder Club will give you, so you remember they are supposed to be in San Francisco.

The similarities with past "time traveling shows" are recognizable; Dan has a guide in Livia (Moon Bloodgood) like Sam had Al in Quantum Leap and Dan can use his newspaper resources to research the people he is helping as Gary had the entire newspaper from the future as his resource in Early Edition. As with the other shows, Dan is jumping back and forth to right some wrong and prevent bad things from becoming a reality. There are the same Space-Time-Continuum questions and concerns as with any show - if you change the past, how will it affect your future - but there seems to be a higher-power pulling the strings who prevents a negative aftermath.

This show actually gives us consequences to Dan's actions - things being changed negatively as he tries to serve his own agenda instead of that of the Powers-That-Be. He has made changes that caused his son to become his daughter, and having a psycho child-abuser come into his home, shoot him and take his wife captive. His present-day life continues while he is hopping through time and has jumped at the most inopportune moments – while walking through the farmer’s market with his young son, while getting randy with his wife, and while on an airplane which is mid-flight.

This show twist and turns when you least expect it and keeps us riveted and tuning in weekly. Journeyman is an enjoyable escape - one that provides the accessibility of a cop show/drama while giving us the continuing mystery of Heroes or Lost. They have assembled a quality cast (mostly TV alums from shows like Rome, Roswell and Day Break) who pulls you in and makes you care about what happens to these characters. McKidd’s (and Dan’s) rugged exterior and soft and emotional interior help make this character relatable and the acting believable.

Don’t let this show be cast aside by an impatient Programming department! NBC sends me countless viewer surveys about Heroes and advertising – why not ask me about a show who needs the help? They moved Law & Order: Criminal Intent to USA Network to make room on their lineup (FYI: Against their own ratings juggernaut, ER). Why not move this to USA or Sci-Fi? You own them, these networks don’t have nearly the same amount of original programming, and having those channels get additional traffic, doesn’t hurt your bottom line one bit!

NBC continues to air shows like ER (13 seasons since it's debut) when the show hasn't been good since Mark Greene died. Enough said.

So SAVE JOURNEYMAN! Sign the petition, send the network boxes of Rice-a-Roni, and help us get our beloved show back on the air!