I wish I could tell you that those plans included a television mini-series or at least a small screen film, but alas series creator Kevin Falls has moved on. In fact, his new series featuring a womanizer trapped in a woman's body, is currently coming together for FOX, so at least he's sticking with the "different." He did, however, take some time out to chat it up with AICN about the bigger plans for Journeyman.This was a show that was hugely under-appreciated by the mainstream, and almost dismissed out of the gate as a Quantum Leap derivative by many of the sci-fi crowd. The show was so much more. There was such a heart of tragedy at the core of protagonist Dan Vasser's abrupt rips through time. Unlike QL's Sam Beckett, Vasser is literally torn from his life no matter what he is doing, body and spirit, and hurtled through the timestream. Then add all that we learned about his first love Livia and there's just so much pain in the show, which makes for great dramatic television.
While Falls indicated that he never intended to directly reveal a specific entity or organization behind Dan and Livia's journeys, he did drop some hints about some of the things that were on the planning boards. I loved how right out of the gate we were shown that Dan could change his present with his actions in the past, though more often than not, that backfired on him. But Falls' plan for the season finale were just brilliant!
Having Dan fighting to save Livia's life would keep the viewers riveted on that storyline and then the payoff to it being that when he returns to the present, someone else is living in his house and he has no idea how to get back his wife and kid. That's enough to hook you through a summer and bring you back for more. It was tragic enough when he accidentally "erased" his son briefly. I missed mentioning Journeyman in my "Top 10 Popcorn Sci Fi Shows," and maybe that's for the best. It was so much smarter than a popcorn show and as is too often the case, it wasn't given a chance to find an audience and really grow into something special by NBC.
It's a shame that the strike overshadowed so much of last season, as it really impacted bubble shows like Journeyman. Sure, some shows like Chuck got a second chance at success, but no such luck here. Maybe it was getting too complicated for network executives? Actually, to be honest with myself I do think the ratings were just atrocious on this. Sometimes I wonder why sci-fi even tries to get on network television anymore. There are so many cable outlets, basic and premium, that would love to nurture a good show like this. And most sci-fi fans tend to be fanatics about the genre, at least sampling everything new in it, so we'd still find it. We even watched Enterprise.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-09-2008 @ 3:57PM
Argus said...
I liked that he talked about his future plans. I've seen a few shows go down where the showrunners just refuse to talk about their plans for the future without the possibility of any filming happening.
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8-09-2008 @ 6:26PM
Oreo said...
Manny Coto and Odyssey 5 come to mind....
8-09-2008 @ 8:18PM
Blair Mitchelmore said...
If you bought the DVD for season one, you would've heard a few ideas that he had for the future of the series.
8-09-2008 @ 9:09PM
Oreo said...
I have heard that, but that wasn't the future of the series, that was just the basic plan for season 2. Coto won't explain who or what blows the Earth up.
8-09-2008 @ 4:58PM
mdisloki said...
I really felt like this show had a ton of potential. It's just another timeslot they'll use for a wonderful (tons of sarcasm) game show or reality show. America's attention span stinks on ice!
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8-09-2008 @ 9:39PM
radfordavenue said...
I miss that show so much.
Are there any plans for a Journeyman DVD?
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8-10-2008 @ 2:13AM
CaseyJ said...
I loved the show... and I'm hardcore sci-fi. At first I thought of QL, but as the show matured, it became unique. I miss it... and I'd really like second chance to see it.
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8-10-2008 @ 1:46PM
Vito said...
This show was AWESOME. Even my wife really enjoyed it.
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8-10-2008 @ 6:05PM
StillBash said...
Yeah and we all know how stupid your wife is...
You could also use your gym socks as a measure 'cause you know, we don't know what your wife likes and dislikes.
I mean, no offense, but could you maybe add some additional info WHY that is so unusal when your wife watches a show that has a hunk of a male lead who was just in "Made of Honor"? You know... just asking...
8-10-2008 @ 6:31PM
Chris said...
Journeyman was really good but it suffered an Alias. To complex for mainstream tv viewers to watch. This show belonged on FOX to begin with. It would have done fine!
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8-23-2008 @ 1:07PM
eyes and ears said...
Re: Kevin Falls "NEW" project - "Good-bye Charlie" anyone (the play by George Axelrod, or the movie (with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds) - about a womanizing man who comes back as a woman and suffers the slings and arrows he dished out when he was a womanizing man. Or how about the remake of "Good-bye Charle", "Switch", with Ellen Barkan. Falls' the "new" project will be the American version of the Argentine version of the American Movie/Play "Good-bye Charle"/"Switch". Very original.
And while we are on his originality (or lack thereof), as Falls has "zero prior experience" with sci-fi in general and time-travel in specific, how did he come up with the total seamlessness of Journeyman's complicated time-travel seemingly over-night? HMMMMMMM?
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12-27-2008 @ 1:48AM
eyes and ears said...
CaseyJ,
As a hard-core sci-fi-er, you may be interested to spend some time with a self-published and little known book called "An Ordinary Hero" (AOH) - copyright 2003. Sorry my response is long, but please bear with me.
As I watched JM it came across as too similar to AOH, so I returned to the novel for some homework. AOH's primary character is a tall, blue-eyed, blond, time traveler. It also has a Katie - nick-name for Katherine/married to a time traveler/has a young child (but JM Katie seems more a blend of the traits of AOH's Connie, Molly AND Katie). There is also a Jack - ass/alcoholic/got dumped/reportedly got his girlfriend pregnant/supposedly going to marry her. There is also a Dylan associated with Vietnam; and far lesser characters named Houser - virtually a phantom (JM Houser never appeared, so = phantom), Crew-cut (identified as a thug in both JM Episode 107 and AOH pg 179) and Cynthia who appeared for only a moment. Cynthia was saved in JM (Episode 106) acted as partly savior in AOH (pg 121). I counted about 9 others if you include those culled by freeze framing the notes of the time traveler in Episode 113. Shocking how this number of same named/same lived characters appear in both works.
JM also told the tale of "one" Spec Op soldier, with access to a lot of money, who used the name Dylan, was badly injured in Cambodia while acting on a covert-op during the Vietnam War, but nursed back to health by a Cambodian family. He ends up leaving behind a legacy (the money) which reappears in later episodes. AOH told the tale of "2" soldiers both badly injured while acting on the same covert-op during the Vietnam War. One is Spec Op with access to a large sum of money, and rescued with the help of AOH's Dylan legacy. The second soldier was hidden and nursed back to health by a family living near the Cambodian border. The Dylan legacy runs throughout the novel. (Sound like Episode 105?).
JM also had reporter 'Nancy Stokes' who wrote a "human interest piece" about a brother who got smacked around by his father. Her article was buried in the middle of the paper; the word 'KID' appears in its title; and she never wrote a follow-up story. While "An Ordinary Hero's" reporter had no name, she still wrote a 'human interest piece', which was buried in the paper, about brothers who got smacked around by their father. The word 'KIDS' appears in the title of her article and no follow-up articles were ever written. You can find the AOH reporter information is on pg 72. The father smacking his son around begins with the first line of pg 73.
There's unfortunately tons more, but you get the idea. The rest of JM's Nancy Stokes part too closely resembles that of AOH Harvey Bishop (Episode 111).
I'm no lawyer, so maybe nothing can be defended in court, a crying shame for Debra Feldman, author of An Ordinary Hero. Perhaps I have too much time on my hands, but after reviewing both works, I find it highly credible that the two works could pass for twins, were one to unscramble JM into its separate parts.
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