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''Journeyman'' is an American
science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...
romance television series created by Kevin Falls for
20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...
which aired on the NBC television network.NBC.com: ''Journeyman'' official site - "About"
/ref> It starred Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasser, a
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
who involuntarily travels through time. Alex Graves, who directed the
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
, and Falls served as executive producers. The show premiered on September 24, 2007, airing Mondays at 10 p.m.
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
. The initial order from the network was for 13 episodes, all of which were produced prior to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. However, the series suffered from low ratings, and NBC canceled it in April 2008. The final episode of ''Journeyman'' aired on Wednesday, December 19, 2007.


Plot

The series centers on Dan Vasser, a newspaper reporter living with his wife Katie and young son Zack in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. For an unknown reason, one day he begins "jumping" backward in time. He soon learns that each series of jumps follows the life of a person whose destiny he is meant to change. Dan's jumping affects his family life and his job, and instills suspicion in his brother Jack, a police detective. While in the past, Dan reconnects with his ex-fiancée, Livia, whom he had believed was killed in a plane crash but who is actually a fellow time traveler.


Fictional cosmology

Dan's temporal displacements, colloquially referred to as "shifts," exhibit an apparent lack of pattern or predictability. Preceding each jump, Dan experiences a sensation in his head that varies in timing, ranging from immediate to several seconds in advance. Initially, these sensations manifested as headaches, although their intensity gradually diminished as the series progressed. It is worth noting that Dan possesses no conscious control over these shifts. The initial leap thrusts Dan several decades into the past, with subsequent jumps progressively bringing him closer to the present, typically spanning several years per leap. In the series finale, Dan encounters Evan, who discloses his own identity as a fellow traveler, suggesting that Evan, too, has experienced haphazard jumps across various time periods. Livia, another character, also alludes to her own multitude of jumps, albeit distinct from Dan's experiences. Dan's jumps materialize through the manifestation of a small blue flash and a rippling effect, causing him to seemingly vanish from the present and instantaneously appear in the past. During his absence from the present, the duration of time is unrelated to the period spent in the past. These disappearances and reappearances are seldom witnessed by others. Notably, Dan does not reemerge at the same location he departed from; instead, he materializes in close proximity to the individual he is destined to assist. His jumps predominantly confine him to the San Francisco region, the area of his departure. Initially, upon arrival in the past, Dan remains unconscious. However, as the series progresses, he gains some measure of control over the jumps, evidenced by his ability to sense their onset and walk with the ripples as they occur. Dan actively strives to comprehend the mechanics governing his temporal travels, seeking insights from a physicist who exhibits knowledge of his father's past and speculating about the potential influence of tachyon particles on temporal shifts. It becomes apparent that the scientist is cognizant of Dan's journeys and those undertaken by individuals sharing his peculiar abilities. Furthermore, it is revealed that individuals born around the time of a rare celestial event, the fictitious "Joseph-Lee" comet, possess the capacity for time travel. Each of Dan's journeys bears an inherent purpose, which may not always be immediately evident to him. Their underlying objective revolves around effecting positive changes in the destinies of specific individuals. Paradoxically, if Dan attempts to manipulate events beyond his designated charge, fate appears to conspire against him. Alterations made by Dan to the timeline reverberate into the present and affect the recollections of its inhabitants. However, his own memories remain unaffected, enabling him to recall events as they originally unfolded prior to his interventions. Dan is not alone in his temporal voyages. His former fiancée, Livia, presumed dead in a plane crash, actually travels back to her "home time" of 1948 and subsequently jumps forward through time. Dan encounters Livia during his leaps into the past, as she propels herself toward her future to offer guidance and support in his missions. In the episode "Perfidia," it is revealed that at least one other individual, named Evan, also possesses the ability to traverse time. Intriguingly, this person's demise occurs shortly before Dan experiences his initial jump, thereby establishing a cyclical narrative wherein Dan supplants the void left by Evan's absence as a time traveler. At the same time, Dan and Livia intuitively sense that her purpose in accompanying him culminates at that juncture, foreshadowing diminished future encounters between the two.


Cast and characters

*Dan Vasser (played by Kevin McKidd) is a reporter for the fictional newspaper the ''San Francisco Register''. Dan is the main protagonist of the series, who finds himself jumping through time, unable to stop or control the jumps. He has a son, Zack, with his wife of 7 years, Katie — his brother's ex-girlfriend. Dan was previously engaged to Livia Beale before her disappearance and supposed death in a plane crash. Dan is a recovered gambling addict. *Katie Vasser (played by Gretchen Egolf) is Dan's wife and mother of their son Zack. Until recently, she was the only one in the present who knew about her husband's time-traveling. Katie was the long-time girlfriend of Dan's brother Jack. Since their break-up nine years ago, the two have remained somewhat distant; partly because Katie ended up getting pregnant by Dan and they married soon after. Before marrying Dan, Katie was a television reporter. In response to cutbacks at the ''Register'', and Dan's traveling, Katie returns to television to ensure a stable income for the family. *Olivia "Livia" Beale (played by Moon Bloodgood) is Dan's ex-fiancée who was presumed dead after a plane crash nearly ten years before the start of the series. It is revealed that she is actually a time traveler from 1948 who jumps into the future. After not being able to jump home for an uncertain number of years, she was stuck in Dan's present and adapted to life there, where she began a legal career and fell in love with Dan, only to finally jump back home while on the plane before it crashed. In "Blowback" and in the final episode, "Perfidia", she and Dan speculated that Dan was the target of her extended jump, and that her mission was to get Dan and Katie together (which was arguably a result of her supposed death). For unknown reasons, she now jumps to the same times that Dan visits, and offers him advice and assistance in his missions. *Jack Vasser (played by Reed Diamond) is Dan's brother. Jack, a police detective, is dating Dr. Theresa Sanchez ( Lisa Sheridan), but also has feelings for Katie (his ex). Jack forms a number of misconceptions about Dan's disappearances and apparent irresponsibility, refusing to believe his brother when Dan tries to explain the time traveling. Believing Dan has perhaps returned to his gambling vice, Jack uses his police resources to investigate Dan's life. Jack is finally convinced of Dan's time traveling when Livia meets with Jack to enlist his help in getting Dan out of a desperate situation. *Hugh Skillen (played by Brian Howe) is the
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of the ''San Francisco Register'' and Dan's boss and friend. *Zack Vasser (played by Charles Henry Wyson) is Dan and Katie's son, who has seen Dan disappear, believing it to be magic. Dan often fears leaving his son as his father left him when he was Zack's age.


Main crew

Kevin Falls, Alex Graves, Joan Binder Weiss, J.R. Orci, Neal Ahern, Megan Mascena, Matt McGuinness, Paul Redford, David Hyman, Juan Carlos Coto, Tom Szentgyorgyi, Dana Calvo, and Robert J. Ulrich (
Casting Director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...
).


Production

Exteriors of the Vasser family home were shot at Foy House, 1337 Carroll Ave., Angelino Heights, Echo Park,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. At the end of episode ten the Innes House made famous as Halliwell Manor in the series
Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...
can be seen next door to the south-east. Episodes of the show were made available online, and NBC distributed the pilot on a fall-preview DVD at Blockbuster and other retail video-rental stores. United Kingdom's Sky One, Australia's Channel Ten, TV3 in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and Canada's Global network acquired broadcast rights to the series. When the show was not renewed for a full season, some ''Journeyman'' supporters initiated an attempt to revive production of the series by sending boxes of Rice-A-Roni (a product associated with
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
) to NBC, echoing the "Nuts" campaign which led to a second season of the CBS series ''
Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...
''. ''Journeyman'' creator Kevin Falls acknowledged the campaign in his blog, saying "Your fight to save Journeyman has humbled and moved us. I'm certainly not going to tell you to stop now". However, Falls also said that there were long odds against a revival, stating "''Journeyman'' will likely not be getting a back nine order." As of April 2, 2008, the show was confirmed as officially canceled by NBC.


Episodes


Reception

The series premiere, "A Love of a Lifetime", was watched by 9.2 million people, and received a 3.5/9 share among adults 18–49 years old. Mike Pearson of the ''Rocky Mountain News'' felt that ''Journeyman'' cannibalized past television shows '' Early Edition'' and '' Quantum Leap''. In his opinion, the second episode was more coherent than the first. Tony Whitt of IfMagazine.com gave "A Love of a Lifetime" an A−, and felt that one aspect of ''Journeyman'' that was better than ''Quantum Leap'' was its love story. He also liked the acting in "A Love of a Lifetime" and called star McKidd "damn watchable". Karla Peterson of ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' felt that "A Love of a Lifetime" was "a deft mix of supernatural wizardry and grown-up drama".


U.S. ratings


See also

Quantum Leap


References


External links

* {{Journeyman 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s American romance television series 2000s American science fiction television series 2000s American time travel television series American English-language television shows NBC original programming American time travel television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in San Francisco Television series set in the 1970s Television series set in the 1980s Television series set in the 1990s