I Refuse to Say Goodbye to ‘Journeyman’
It’s Not Over Yet
Yeah, the writing’s on the wall and has been since long before NBC decided to let its option to order more episodes of the intriguing sci-fi rookie Journeyman expire on Tuesday. I’ve been reading a lot of posts around the Web since the news broke, from one erroneous blog report that the series has been canceled (that’s untrue, at least in an official capacity) to the understandable and legitimate fan laments that networks clearly haven’t learned a thing in recent years because they still don’t give many freshman shows enough time to develop a loyal following.
I already said it once, and I’ll say it again now: a large part of Journeyman’s downfall was the disappointing performance of its Monday-night sci-fi lead-in Heroes, the once popular and now troubled sophomore series that almost imploded under the weight of too many characters and meandering storylines. Far worse, the two shows were essentially mismatched. Both are science fiction without a doubt. But, the individual plots and main characters don’t appeal to the same demographics. Thus, the comics-inspired Heroes skews much younger and likely more male, as well. It’s no great surprise, then, that Journeyman regularly lost several million viewers from its lead-in. If Heroes had retained or increased its first-year audience to begin with, though, maybe more of its fans would have been interested in the later series.
Another huge factor in Journeyman’s inability to get a leg up on its competition was the fact that the competition is already so entrenched among the TV-watching public. ABC’s The Bachelor is, in my opinion, an inexplicably popular reality series, while CBS’ CSI: Miami is a seemingly unbeatable member of the insanely loved CSI franchise. How can a newbie earn significant ratings against not one but two such behemoths? When you look at the situation from that commonsensical perspective, Journeyman did a darn fine job attracting the audience it managed to build.
I sincerely hope that NBC reconsiders its shortsighted decision to not pick up a well-crafted and well-acted series, in the midst of a tumultuous writers strike, no less. The only hourlong fall rookie on the Peacock Network that deserves to fade away into oblivion is Bionic Woman, and that’s regardless of whether Katee Sackhoff ever returns or not; even she can’t bring the misguided dud back to life. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed despite all odds and fervently hoping that some Peacock executive will finally see the light before its too late. Journeyman does not deserve to be canceled.
If you share my high regard for the time-travel series, there are a couple of options available in the form of two active fan campaigns currently underway to save it. While it usually irks me to see people biting off of Jericho’s Nuts to CBS success earlier this year, in the present case I’ll keep my objections to myself. Both campaigns, Save Journeyman at funurl and SaveJourneyman.net, aim to inundate NBC bigwigs with boxes of Rice-a-Roni (the show and the famous culinary treat each have strong ties to San Francisco). You can visit their respective websites to learn more about how to lend a hand and help rescue a deserving show. I already have.
Related Post: In Support of ‘Journeyman’
Journeyman has two remaining episodes left to air this year on NBC, the first on Monday, December 17 at 10pm EST and the second on Wednesday, December 19 at 10pm
Kevin McKidd/Journeyman photo courtesy of NBC
