Journeyman-Season 1/Story 1--Pilot - A Love of a Lifetime 9/2007

[Mistwell]

I'm turned off. If you're going to have a character travel in the path, try to go for some authenticity. He travels to 1997 and people are carrying and talking on modern cell phones. Not too many people are using cell phones in 1997 and there definately weren't any short pretty ones. Most people are still carrying pagers. I worked for a major newspaper and we all had pagers until 2000 and we were the tech savvy industry.

He's in San Francisco. Most people in the work force between the ages of 20-35 had a cell phone in 1997 in that city. It was one of the major hubs of the internet boom, and the boom was well under way in 1997 in SF. And an awful lot of folks had a decent one as well.

This is the cell phone I had in 1997, and a lot of others had as well (and you could put different colored covers on them):

There were also shorter and nicer looking ones, but they were more expensive.

 

[Fast Learner]

I liked it a lot more than I thought I would... very good! I definitely look forward to next week. Well done!

In 1997 I was flush with early dotcom cash and had a very small phone, smaller than the phone I use today (which is also pretty small). It was something like a Nokia 8800 or so, all chrome with a mic that slid down to reveal the keys.

Anyway, looking forward to it!

 

[Graybeard]

I found the first half of the show to be uninteresting. I kept watching it and found the second half to be much better. I will watch a few more episodes to see how it goes. I like the main actor and thought he was good in Rome.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The thing this show lacked that I enjoyed about Quantum Leap was an understanding of the consequences of the changes. In the pilot, he jumps back in time to save the guy from killing himself so he can get his wife pregnant, then again to convince her to keep the baby, then one more time to save the wife and kid. The result of all that is the kid saves the lives of nine other kids in a bus accident. Heartwarming, but so what? Is he supposed to save anybody who dies a tragic death?

I'm intrigued by the ex-fiancee also time travelling, and I did think it was a cool bit with him burying the ring under the patio to convince his wife he really is doing this (although her acceptance was a little too easy).

My watching this show will probably be determined by how tired I am after Heroes is done, and how many other shows I end up recording and don't have time to watch.

 

[GSHamster]

The thing this show lacked that I enjoyed about Quantum Leap was an understanding of the consequences of the changes. In the pilot, he jumps back in time to save the guy from killing himself so he can get his wife pregnant, then again to convince her to keep the baby, then one more time to save the wife and kid. The result of all that is the kid saves the lives of nine other kids in a bus accident. Heartwarming, but so what? Is he supposed to save anybody who dies a tragic death?

I agree with you that the consequences aren't really shown. However, I get a sense that--because he has no real control about what he's doing yet, and the girlfriend angle--that it might be more along the lines of moving pieces along the board to accomplish some greater goal at the end of the seaon.

Is each episode's travels completely separate, or are they tied together? I guess we'll have to wait for the next few episodes to see.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I agree with you that the consequences aren't really shown. However, I get a sense that--because he has no real control about what he's doing yet, and the girlfriend angle--that it might be more along the lines of moving pieces along the board to accomplish some greater goal at the end of the seaon.

Is each episode's travels completely separate, or are they tied together? I guess we'll have to wait for the next few episodes to see.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. Hopefully they will give us an indication if you are right within a couple of episodes. If they only start connecting the dots halfway into the season, it will be frustrating and Journeyman might very well end up being stuck in the past due to cancellation.

Of course they should not be trying to appeal to me and make me really enjoy the show. I seem to have a reverse quantum effect on TV shows - the more I want to see it, the more likely it will vanish from the airwaves. Heroes has displayed its superpowers simply be defying my ability.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Definitely has that Quantum Leap thing going for it and that's what will get me to tune back in a few times. However, I thought that the pilot was... insubstantial. It all felt rather forced and crammed together because you had to fit it all into the time slot. I think it would have been much better as a two-hour premiere and seemed like it might even have been originally written with much better character development and plotting but was cut down rather ruthlessly.

I intend to give it a few more episodes before passing final judgement.

 

[Brogarn]

I think it has potential. I really liked the end. For the love of all that's good in the world, though, please turn down the freakin music!

For now, I plan on watching at least one more episode to see if I'm going to like it over the long run or not.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I think it has potential. I really liked the end. For the love of all that's good in the world, though, please turn down the freakin music!

For now, I plan on watching at least one more episode to see if I'm going to like it over the long run or not.

I agree. Has there been a strike of sound engineers in Holloywood or something? I've noticed an increasing number of shows where the music and background noises mask some of the dialogue. I have debated at times turning on close captioning.