I love time travel - hey, I’ve written one novel, The Plot to Save Socrates, which is completely time travel, and another, Borrowed Tides, in which time travel plays a role, and I’ve written at least half a dozen time travel stories, some of which have been nominated for awards, one of which was made into an award-nominated radio play and a low-budget movie* … so, you can see how much I love the genre.

Among my favorite episodes of Star Trek are “The City on the Edge of Forever” (Star Trek: The Original Series) and “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (Star Trek: The Next Generation). 12 Monkeys is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I really liked Deja Vu, too. And if we’re talking classic science fiction, well, Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity is one of my all-time favorite novels, and Robert Heinlein’s Door into Summer is right up there, too…

So, how does Journeyman stack up?

It’s off to a pretty good start.

Dan Vasser gets yanked around in time. Kevin McKidd plays the role well, and does have a timeless quality - likely because he was so memorable as Rome’s Vorenus on HBO.

The getting yanked around gives Journeyman a Quantum Leapish flavor - and Quantum Leap was a pretty good series - but I have a feeling Journeyman will be better. Quantum Leap was mostly the story of the leaps, and only rarely (and powerfully) told the story of the leaper, Sam Beckett. But Journeyman, at least in the first episode, was if anything a little more focused on Vasser’s story - more focused on that than the situation in the past he had to resolve (sent to do that by whomever or whatever, we do not quite know, as yet).

Since Dan Vasser’s story looks pretty interesting, keeping it on the center stage of Journeyman looks to be a good move. The woman he was going to marry was killed on a plane crash. Moon Bloodgood as Livia Beale looks almost as scintillating as she did in ABC’s shortlived Daybreak, and that’s good, too. Turns out she was not killed, but is also part of this time-yanking business - I realized that a minute or so before it was revealed - and that’s the kind of set-up I like to see in a time-travel story. Dan was already being touched by time travel 10 years before our story began tonight.

Meanwhile, Dan married Katie, who ten years ago was involved with Jack Vasser, Dan’s brother. This has the makings of a nice hornet’s nest of tension.

I also liked the way Journeyman handles gadgets. It looks like Dan has an iPhone in the present - he turns it sideways to see a video - and when he takes it or whatever cell phone it was to the past, the screen suddenly tells us no network. Hey, you don’t have to travel to the past to get that message, but it was a nice touch.

I have high hopes for this series, and I’m looking forward to next week. I think Journeyman has the potential to be one of the best time-travel series ever on television…

*That would be “The Chronology Protection Case”, the trailer for which you can see right here … and here’s a free podcast of the complete radio play…

With HEROES emerging recently from hiatus, you need to be sure that you know about the upcoming “spin-off”. I found this news over at IMDB this evening. What are YOUR thoughts on this? Are they going to run yet another series based on another series into the ground or will this provide HEROPHILES with the fix that they’re looking for? Are you even going to watch “HEROES: Origins?” Chime in now!

Roth Set for ‘Heroes’ Spin-Off
Source: IMDB.Com
Horror director Eli Roth has been signed up to write an episode of the new Heroes spin-off show Heroes: Origins. Producers are establishing a star-studded list of Hollywood’s top talent to take control of the much anticipated series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Superman Returns co-writer Michael Dougherty is also expected to be handed an episode to write. The show will launch in the US next year and introduce a new set of superheroes, who viewers will be able to vote onto the cast of Heroes.

Y’know, I know that everyone thinks that the “jumping into the Xmas Tree video” is funny, and cute and “haha” and all that, but folks:

He’s now been arrested for Driving While Intoxicated:

Anyone else think that’s at all funny?

There is much going on In Kiefer’s life that really needs to be looked at. The man is out of control and I just don’t want to see him take the same stupid path that so many before him have. Thoughts? Tell us what YOU think right here at the award-nominated 2GuysTalking Television Review Blogs! -Mike2GuysTalking

“LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kiefer Sutherland, who stars on the hit TV thriller “24″ as a secret agent with nerves of steel, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on Tuesday, hours before he was due to be honored by a Canadian actors’ union. The arrest comes as the Canadian performer, 40, the son of actor Donald Sutherland, remains on probation for driving under the influence in a previous case that landed him in a court-ordered treatment program for alcohol abuse.”

Read the Rest via Reuters

A new season of HEROES begins, with Chapter 2, “4 Months Later.”  All in all, this new year begins better than the first episode of last year.

SPOILERS Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite pilots this year, Reaper, airs tonight at 9/8c on the CW. A show with a goofy premise about a guy who’s parents sell his soul to the devil, Reaper is worth every moment of your time. That goofy premise gives way to great television. It’s well acted (Ray Wise as the devil!), very well shot (directed by Kevin Smith!), funny, and should win the “what’s the best geek show this season?” award. Created by two women who met while working on The X Files, Reaper has won me over after one episode. Give it a try for yourself and come back here afterwards to let us know what you think.