I've put a lot of faith in this show. I have expressed that it will go the way 24 did, or possibly even the way Prison Break gripped TV viewers on its very first airing. But, ABC is doing a "Let's wait and see"... first by pushing the premiere ONE YEAR after. Then only calling 8 episodes to air (Traveler will run until June 28). And then....we'll just have to wait and see.Reviews are up, they are good:
Newsday
Conspiracy theorists, you have a new show.USA Today
Cute-guy gawkers-at, you have a new show.
Action fans, you have a pilot episode.
Created by Eight Below's David DiGilio, Traveler marries current fears of terrorism to a sturdy old scenario: the innocent dupe caught up in a vast crime conspiracy. Think of multiple Hitchcock movies from The 39 Steps to North by Northwest; all that's missing is the cool blonde.New York Times
The first episode of “Traveler” is well made and quite gripping, with lots of chase scenes through hotel corridors and rooftops. But the past season is littered with the unfinished scripts of serialized dramas imitating “Lost,” and to some extent “24.” The NBC show “Heroes” was a huge success, but other, more adult thrillers like “The Nine,” “Kidnapped” and “Day Break” flopped and disappeared. “Traveler” takes young, handsome protagonists and plunges them into an adult world of terrorism and government deceit. And in these times, that could be a popular combination.LA Times
It's all very tense and fun, underscored by sirens and ominous techno music, shot in that popular, over-caffeinated jumpiness that here at least makes sense, lighted up by the all-American good looks of Bomer and sulky rich-boyishness of Marshall-Green. But it's also undeniably disturbing, and not because someone was trying to destroy an art museum. In plots such as these, the biggest hump is why the innocent don't just go to the authorities — in this case, there is nothing to link the guys to the bombing except the Rollerblading, and any half-decent lawyer could get around that. But the characters are quickly convinced, and convincing in their belief, that there is no justice to be had for a suspect in the bombing of a New York institution.
Ratings up...it is bad:
Top honors at 10 p.m. went to the season-finale of CBS’ Without a Trace at a 10.5/17 in its former time period. Second was NBC’s deteriorating ER (6.9/11), followed by the lackluster preview of ABC drama Traveler at a 6.6/11. Comparatively, Traveler held only 50 percent of the Grey’s Anatomy lead-in, while dipping by 19 percent (7.3/12 to 5.9/10) in the second half-hour. A repeat of the Traveler pilot will move into its regularly scheduled Wednesday 10 p.m. tome period on May 30.
Minor change from the pilot as seen and distributed in the internet last year, to the pilot shown on TV this year: the recast of the girlfriend. Not the same actress.
That's just about it.
Traveler
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Pilot
Original Airing: May 10, 2007
Network: ABC
