moon bloodgood

San Francisco journalist Dan Vasser suffers from blackouts which cause him to wake up the past on a mission to change someone's life, all while juggling his present as a father and husband with a past that includes a fianc?destined to die. Or is she?


For Fans Of - Quantum Leap, The Dead Zone, Early Edition.

What I Didn't Like

There really wasn't too much that I didn't like. In fact my only qualm with the show was more a distraction; I loved Rome so hearing Kevin McKidd without an English accent took me out of the episode in the beginning. I miss Rome.

What I Liked

First off the casting is superb. Reed Diamond and Kevin McKidd are the best tv brothers I've seen in awhile. Plus it's a kick to see Reed Diamond as a cop on NBC again. And since I was one of the few fans of Daybreak seeing Moon Bloodgood again is a treat.

I thought the scenes set in the past were pretty well done. The writers seem trust the views to know the past is the past without having to hit them over the head with it.

Tons of scenes rang true to me. Vasser's anniversary, his abortive intervention. But the scene that rang the most true was probably the scene when Dan is alone with Olivia in their shared apartment. Seeing McKidd convey the torture between wanting to cherish every moment with his lost love yet not wanting to cheat on his wife in the present was so perfectly played.

I also appreciated how the writers provide enough information about why Dan is bouncing around in time, to satisfy without giving everything away.

And while Dan's plan to prove his sanity to his wife was obvious, it was also effective.


Closing Thoughts

I'm a sucker for time travel, so I really dug the show. Being a fan of most of the principal cast I wasn't disappointed in their work. The writers did a good job of addressing the repercussions to someone's personal life if such a fantastic thing happened, which makes the show that much more enjoyable. I'll be sticking around.

NBC's new "Journeyman" is about time travel. I don't think I'm alone with this thought, but if I could travel back in time, I'd buy stocks and lottery tickets. I'd gamble on Super Bowls. I'd punch a few people in the face. And I'd probably track down women before they became famous, and give them a shot.

I'm just sayin'. I'm sure you're a much nicer person than me and you wouldn't do any of those things.

I'm just sayin'. I'm sure you're a much nicer person than me and you wouldn't do any of those things.

Of course, maybe the universe would force me to be altruistic somehow. That's certainly the case with "Journeyman," which debuts tonight after the season opener of "Heroes."

? Click to enlarge image

Moon Bloodgood as Livia Beale, Kevin McKidd as Dan Vasser in "Journeyman."

Of course, maybe the universe would force me to be altruistic somehow. That's certainly the case with "Journeyman," which debuts tonight after the season opener of "Heroes."

This newspaper reporter named Dan (Kevin McKidd) suddenly starts transporting to moments in the past, and he is confused, naturally. Dan does figure out he's being placed at hairy scenes in his native San Francisco, and he tries his darned-tootin'-est to stop someone from dying.

The basic premise is a cousin of "Quantum Leap" (some compare it the romantic novel The Time Traveler's Wife) except Dan can travel back only to years when he was alive. And he doesn't have a sidekick telling him what his mysterious mission is.

Dan faces dilemmas. He can't control when he leaps, so he'll be driving a car and, poof, he's gone, and the driverless car goes careening into a wreck.

And if Dan visits 1987 for six hours, he is absent from the present for six hours. It's nice to see a time-traveling fiction, for once, where people essentially disappear, leaving others to think: Hey, have you seen Dan? I wonder if he's off on a bender!

Time-travel fiction is almost always romanticized, since love is not bound by time yada yada, so there's romance afoot here. Dan loves his wife Katie (Gretchen Egolf), and he tries to convince her of his newfound oddity.

But when he goes to the past, he runs into his ex-love Livia (Moon Bloodgood), whom he once mourned after her plane crashed. This makes Dan feel strange and gives him that sad-bastard sensitive thing the ladies allegedly love.

What's good: McKidd (last seen as Lucius Vorenus in HBO's "Rome") commits nicely to the role, and there's a pleasant payoff to the plot. There's promise here.

What's bad: The dramatic structure is overorganized around the linear detective-ing, and the show's too Dan-centric without a "Quantum Leap"-like partner to spice things up. It's always Dan, Dan, Dan -- looking forlorn, looking confused, looking determined. It's rare when one guy can carry a whole dramatic fiction like this as, say, Terence Stamp did in Steven Soderbergh's li'l classic, "The Limey."

That's why "Back to the Future's" Marty McFly had Doc, and the most excellent, adventurous Bill had Ted. Buddies keep heroes in line. And as we all know by now, if I had been Marty without the moral voice of Doc, my bank account would be swollen with riches. And I'd have taken yoga classes with Naomi Watts.

That's just me.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Kevin McKidd is passed out in an alley near the corner of California and Kearny when a wandering thief nearly swipes his watch. Fortunately, Moon Bloodgood storms onto the scene, saves the day and brings McKidd up to date. But he doesn't know what to make of what she's telling him: He's stuck in the year 1989.

A cable car bell dings from a passing trolley. Director Alex Graves yells "cut." McKidd and Bloodgood exchange glances. Time for another take.

And so it goes on the set of "Journeyman," the new San Francisco-based television series premiering at 10 p.m. today on NBC.

For McKidd and company, the show couldn't come at a better time.

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"This script was the most individual and unique because it wasn't your standard TV show," he says in between shooting. "It shakes the bottle a bit and plays with the imagination. Compared to a cop show, it was such an imaginative choice."

It's true. If "Quantum Leap" crawled into bed with a distant cousin of "Early Edition" it would have produced something like "Journeyman."

Filmed on location over the summer months, this clever thinking-man's odyssey finds the 34-year-old "Rome" alum playing a newspaper reporter (Dan Vasser) with a bizarre affliction: He blacks out and wakes up somewhere in the modern past. Eventually, he realizes he's been temporarily sent back in time, possibly to make a difference in the lives of others.

The premise might win raves with viewers who appreciate some depth sprinkled over their sci-fi cravings.

"It's not just some sci-fi show where he's off solving something," McKidd adds. "It's about a normal man, who has no control over this stuff. He's following his instincts and at the same time, he's trying to keep his life together."

Bloodgood, last seen in ABC's "Daybreak," believes the series has a lot of heart.

"I love the idea of going back into your past and looking at what you could change; looking at your life and seeing what regrets you have," she says. "I also like the idea of him being caught between two women."

Yes, there is that.

McKidd's character is a happily married family man in the present day. In the past, he stumbles upon with his former fiancé (Bloodgood), who he thought was dead, but apparently is in a time travel conundrum herself.

The romantic plot twist was the brainchild of creator-producer Kevin Falls, who, along with "Journeyman" director Alex Graves, served as executive producer of "The West Wing." Falls, a Northern California native, says he specifically had San Francisco in mind when he was asked by 20th Century Fox Television to create a new drama series.

"I love The City so much," he says. "It's magical, mystical and just hopelessly interesting. This show is very much a love story about The City."

Meanwhile, The City beckons.

Back on California Street, the cast, crew and dozens of San Francisco locals appearing as extras have regrouped to the end of the cable car line. Lights, cameras and a boom operator capture the attention of onlookers as another scene from the show unravels. McKidd steps off the trolley and shares a deep moment with a curious stranger he's encountered. Then he stares off into the distance, contemplating the future.

He won't be alone. If viewers venture toward "Journeyman," the drama around water coolers will be all about trying to solve the show's perplexing mystery.

Only Falls, as creator, knows the answers. But his lips are sealed. In other words: All in due time