“Traveler” Preview: Look ma, we’re on Tee-Vee!
Dude, that are museum, like, totally blew up.
Ah 2006. We were all so young and naive back then. To think that network executives were actually under the assumption that audiences would respond to serialized dramas where characters and stories develop over the course of several seasons. Such buffoons. Most audiences, who aren’t myself, don’t have 10 hours a week to dedicate themselves to a story that may or may not ever actually go anywhere.
Traveler, a left-over from last falls serial-spectacular, finally aired last night on ABC after Grey’s Anatomy. It doesn’t come back until the end of the month, but will then run over the course of the summer –Â or until it gets such low ratings is pulled and replaced by a reality show featuring contestants trying to make the best test-pattern. More of the series after the break…
The series is about two friends running from the law after they are framed for blowing up an art museum in Manhattan (the museum isn’t “the Met” but it is). Expectedly, the show is just interesting enough to make you wish you hadn’t tuned in in the first place. It kind of leaves you with a regretful “I guess I should keep watching to see what happens” rationality.
The show isn’t very good. Maybe even bad. Maybe even unwatchable. The catch is that despite all of this, it’s interesting enough to get you through the whole hour. Perhaps this is because of the terrorism themes, and the general appeal of watching people get chased on film. It was a quick hour, with few breaks for chat. This is a good thing as the characters are paper thin and have a “we’ll cast him because 11-year-old girls will think he’s dreamy” presence.
Really, that’s what kills the show. The acting. Good actors can take bad material and make it interesting (Jeff Goldblum in Raines), but bad actors can’t make a good idea any more watchable. And when the idea isn’t even that good, you have some serious problems.
I’ll probably give Traveler one more episode come June, just to see if there is any gas left in the tank, but after that I’m pulling the plug. There are too many actually interesting shows on cable in the summer to lose sleep over whether these hunks guys escape the baddies.
May 11th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Hmm… I kinda liked it. But, I didn’t feel good about myself for liking it…
May 11th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Quote from you:
“It kind of leaves you with a regretful ‘I guess I should keep watching to see what happens’ rationality.”
I’m glad I wasn’t alone in this sentiment. My girlfriend, who is typically not at all engrossed in mystery thrillers or movies/shows that really ask you to think too much when it keeps throwing strange curveballs, was glued to the TV after the Grey’s Anatomy lead-in, which is very out of the ordinary. After Grey’s, I had invested my “tube time” for the night and was content with doing something else. Strangely, though, I absolutely HAD to at least stay to watch Traveler all the way up to the explosion sequence that the commercials had highly touted. After that, I promised myself I would break away and busy myself with cleaning or doing something else. The sequence came and went, with no surprises after the advertisements pretty much took the wind out of it. But then both of us just found ourselves stuck to the couch for the remainder of the hour.
Why is this? Because I learned a valuable lesson: ALWAYS tip the bellhop, because someday he just might bail you out of a terrorist conspiracy.