Sci-Fi News and Reviews

Save "Journeyman" Campaign

"Journeyman" has been cancelled. It's all over the web!

And...it's not exactly true. The real story is that NBC let the series renewal deadline pass without giving the series an extension for the remainder of the season. Sure, the news is not good - it's just not terminal yet.

So, the fansite "SaveJourneyman.net" is starting a save our show campaign for the time-traveling drama. Since these campaigns always involve sending something that represents the show to the network in hopes of garnering enough attention to merit reconsideration, I was wondering what they would pick for this show. Since it is set in San Francisco, a tiny Golden Gate bridge might have worked. Or little pieces of gold...or subscriptions to the "San Francisco Register" (which is the fictional newspaper that the main character works for in the show). Nope - I was wrong on all counts!

The chosen vehicle - Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco Treat!

Look - I know a lot of people really like this show (my wife included!). Slice of SciFi has stated:

We need to let NBC know something they obviously donâ€™t have a clue about just how great this show is and all it needs is to be moved to another night at an earlier time.

For myself, I am always concerned when a decent Sci-Fi show is passed over. But, the truth is that I have never really been hooked on "Journeyman". Heck, I rated it 7th out of the 8 current Sci-Fi shows on the air. I don't believe it is a bad show. It has all of the elements that should make me want to see it each week. Unfortunately, I just don't - and I never could explain it, until now.

I think my "meh-ness" about "Journeyman" is due to the fact that it really *is* Rice-a-Roni! You know, Rice-a-Roni is a nice, low budget accompaniment to a meal - but, it's not a main course. You never really say "Man - what I am really craving is big bowl of Rice-a-Roni!". And that is the real issue with "Journeyman". I never crave watching it. So far, it has been a nice little side dish for the TV season, but it's not a meal. It's missing a main course. And, now, (if the writer's have one up their sleeve with the source of Dan's time traveling), we may never find out.

Posted by Fred on December 14, 2007 8:18 PM
Permalink |

I have to ask, what writers? They're on strike, remember? Even if it got a full season pickup, there'd be no one to do the show justice.

Having said that, I'll goto the Save the show site, but I'm probably not sending a box of Rice-a-Roni to a network that clearly hasn't known what it's been doing for awhile now....

-- Posted by: Mike Shields at December 15, 2007 8:52 PM

The whole deal with rice-a-roni campaign was the "donatable" factor. "Journeyman" fans didnt want to send in something that would eventually be useless and possibly discarded afterwards by NBC.
"Jericho" fans sent in nuts to CBS that was eventually donated to charity. We wanted to do the same. Believe me, we decided on Rice-a-Roni after a lot of other ideas thrown about.
We also wanted to send something that could eventually benefit another group, like food for charity.
Rice-a-roni seemed to be an obvious idea.
As for the article above, those that didnt "crave" Journeyman in the beginning are missing a great series because it's been getting better and better with every episode. Ask any JM fan, and they will agree, it's definitely satisfying.

-- Posted by: cyn at December 16, 2007 2:00 PM

I get the idea that the product should be both cheap and able to be used/donated by the network. It makes good sense. When I talked to my wife about it, she came up with a great one - old cellphones!

Still, I am just talking about my personal taste. I will repeat that I don't think the show is *bad* and it is certainly better than many things that still are on the air. But, when looking at what I have on my TiVo playlist, I very rarely choose Journeyman over my other shows.

And, of course, my wife disagrees. I think she has confiscated all of the Rice-a-Roni in the house already.
;-)

-- Posted by: Fred at December 17, 2007 9:31 AM

Doing something for charity and trying to save the show is a great idea. You can do both.

You don't just have to send things to NBC. Volunteers can help charities and say we are doing this in the name of Save Journeyman.

Other sci fi clubs etc. can do things in the name of charity why can't Journeyman Fan Clubs do the same?

Put the charity first and Save Journeyman second, but I think it is ok to do both.

-- Posted by: Do it for charity at January 15, 2008 4:20 AM

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