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ABC's "Traveler" to Start Road Trip Early

Remember Traveler, that little 8 episode action drama that was originally ordered for the 2006-07 season?

The series, which stars Matthew Bomer, Logan Marshall-Green, Aaron Stanford, William Sadler, and Stephen Culp (a.k.a. poor dead Rex from Desperate Housewives), follows two grad students (Bomer, Marshall-Green) forced to go on the run after their friend (Stanford) frames them for a terrorist act (namely, the blowing up of one NYC museum). Together, they must find a way to prove their innocence while tracking down the man responsible for the crime (the titular Will Traveler).

ABC announced a few weeks back that it would burn off the series (earlier chopped from its 13 episode initial order to 8 eps) in its entirety this summer, a rather unceremonious dumping of a show that I found eminently more engaging and suspenseful than, say, the current season of 24.

To counter-balance any negativity to the summer scheduling, ABC has now announced that Traveler will in fact kick off on its deadly road trip earlier than expected. The freshman drama will get a sneak peek of sorts on May 10th in the prime post-Grey's Anatomy slot at 10 pm.

Traveler's pilot episode (look for a review next week) will then be rebroadcast on May 30th (its original launch date) in the series' regular timeslot, Wednesdays at 10 pm.

Having seen multiple versions of Traveler's pilot over the last year, I can't wait for this summer series to kick off. I'm just itching for something smart, suspenseful, and sleek to watch during the long, hot months of summer.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I totally forgot about this show. I was really excited about it when I heard about it last year but then forgot it existed when I never saw any ads for it. Thanks for the heads up about the sneek peak. I'll definitely be checking it out!
Anonymous said…
I had an opportunity to see the pilot last summer and thought it was the best of the new shows for this season. I was disappointed to see it continue to sit on the shelf. Hopefully it will be a huge sucess and be something that sticks around longer that the 8 episodes this summer.
The CineManiac said…
I've been waiting to hear more on this series since the original concept was announced, so Thanks for the update.
This show sounded very promising and has been in the back of my mind for months now, just hoping it would debut one day.
Can't wait to see how the show does, hopefully ABC will at least give it a small chance and we'll see it gain enough viewers to stick around for awhile.
Anonymous said…
I saw a version of the pilot and thought it had a lot of potential. It's too bad they let it sit for so long but maybe airing it during the the summer will give it a better chance of survival.
Vance said…
This was one of the shows I was looking most forward to, and the buzz has all been positive, the cast is great. So what is ABC waiting for? unless the subsequent eps were THAT bad? Or did The Nine scare them off?
Anonymous said…
Interesting - this is one of the only pilots I didn't see. It always sounded interesting to me. I will definitely check it out.
Anonymous said…
I have seen the first 3 episodes of the series, and i'm sorely dissappointed in ABC for not ordering more episodes, or at least giving it a full season. It's well-written, well-acted, and an interesting premise. A little reminiscent of Prison Break, 24, and the like, but I'm a fan of those shows, so I don't mind. In the light of the "Jericho" resurrection, maybe ABC will come to their senses and give those poor Yale boys more time to figure out who Will Traveler really is. I certainly want to know!
Anonymous said…
I just hear that Traveler has been cancelled. What an enormous waste of a great show. This is one of the few shows that has captured my attention during this season. I don't think the show was given a fair run or a fall start to capture an audience. Everyone I know that has discovered Traveler can't stop watching. Hopefully abc will wake-up in time to give this show a chance. Why do the great shows always get cancelled before they even get started?
Anonymous said…
Help save Traveler and sign the petition to bring this superb show back for another season of drama, action and suspense.

Sign the petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/willtrav/petition.html
Unknown said…
Traveler was the only show we watched live, not recorded, so we even endured the commercials. Guess ABC doesn't need sponsors...
Anonymous said…
What happened to Will Traveler.
It was mysterious, action packed, my kids and I looked forward to watching on Wed. nights.... then all of a sudden it was gone?
sad, from Bismarck, IL

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