TV Spotlight #1: Timeless (#SaveTimeless)
Brought to you by: Great Deals & Discounts, in association with Never Ending Jewelry Party
TV Spotlight: This series will feature overviews of some of the best (and worst?) television series worthy of our discussion. TV Spotlight articles will focus on the overall theme of a series, without being too spoiler-y. More in-depth discussions of certain shows and elements will be included in other series. Deeper discussion is encouraged in the comments section, so beware of spoilers there!
TV Show: Timeless
Network: NBC (2016-2018); Unknown 2019+
Produced By: Sony Pictures Television (@SPTV)
Seasons: 2 (2016-2018)
Genre: Sci-Fi
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Where to Watch: All episodes now streaming on HULU in the US.
(Available on Netflix in many other countries)
Anyone who knows me (IRL and on Twitter @NEJewelryParty) knows that I have spent the better part of the last year fighting to #SaveTimeless as part of the Clockblocker movement. I plan to include many more articles getting into the nitty-gritty of this series in the future. Here is just the basic overview. I hope that if you have not watched this show yet, that this article can convince you to give it a try.
The Story:
Millionaire mogul Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph, @ignatius_sancho) and his team at Mason Industries, secretly invented and are currently testing a time machine. Our "time bandit," Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic, @goranvisnjic) steals the time machine, called The Mothership, on a quest to change history (to what end?).
History professor Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer, @abigailspencer) is brought in, where she meets Delta Force soldier Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter, @MattLanter) and Mason Industries engineer Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett, @malcolmbarrett). Acting as historian, soldier, and pilot, the three have been assigned to use an earlier prototype time machine, The Lifeboat, to chase Flynn and the Mothership through history. Their Mission: Takedown Garcia Flynn, retrieve the Mothership, preserve history as we know it. {note the names Logan, Preston, & Rufus Carlin are nods to Bill & Ted's characters and actor George Carlin.}
Visiting different time periods and places throughout history, our Time Team meets many well known (and many obscure) important faces of history. Through their pursuit of Garcia Flynn, they begin to understand the consequences of altering the history books, as well as learn of the presence of a secret organization called Rittenhouse that may have their own agenda. Our team wants to be on the right side of history, but which side is that? What's more important, preserving the past or protecting the future? What would you do if you had a time machine?
The main cast also includes Sakina Jaffrey (@sakinajaffrey) as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher and Claudia Doumit (@JustDoumit) as Jiya Marri, another engineer employed at Mason Industries.
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| Jaffrey, Lanter, Visnjic, Spencer, Barrett, Joseph, Doumit |
Characteristics:
I have listed the genre above as sci-fi, as this show is, at its core, about time travel (which is btw my favorite sub-genre of sci-fi, so expect to see a lot more of this from me in the future). However, Timeless is so much more than just a time travel show. This series has a little bit of everything you could ask for: action, romance, mystery, history, comedy, thriller, and even sometimes a bit western.
Timeless embodies everything that makes entertainment great. It teaches you so much about history while being fun and entertaining. Its primary goal isn't to be educational, but it is. The thrilling action-packed storyline will keep you coming back episode after episode to unravel the mystery with the Time Team, while the enchanting costumes and set designs will send you so deep into historical settings that you'll forget it's only tv make-believe. Meet famous and infamous figures such as Abe Lincoln, Benedict Arnold, Harriet Tubman, Harry Houdini, and Bonny & Clyde. Do you know the stories of Grace Humiston, Ian Fleming, H.H. Holmes, Katherine Johnson, and Wendell Scott?
Timeless also does something that a lot of historical fiction does not; Timeless does not whitewash history. It does not hide the realities of our human existence in order to avoid hot topic issues. Storylines and plot directly deal with racism throughout history, gender equality and women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and empowerment of all people. We learn about strong influential women in history. We see interracial relationships and same-sex marriages. We see that it's cool to be smart and nerdy. We see that it's ok to depend on others and ask for help. We see that everyone is important.
Reception and the #SaveTimeless Clockblocker Movement:
After a 16 episode first season, NBC canceled Timeless. Fan outcry on social media (the Clockblockers) led to this decision being overturned after three days. Changing history in a truly #Timeless way, the show was un-canceled.
A ten-episode second season ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that put us Clockblocker in overtime begging NBC to #RenewTimeless. We were told they would make a decision "soon." Soon turned into 6 excruciating weeks, during which time Clockblockers kept the hashtags #Timeless and #RenewTimeless trending on Twitter. (And the word "soon" is now considered a forbidden dirty word amongst fans.) After all that, NBC once again decided to cancel. The problem is highly accredited to NBCs lack of proper advertising & promotion for the series, as well as the not-family-friendly time slot that it aired during.
Taking to other networks, Clockblockers spent months campaigning for someone to now #SaveTimeless and pick up where NBC left off. This included everything from individual efforts such as sending paperclip and historical postcards to networks and streaming services, to a crowd-funded $23,000 project of flying a huge 4,000 square foot banner with two "heliclockers" (a term for the clock-blocking helicopters coined by Malcolm Barrett, and mentioned in the Christmas episode) over the San Diego Comic-Con. The #SaveTimeless campaign also set up a fully fan-funded table at LA Comic-Con and ran ads on not one but two billboards in Times Square, among many other projects.
A (sort-of) win came when it was announced that NBC decided to make two more episodes, to air as a tv movie over the holidays, to wrap up the series and give the very vocal fan following some closure.
A better picture of the 1st Times Square meet up :) #Timeless #SaveTimeless pic.twitter.com/8JiRMYC9rY— Save Timeless HQ *rewatch with ads* (@SaveTimelessHQ) November 28, 2018
New viewers are finding the finale (and the show in general) every day, and joining the #SaveTimeless campaign. With the full support and encouragement of Sony and show creators, we are pushing to find a new home for Timeless to continue with a 3rd season. There are rumors that Hulu has expressed interest in the series, which would make sense as it currently streams the two seasons through its affiliation with NBC, and the campaign has brought tons of new customers to Hulu. However, as of when this is written, there has been no official news.
The Clockblockers will not give up. #Timeless and #SaveTimeless continue to trend among TV hashtags since the movie aired in December, and in large part since the original season 2 finale in May of 2018.
Conclusion:
If you have not yet check out this show, I highly suggest that you give it a shot. I have not heard of a single person who did not get hooked after watching the first episode.
If you'd like to join the campaign to help #SaveTimeless, please check out the website https://www.savetimeless.com and check out the Twitter account @SaveTimelessHQ.
How Can I Watch?:
- All episodes are currently streaming on Hulu in the US.
- Season 2 (and the Christmas episodes) are available for viewing on NBC.Com, the NBC app, and NBC On Demand through your cable provider. (Cable login may be required for some episodes.)
- Can be purchased digitally through Amazon: Season 1 Season 2 (includes Christmas eps)
- Own on DVD: Season 1 Season 2, Christmas Special (Finale)
- Seasons 1 and 2 are available internationally in many countries on Netflix (not in the US) - last I heard they have not included the Christmas episodes yet.
Other Official Merch:
A special thanks to everyone who has worked with @SaveTimelessHQ, all of the other Clockblockers.
Also to Sony, and the Cast, Crew, Writers, Creators, Producers and everyone from the Timeless family. Your interactions with the fans have been amazing and we can't thank you enough!
Also to Sony, and the Cast, Crew, Writers, Creators, Producers and everyone from the Timeless family. Your interactions with the fans have been amazing and we can't thank you enough!
Contact Me:
- Twitter: @TVnCouponTalk and @NEJewelryParty
- Facebook: Great Deals and Discounts or Never Ending Jewelry Party
- Email: NeverEndingJewelryParty@yahoo.com
- Web: Great Deals and Discounts or Never Ending Jewelry Party
Disclaimer: All articles are designed for entertainment purposes only. As these articles are not sourced, they are not intended for research purposes. It is entirely possible that I get something wrong. If you find that I have done so, please let me know so that I can correct it. All opinions in my articles are my own and are not backed by any other party, company, or organization. I am not paid to review or endorse any company or product. Some of the links found in my articles may contain affiliate links that will compensate me with commissions or referral rewards for sharing them with you. This is not the primary intention of any article, as my goal is to simply share and discuss these topics with you. Any proceeds do help pay for the entertainment sources necessary to continue watching, researching, and discussing new television shows with you. Any images and trailers presented in my articles belong to their individual copyright holders. I am sharing them under Fair Use to discuss and educate about the works they are associated with.
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