journeyman

Published: September 25, 2007 6:25 AM ET

NEW YORK From Superman to Mary Richards to today, newspaper reporters have long played a key, even heroic, role in TV dramas and comedies. Another debuted on NBC last night, , "Journeyman," focusing on a star San Francisco reporter who steps back in time....and not just to read old Mike Royko columns.

Here's how AP summarized the show.
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"Journeyman"

What: A romantic mystery about a guy who's torn between two lovers, in the present and the past.

Where: NBC

When: Mondays at 9 p.m.

Who: Kevin McKidd, Brian Howe, Gretchen Egolf, Moon Bloodgood, Reed Diamond, Charlie Wyson.

Why: Who wouldn't jump at the chance to make an onsite repair of long-ago mistakes? (On the other hand, losing your cell-phone service while you're back in time would be a nuisance.)

How: The journey part of "Journeyman" is pretty silly. Dan Vasser (McKidd), a San Francisco family man and newspaper reporter, starts taking inadvertent day trips to the past, where he changes the lives of people he meets there.

But Dan is more than a time-travelling guardian angel. His strained marriage to Katie (Egolf) came about soon after his then-fiancee, Livia (Bloodgood), disappeared in a plane crash a decade ago. Can Dan, who has never stopped loving Livia, resurrect their relationship? Now given the opportunity, how tempted will he be to rewrite history and prevent the crash that took her from him? And how fed-up will his wife become with his hard-to-explain absences? "You're gonna lose Katie - you know that?" warns his brother, Jack (Diamond). But Dan replies, "Not without a fight."

Despite the sci-fi trappings, that seems to be the real journey of "Journeyman": a heroic battle to be faithful to his wife and save his marriage.

Premiere Week is here! Whoo-hoo! This whole week long the nets are rolling out the new fall season. Some snuck in last week, and there will be a few premieres next week, but all things consider, this week is make or break for many new shows.

Because, you see, even this early in the game, your reactions to the new fall shows have everything to do with what gets picked up and what gets sent to the big rerun bin in the sky. Believe you me, network executives, show runners and actors will all be scrutinizing the Internet this week to find out what you think about the new series.

So, their fate is in your hands. We're waiting with bated breath for your take on tonight's premieres: CBS' The Big Bang Theory, and NBC's Chuck and Journeyman!