Voyagers!
| Voyagers! | |
|---|---|
 Meeno Peluce as Jeffrey Jones (left) and Jon-Erik Hexum as Phineas Bogg (right) | |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Created by | James D. Parriott |
| Written by |
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| Directed by | |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Jerrold Immel |
| Opening theme | Jerrold Immel |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | James D. Parriott |
| Producers |
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| Cinematography | Eddie Rio Rotunno |
| Editor | George Ohanian |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | October 3, 1982 – July 10, 1983 |
Voyagers! is an American
Opening narration
"We travel through time to help history along... give it a push where it's needed. When the Omni's red, it means history's wrong. Our job is to get everything back on track."
Plot
Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) was one of a society of time travelers called Voyagers, who with the help of a young boy named Jeffrey Jones (played by Meeno Peluce) from 1982, used a hand-held device called an Omni (which looked like a large pocket watch that flashed red when history was wrong and green when the timeline was corrected) to travel in time and ensure that history unfolded correctly.
Bogg and Jeffrey first met when Bogg's Omni malfunctioned and took him to 1982 (the device was not supposed to reach any later than 1970), landing him in the skyscraper apartment of Jeffrey's aunt and uncle, who were caring for him after his parents' deaths. Bogg's guidebook, which contained a detailed description of how history was supposed to unfold, was grabbed by Jeffrey's dog Ralph, and in the struggle to retrieve it, Jeffrey accidentally fell out his bedroom window and Bogg jumped out to rescue him by activating the Omni. With his guidebook stuck in 1982, Bogg (who, being more interested in girls than in history, apparently never paid much attention in his Voyager training/history classes) had to rely on Jeffrey, whose father had been a history professor, to help him. Jeffrey's knowledge proved invaluable; for example, in the first episode, Jeffrey ensured that baby Moses' basket traveled down the Nile, where it was met by the Pharaoh's daughter.
Phineas was a great womanizer and managed to fall for a beautiful woman in almost every episode. Whenever Jeffrey's wisdom was paired up against Bogg's stubbornness, Jeffrey usually won out, to which Bogg would always mutter, "Smart kids give me a pain!" Another catchphrase used by Bogg as an expletive was "Bat's breath!"[1] They developed a strong relationship and became a formidable team. In the course of their adventures together, they sometimes encountered other Voyagers whose missions happened to overlap with theirs.
As revealed later in the series, despite Jeffrey's age and the accidental circumstances of his first encounter with Phineas, he was always destined to become a Voyager.
Over the closing credits of each episode, regular cast member Meeno Peluce said in voice-over: "If you want to learn more about [historical element from the episode], take a voyage down to your public library. It's all in books!"
Cast
- Jon-Erik Hexum as Phineas Bogg
- Meeno Peluce as Jeffrey Jones
Reception
Tom Shales of The Washington Post praised the series as "a live-action version of the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cartoons on the delightful old 'Bullwinkle' show" and "largely a joy ride from start to finish."[1]
Voyagers! ran for one season of 20 episodes, broadcast opposite the top-rated
U.S. television ratings
| Season | Episodes | Start Date | End Date | Nielsen Rank | Nielsen Rating | Tied With |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-83 | 20 | October 3, 1982 | July 10, 1983 | 95[5] | N/A | N/A |
Home media
Television film
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In 1985, following the death of series lead Jon-Erik Hexum, Universal re-edited several episodes of the show into a television film. Entitled Voyager from the Unknown, the story combined the pilot episode and "Voyagers of the Titanic" into one feature-length film. This version incorporates new video special effects, some voice-over dubbing for Hexum and Peluce's characters that changed, and added dialogue and new footage to include a supercomputer directing Voyager missions.
The opening begins with a narration and painted illustrations of Bogg receiving his guidebook on "Planet Voyager" by artist Jerry Gebr.
"Far out in the cosmos there exists a planet known as Voyager, where the mystery of travel into space and through time has been solved. It is inhabited by a race who call themselves Voyagers. Their purpose is to keep constant surveillance on history. These people have a time machine device, the Omni, which will take them into the past, present or future. As each Voyager graduates he is given an omni and a guidebook. One such graduate Phineas Bogg, who was assigned as a field worker to operate in certain time zones."
VHS release
The re-edited telefilm was issued on VHS by MCA Home Video in 1985. It was the only official release of Voyagers! on home video in the US until the DVD release in 2007.
DVD release
On July 17, 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released all 20 episodes of Voyagers! on DVD in Region 1.[6] It was released in Region 2 on October 29, 2007.
Streaming
All 20 episodes are also available in the United States by streaming through Amazon Prime Video.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Voyagers" | October 3, 1982 | |
| Time traveler Phineas Bogg accidentally goes to New York City in 1982 using a hand-held time machine known as an Omni. There, he meets 11-year-old Jeffrey Jones, whose parents have died. When Jeffrey falls out a window, Bogg goes after him and they both disappear. Bogg cannot bring Jeff back to 1982, because Bogg's Omni only has circuits up to 1970. (Bogg was only able to go to 1982 because his Omni had malfunctioned.) In saving Jeffrey's life, Bogg was unable to retrieve his guidebook (a book that told how history should have happened) in 1982, so in 1450 BC, Jeff helps Bogg as a Voyager by putting baby Moses in the Nile River in Ancient Egypt, but in France, an alternate ending to World War I is taking place in 1918, without airplanes. They meet an aspiring US actress played by Faye Grant. They both go back in time to 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and there, Bogg angers Jeffrey when he says something about his father. Later, Jeffrey sadly tells Bogg about how his mom and dad died. He cries when he says he could not get anyone to stop. Bogg tells Jeffrey not to blame himself and covers Jeff up, whereupon Jeff falls asleep. The two then travel to Dayton, Ohio, and inspire the Wright brothers to invent the first airplane, the Wright Flyer. Next, they jump ahead in time, making sure the Allies have airplanes in World War I—battling the Red Baron in an aerial dogfight along the way. Then, they go to England, on October 14, 1066, in the middle of the Battle of Hastings. | |||
| 2 | "Created Equal" | October 10, 1982 | |
| The issue of slavery is focused on as the Voyagers end up in Italy in 73 BC during a gladiator training session overseen by Cicero. They meet Spartacus and are thought to be slaves, but they escape to Missouri in 1847. There, they meet 12-year-old Samuel Langhorne Clemens and end up helping Harriet Tubman with the Underground Railroad. They then return to Ancient Rome and free Spartacus so he can rally his fellow slaves back in Capua. | |||
| 3 | "Bully and Billy" | October 24, 1982 | |
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The Voyagers end up in American Old West . | |||
| 4 | "Agents of Satan" | October 31, 1982 | |
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Jeffrey and Bogg land in Baltimore, Maryland, to return the lyrics of the national anthem to Francis Scott Key in 1814, just before stopping a charlatan who tries to kill Houdini in 1924; they then go back to 1692 and stop the witch trials for good. | |||
| 5 | "Worlds Apart" | November 7, 1982 | |
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After a badly worn-out Omni nearly strands them in Siberia, Bogg and Jeff become separated in the Middle East in 1917 during the conflicts between Arab tribes and Ottoman Turks. Jeffrey barely escapes with the Omni. Bogg meets Thomas Alva Edison with the invention of the (practical incandescent) electric light. Edison dismantles the Omni and, though unable to learn its secrets, he does manage to repair it. Jeffrey then reunites with Bogg in Aqaba, then travel back to 1879 on December 31 to witness Thomas Edison demonstrate incandescent lighting to the public for the first time. | |||
| 6 | "Cleo and the Babe" | November 14, 1982 | |
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In Boston, Massachusetts, in 1919 to make sure Ruth becomes a hitter with the Boston Red Sox. On September 29, 1927, they find Cleopatra, but they realize that they also have to protect Babe Ruth from crime boss Lucky Luciano so that Ruth can hit his 60th home run on September 30. | |||
| 7 | "The Day the Rebs Took Lincoln" | November 21, 1982 | |
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Bogg and Jeff are captured by the London, England in 1832 where they meet Charles Dickens. Back in Washington, a presidential liaison betrays Lincoln, but the Voyagers bring Lincoln's hijacked presidential carriage back under Union control. | |||
| 8 | "Old Hickory and the Pirate" | November 28, 1982 | |
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In William Clark in the Northwest Passage in 1803 just before they go to the Bahamas in 1798 to keep Jean Lafitte from being convicted of piracy in his future. There they encounter a group of pirates led by Black Bill Scroggins and after a swashbuckling scuffle on the beach, Lafitte goes to New Orleans and the Voyagers jump ahead to the Battle of New Orleans and meet General Andrew Jackson . | |||
| 9 | "The Travels of Marco...and Friends" | December 3, 1982 | |
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In New York, on December 11, 1930, the Voyagers save slave traders . | |||
| 10 | "An Arrow Pointing East" | December 12, 1982 | |
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After arriving just from Lucky Lindy " land in France...from a distance. | |||
| 11 | "Merry Christmas, Bogg" | December 19, 1982 | |
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In Washington's crossing of the Delaware . Back in 1892, Stephen Jones convinces Bogg to leave the orphaned Jeff with him and his wife. Jeff, however, begs Bogg not to leave him and they stay together. | |||
| 12 | "Buffalo Bill and Annie Play the Palace" | January 9, 1983 | |
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In England, 1887, the Voyagers must prevent a wedding between England's slave traders . Schweitzer's aid arrives with the medicine in time to save the chief's life, and back in England, they free Oakley from the Russians in time for her to beat the Duke at the shooting match. They then expose the kidnapping to the Queen, who breaks off the marriage alliance with the Russians. | |||
| 13 | "The Trial of Phineas Bogg" | January 16, 1983 | |
| The Voyagers appear in an empty courtroom with a non-functioning Omni. A defense attorney named Susan claims Bogg has violated the Voyager Code and will be put on trial by Voyager Drake, a tough prosecutor. Three judges take the bench, and Bogg is charged with endangering Jeff's life. However, evidence of perjury during the trial is discovered, showing that Drake had tampered with the Omni Memory Recorder. When Drake attempts to escape with his Omni, the Voyagers grab him and end up in the Texas Revolution in Mexico in 1836. Drake escapes somewhere in time while Bogg & Jeff help Sam Houston and the Texan rebels. Susan then brings them back and a judge tells them that Jeff's destiny was to be a Voyager. He gives Bogg his Omni, but they go back to work and disappear before he can give them a new Guidebook. | |||
| 14 | "Sneak Attack" | February 13, 1983 | |
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In The Pony Express but was attacked by outlaws. Bogg convinces Jackie that Voyagers help people in history. But when Jeff decides to make the Pony ride and gets ambushed, the trio jump back to Hawaii on the morning of December 7. During the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Jackie saves the life of General Douglas MacArthur . They then use a 1941 motorcycle for the Pony ride in 1860 in order to outrun the bandits. | |||
| 15 | "Voyagers of the Titanic" | February 27, 1983 | |
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Bogg & Jeff land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on the deck of the Molly Brown, Bogg meets a man named Haggerty, who is not a Voyager, but has an Omni. It belongs to Voyager Olivia Dunn, who is trying to get the Mona Lisa off the ship. The three Voyagers then jump to 1884, France, where a dog bites Jeff and gives him rabies. Louis Pasteur then works on a vaccine and Jeff fully recovers. They all go back to the Titanic, and Bogg finds Haggerty in the boiler room, where they get the Mona Lisa just as the ship goes underwater. In Paris, April 15, 1912, Jeff (who had left separately) believes that they died until they show up and explain that they had to bring the stolen painting back to the home of Vincenzo Peruggia . | |||
| 16 | "Pursuit" | March 6, 1983 | |
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Bogg brings Jeff to Nazis before they finally meet Americans and he gives them his rocket plans. Then they go to July 20, 1969, and see the Apollo 11 Moon landing on television as Neil Armstrong utters his famous quote, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind." | |||
| 17 | "Destiny's Choice" | March 13, 1983 | |
| In Hollywood, 1928, the Voyagers end up on a closed set of the first sound film. When Jeff points out that the director is Franklin D. Roosevelt, they know all is wrong in Tinseltown. They go to Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park, New York, in 1924 to keep him from mailing out a script and get known in Hollywood, but his wife, Eleanor, is at odds with Roosevelt's mother who is ashamed of his polio. Posing as a handyman, Bogg helps Roosevelt use crutches and convinces him not to depend so much on others. This allows Roosevelt to make an important public speech, move up in politics and, eventually, become President. | |||
| 18 | "All Fall Down" | March 27, 1983 | |
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On June 21, 1938, in Heavyweight Champion Of The World ." | |||
| 19 | "Barriers of Sound" | June 12, 1983 | |
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In Dwight Eisenhower by getting assistance from a doctor on the phone. | |||
| 20 | "Jack's Back" | July 10, 1983 | |
| In London, November 19, 1889, an American journalist named Nellie Bly is attacked by a man, but the attacker vanishes when Bogg and Jeff appear. When her friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle begins to question Bly about her attacker, she suspects Bogg is the infamous Jack the Ripper and gets the police. Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard arrests Bogg, and the Voyagers realize renegade Voyager Drake was Bly's attacker. After they escape from Lestrade, they find Drake about to kill Bly and Doyle in order to "ruin history," but Bogg and Jeff stop him before he vanishes in time. | |||
References
- ^ a b Shales, Tom (October 2, 1982). "Vivacious 'Voyagers!'". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
- ^ a b Snauffer and Thurm, p. 83
- ^ Wallace, David (October 11, 1983). "On and Off Camera, Joan Collins Helps in the Making of Male Model Jon-Erik Hexum". People. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ Crupi, Anthony (April 26, 2013). "They Took My Show Away!". AdWeek. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1982-83 Ratings History -- Soap Bubbles Rise, Several Veterans Part and NBC Renews Poorly Rated Masterpieces". Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ^ Voyagers! - "Complete Series" Cover Art Changes the Look of the Omni Archived May 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, TV Shows on DVD, April 19, 2007
Bibliography
- Snauffer, Douglas; Thurm, Joel (2008). The Show Must Go On: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3295-0.
