Please tell me that there are ...
Question: Please tell me that there are at least some rumors flying around about a possible renewal of the ABC show
Traveler. From what I've heard online, this show has a huge following despite the Nielsen ratings. ABC did
Traveler a great disservice by airing it in a 10 pm timeslot during the summer, following two reality shows.
Traveler has action, suspense and all-around great acting. It's an intelligent show that appeals to all age groups. I can't believe ABC is canning it after only eight episodes, barely even giving it a chance! It surely would have done well with a little more promotion. It hasn't been officially canceled yet, so the fans were hoping that maybe ABC is "thinking it over" or at least planning a
real series finale to conclude it. Please tell me you have some news!
Answer: I don't know what you've been reading, but beware of buying into Internet fan chat, where you could convince yourself that every show is a hit. And I'm only addressing this again because the mail is so persistent, but
Traveler couldn't be more dead. It was dead before it even started, and I'm beginning to think ABC did everyone a disservice by not just leaving it on the shelf, since the network had no intention of ordering more than the initial eight episodes, and by airing the entire run (which is more than poor
The Nine got), it only got fans' hopes up. Here's how ABC's entertainment president Steve McPherson addressed it back at TCA: "We were disappointed in the way that that show creatively developed and ended up being just not to the level that we thought it could succeed, and so it didn't get the kind of support that we gave some other shows that we believed in a lot more." In other words, after a season in which serialized thrillers bombed by the busload,
Traveler was burned off with a summer run, a casualty before it even made it on the air. ABC didn't believe it in then, and nothing has changed its mind.
