Journeyman: It was nice knowing you

While it isn't official, numerous sources are speculating that the NBC series Journeyman is 1-3 episodes away from being cancelled.

But I for one think that NBC has some rather unreasonable expectations. I mean, they put the series on in the Monday 10PM slot, which puts it into some murderous ratings crossfire between CSI Miami and The Bachelor. And despite that opposition, the show was still fetching ratings which were comparable to the ratings that the network's Thursday night "hits" are receiving.

But the network has apparently given the show an ultimatum: if the two part episode that concludes tonight doesn't receive improved ratings, the show is on the fast track to cancellation. Of course, considering the first part was against the finale of a reality show, it does seem like NBC is setting up a no win situation.

Kevin Falls, the series creator, also believes that the show doesn't really have a chance to get an additional order for episodes after the first 12, and really, I think he is in the right place to make such a determination.

If the writers strike continues, I would have thought that the wisest course of action for the network would have been to revive their old summer slogan about if you haven't seen it, it is new to you and I am sure they could lure at least a few hundred thousand viewers over from CSI Miami reruns every week and start to build a following for a show they've already paid to produce. But I do remember that I mentioned that with the writers' strike going on, it seemed unlikely that a show would be cancelled with remaining episodes, and with the writers going back to the table to try to hammer out a deal, perhaps this whole Journeyman mess is like the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the length of this strike, because a cancellation threat seems to me to indicate that the network is confident that a deal may be reached soon.

But the network should also remember that when Cheers premiered, it finished number 77 out of 77 shows and yet by sticking with it, the series ended up becoming a huge hit and Seinfeld had similar early fortunes, and I think that allowing the show to find an audience may be in their best interests. Then again, I like the show, so my opinion isn't exactly unbiased.

Tags: journeyman, nbc, kevin mckidd, cancellation, kevin falls, dan vasser, cheers, csi miami, bachelor, seinfeld, ratings, nielsen, no win situation