Voyagers!

Plot

Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) is 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, uses a hand-held device called an Omni (which looks like a large pocket watch) that flashes red when history is wrong and green when the timeline is corrected, to travel in time and ensure that history unfolds 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 is a great womanizer and manages to fall for a beautiful woman in almost every episode. Whenever Jeffrey's wisdom was paired up against Bogg's stubbornness, Jeffrey usually wins 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!" They develop a strong relationship and become a formidable team. In the course of their adventures together, they sometimes encounter 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."

Voyagers! ran for one season of 20 episodes, broadcast opposite the top-rated 60 Minutes. The series averaged a 17 share. Voyagers! seemed likely to be renewed for a second season, but controversies in 60 Minutes reporting led executives to believe that 60 Minutes might successfully be challenged by a competing news program, instead. NBC cancelled Voyagers! and replaced it with the news magazine program Monitor, which averaged only a 7 share.

U.S. television ratings

Home media

Television film

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. 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.

As of September 2024, the series is available on The Roku Channel.

Episodes

References

Bibliography

References

1. Shales, Tom. (October 2, 1982). "Vivacious 'Voyagers!'". [[The Washington Post]].
2. Snauffer and Thurm, p. 83
3. Wallace, David. (October 11, 1983). "On and Off Camera, Joan Collins Helps in the Making of Male Model Jon-Erik Hexum".
4. Crupi, Anthony. (April 26, 2013). "They Took My Show Away!".
5. "The TV Ratings Guide: 1982-83 Ratings History -- Soap Bubbles Rise, Several Veterans Part and NBC Renews Poorly Rated Masterpieces".
6. link. (May 18, 2007 , ''TV Shows on DVD'', April 19, 2007)
7. "Roku".