Fall TV: Can NBC's Journeyman Grab Hold of Heroes Viewers?

With the success of NBC's mutant drama "Heroes," the network has decided to further "geek" up Monday nights by following with another sci fi drama, this one called "Journeyman," which will air at ten o'clock. "Journeyman" is a time travel drama, which, thanks to a solid pilot episode, earned itself the key time slot. Here is a preview of "Journeyman." Can NBC's new sci fi drama grab "Heroes" viewers?

"Journeyman" stars Kevin McKidd from HBO's "Rome." Kevin McKidd plays a grieving man in San Francisco, whose fiancee apparently died mysteriously. The fiancee is played by Moon Bloodgood from "Day Break." McKidd will warp back and forth in time, and will have to balance figuring out why this phenomenon is happening, while still giving his present family the love and attention they deserve. Does this make for compelling television drama? Well, creator Kevin Falls in Entertainment Weekly magazine says: "Time travel is very hard on a marriage." So, we'll wait and see.

Sci fi fans who are anxiously awaiting season two of the hit television show "Heroes" will probably stick around and give "Journeyman" a man a chance. After all, it is not every season that an evening a week is devoted to sci fi shows, especially on a popular network like NBC. It has been a couple years now since the latest "Star Trek" spin-off ("Enterprise") has been off the air. And no sci fi show except "Heroes" has gained such mainstream attention in recent years.

"Journeyman" boasts a talented, likeable cast, a terrific time slot, and it may very well prove to be a hit. It will be facing off against "The Bachelor" and "CSI: Miami" at ten o'clock Monday nights. Of course, these shows no longer have to do battle with Monday Night Football on network television. And the Monday Night Football games held on ESPN don't begin to compare in appeal and importance as they did on network television. The 49ers and Cardinals? Yeah, even the most ardent football fan can skip that.

The closest show "Journeyman" may feel like is "Quantum Leap," one man traveling through time to right the wrongs of the past. "Quantum Leap" starred Scott Bakula, who later went on to captain the Enterprise. Will time travel bring the same success to Kevin McKidd and "Journeyman"? Unless you have a time machine of your own, we'll just have to wait and find out, beginning September 24. But if "Journeyman" is even half as good as "Heroes," it will likely gain a good part of its audience.