VOYAGERS!: The Complete Series

I was a huge fan of Voyagers! when I was a kid. No, I mean that… huge. As in, so huge that when I was sick once on a Sunday night I was afraid to run to the toilet to upchuck lest I miss part of the show. (Ah, the pre-VCR age…) And oddly enough, 25 years down the line this adventure series about a time-traveling rogue and a clever little boy elicits the same kind of beloved memories (plus stomach ailments and otherwise) in numerous folks of my generation, though it only aired for one season. One season which is finally out on DVD Tuesday…

The late Jon-Erik Hexum stars as Phineas Bogg (great name!), a former pirate who belongs to a secret society called Voyagers; whenever history gets itself into a pickle and it looks like things might not work out as they should, they are sent in to give Father Time a nudge and set it right. Bogg is handsome and adventurous but kind of a lunkhead when it comes to names and dates; luckily one night he accidentally lands in 1982 and meets whiz kid Jeffrey Jones (Meeno Peluce), whose late father was a history professor and who is exactly the brainy sidekick Bogg needs. Armed with a stopwatch-like time travel device called an omni, the pair embark on a new escapade each week that takes them back and forth through the ages to cross paths with everyone from Cleopatra to Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein to Marco Polo.

For a network series in the early 80’s, Voyagers! looked pretty fantastic and captured the imagination with its jam-packed story arcs; Hexum, who was tragically killed on the set of a later series, exudes star quality and the young Peluce (brother of Punky herself, Soleil Moon Frye – fact!) is a terrific foil for his swashbuckling bluster. All 20 episodes of the too-soon cancelled series are included on this 4-disc set, a real nostalgic treat for us children of the 80’s.

Alco recommended this week: The Incredible Hulk: Season 2; Red Dawn: Collector’s Edition; The Rookies: Season 1; Showgirls: Fully Exposed Edition

— Nicole Campos

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 11:48 pm by nic campos and is filed under DVD New Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.