Customer Reviews

Voyagers! - The Complete Series

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a blast from the past from 25 years ago--I remember it very fondly! Phineas Bogg is a Voyager--a person who is supposed to travel through time and give history a push from time to time so that the proper things take place. The machine that he uses malfunctions a lot, he doesn't have a lot of knowledege about history, and he accidentally ends up in the bedroom of a boy named Jeffrey Jones in 1982, an orphan who knows a lot about history. He ends up traveling with Bogg, going from one adventure to the next. Not as heavy handed and preachy as Quantum Leap (which I loved, too)--a fun series, great family entertainment, kids should like it.

One thing I remember is that whenever Meeno and Jon-Erik did interviews, they always spoke as if they were an equal team. Jon-Erik never spoke of Meeno as just a kid. On screen, they had a very nice relationship. The kid's cute, the guy's hunky, and the adventures are fun.

Generally in each episode, the voyagers drop into one scenario, leave at the first commercial break to another, solve the second problem, then take knowledge from that second scenario back to the first to solve the initial problem. Some of the links are that of situations (Spartacus and Tubbman have slavery in common), and others involve learning a trick to get out of the first (Salem and Houdini)

Here are the episodes--title and topic:
Pilot--Time Traveler and orphan meet
Created Equal (Spartacus and Harriet Tubman)
Bully and Billy (Teddy Roosevelt and Billy the Kid)
Agents of Satan (Salem witch trials and Harry Houdini)
Worlds Apart (Lawrence of Arabia and Thomas Edison)
Cleo and the Babe (Cleopatra is brought to 1920s New York/Lucy Luciano)
The Day the Rebs took Lincoln (Civil War and London/Dickens)
Old Hickory and the Pirate (War of 1812/New Orleans)
The Travels of Marco Polo...and Friends (1930s New York/Isaac Wolfstein)
An Arrow Pointing East (Lindburgh then Robin Hood)
Merry Christmas, Bogg (George Washington then Samuel Gompers)
Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakely Play the Palace (Queen Victoria)
The Trial of Phineas Bogg (Bogg is on trial back home)
Sneak Attack (Pearl Harbor plus young Bill Cody/Pony Express)
Voyagers of the Titanic (plus rabies and Pasteur)
Pursuit (WWII/Werner von Braun)
Destiny's Choice (FDR in 1924 Hollywood)
All Fall Down (1938, boxing, Joe Louis)
Barrier's of Sound (1890s Texas, Ike's mom)
Jack's Back (Jack the Ripper)

Some guest stars: Ed Begley, Jr., Gregory Itzin (twice!), Lance LeGault, Tricia O'Neil, Michael Fox (the reason M. J. Fox had to add the J?), Jonathan Frakes, Anne Lockhart, Dana Elcar, Frank Marth, and Julia Duffy.

Just the straight facts about the DVD:
1. Five episodes per disc. Four discs = all 20 original episodes.
2. Although the footage shows a dash of age with a some graininess, it is much much more crisp than any VHS / Beta recording from back in the day. (To give you an idea -- you can freeze frame and read the months and numbers on the omni!) Plus, the colors look pretty good for an 80s show that sat in the archives.
3. Sound is quality is good, especially for what was originally recorded in mono -- no hiss or the like.
4. One reviewer on here complained that the commercial breaks were badly edited out. That is untrue. The DVD transfer is clearly sourced from the original recordings. It is simply a stylistic feature of many older shows that commercial breaks were made to be very obvious; such breaks seem clunky to our eyes because they lack perfect continuity. (I suspect that that was to allow "leg room" for local commercials to be cued in / synced by an engineer in a local station room.)
For an excellent lowdown on the whole set with screencaps and pics of the discs, visit the site "ultimatedisney" and search for Voyagers. The site's review links back to Amazon's page here, so fear not about heading there for more info.

One may think that a series so short-lived (20 episodes only) could not be famous outside U.S.
Well, here in Brazil, back in 1983, 1984, me and my friends used to watch every single episode available. Of course, at that time, we saw it dubbed in portuguese (our language here), with TV commercials and with an image of poor quality (65% of what it would be considered perfect). It was the time when there was no cable TV.
So, I'm very anxious now to buy this DVD, and finally see all episodes with perfect image and sound. Of course, internet over the years could present the episodes, but the image was never that good.
Now I want to own the official set, with all 20 chronologic episodes.
Only the cover of the DVD set is ugly. A better art could be presented.
And let's hope the studio doesn't change any music, as it seems to be usual these days.
Hey! I can't forget to mention Shannen Doherty (with, I suppose, 11 or 12 years old) on the witch hunt episode ("Agents of Satan")! I adore this woman, and it was a complete surprise to find her here. (she plays a small, but crucial-to-the-plot role)

The show we fondly remember with Meeno Peluce as Jeff the "smart-kid" who listened in school and the well-intentioned but historically inept Bogg played by the late Jon-Erik Hexum. Jeff serves as their only guide through time, fixing history. Much like the "Magic Tree House" series serves today as an elementary students overview of pop history, Voyagers! is flashing or particularly clever, but it remains surprisingly "timely" in the family-sci-fi genre. The music may be as over-the-top as some of the dialogue, at times formulaic, over all, still a great show.

We've got a green light, kids!

I was in 8th grade when this show aired it's one season. The main reason I remember for it being cancelled back then was because it's timeslot on Sunday opposite 60 Minutes. Also, this show was the inspiration for the much more successful Quantum Leap.

One thing I really liked about the series in retrospect was the different alternate history scenarios. 1890: No telephone, so Eisenhower's mother couldn't call the doctor for help delivering Dwight David. Enter the Voyagers who travel 15 years into the past to give A. G. Bell and Watson a push. That push happened to be in regard to Bell's love life. 1927, New York: No Yankee Stadium because Babe Ruth never switched from pitching to hitting and retired in 1922. So the Voyagers have to go back to 1919 and convince Babe that he needs to give up pitching and start his hitting career. The way they do it is unique and entertaining(this was the episode that Cleopatra beleived that the power of Bogg's kiss brought her forward in time).

If those scenarios weren't enough to get the casual viewer interested, I don't know what will. The characters made this show not only quality, but special. Also, being the age I was, I wasn't always around to watch this show, so I saw some of these episodes for the 1st time this past week, and I was not disappointed.

And I agree with the other reviewer here that suggested an updated version of the series. With a big trend toward supernatural and sci-fi based TV going on right now, this would be a perfect addition if it was done right.

I was disappointed in the lack of special features, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment at watching the series again.

I also feel compelled to mention that Jon-Erik Hexum's death was an accident, not suicide. He thought that just because a gun was loaded with blanks, that it couldn't hurt him, so he was horsing around with it and shot himself in the head at point blank range. Very sad. Voyagers was his first acting gig, and you can see as the episodes progress how much better he got in just that one year.

I recommend this to any and all.

I am so glad to see this show finally being released on DVD. It was one of my favorite shows back in 1982. It actually makes history fun and interesting. It is also nice to be able to get an official copy of this show instead of resorting to not so clear copies of it from the internet. It doesn't state that there's any extras on this DVD. I was hoping for old interviews of Jon Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce. Also a current interview with Meeno and his thoughts looking back at the show after all these years would have been nice. Can't wait to get this DVD from Amazon and "go back in time" myself enjoying such a treasure from the past.

In 1982, while this show aired, I was six, turning seven during its run.

While it only lasted 20 episodes and was bumped by the World Series too often, I was glued to the television whenever it was on.

The lead actor was a rare thing in those days. He was a true athlete, not some skinny twerp pretending to be a tough guy. He could act. He appealed to all ages and genders for different reasons: ladies like the pretty-boy aspect, guys liked the tough guy thing, little boys knew he'd always save the kid from trouble. While the actor died of a tragic accident, he left a short, but impressive legacy in his role as Phinneas Bog.

The kid was a touch hammy, but often true to form for child actors of the era. The difference here was the show's writers played to his strengths and it showed. He complemented his on-screen buddy well.

The shows did its best stab at history, made it exciting, and ended each episode with a "if you want to learn more, it's all in books, at your public library."

Quantum Leap never would have happened without this show where the characters fixed things that went wrong with time...

A show that's fun AND educational? Did they really ever make those? Talk about a voyage into ancient history! This show comes from a time when creative people actually put a show on the air to entertain you, not just to advertise a neverending stream of must-have-it junk made in Taiwan. I don't even think it had a lunch box to keep the memories alive after it went off the air, but boy, did it ever sear itself into the brains of anyone who ever watched it! The biggest reason is probably the unusual chemistry between the lead actors, a sparkling balance of genuine affection and excellent comic timing, rare in a competitive field where the ancient adage is to never work with dogs or kids. The snappy pacing and use of recognizable historical events didn't hurt either, as you could always follow the storyline and nothing ever got so highfallutin' that you lost interest in the outcome. Another surprise is that for being filmed mostly on the Universal Backlot by a company not primarily known for their high production values, it's obvious that they spent a lot of money on this series. Okay okay, sure they have some questionable stock footage and foam rocks thrown in from time to time, but like I said, it was UNIVERSAL. In the 80s. This was as close to the gold standard as they got, and it's pretty darn close.

The picture quality is exceedingly sharp, as is the sound, and the addition of the teasers that started the show, as well as the voiceovers that ended it - both removed during syndication and not heard since the original broadcasts - are unexpected surprises. Still, I only gave it four stars because they could have slipped in a few extras. Meeno Peluce is still around, as is Bellisario, Parriott and many others involved with the show. Why no commentary? I would have really loved to hear Meeno's reminiscences about his days on the show and adventures on the old Universal Backlot. And with all the Voyagers sites on the web, they could have added tons of trivia, interviews, pictures of props, filming locations, webpages, anything. That they didn't says quite a lot about the whiplash speed with which they put this set together. Still, it's so so SO much better that not having it at all. Now everyone can see how much fun this show was.

Like many reviewers here, I watched this show as a child - and am so happy it has been preserved for the next generation... Twenty and thirty-somethings - get it for your kids, and yourselves. It is a delightful set of stories about how even heros struggle with self-confidence, and that with the right encouragement from people who care, we can all get our lives on track and make a difference. With a terrific mix and range of stories, this series celebrates intelligence, honor, and faith in one's own abilities and the future - wonderful lessons that are as badly needed now as 25 years ago.

Fans the world over have been waiting for this, our favorite T.V show officially on DVD. It will be great to re-live all the action again for those who fondly remember the show from childhood, and for all the new fans to enjoy the fun of Bogg and Jeff as they travel through the ages, giving history a push or a shove where its needed!