Wednesday, April 25, 2007

ABC Shows 'Traveler' a Little Love


Drama gets post-'Grey's' debut; 'Men in Trees' done for season


April 20, 2007


The new ABC drama "Traveler," which had been ticketed for a playing-out-the-string summertime run, will get an in-season debut after all.


The network will air what it's calling a "sneak preview" of the pilot episode, which follows two friends who are framed for an act of terrorism, on Thursday, May 10, following "Grey's Anatomy." The show will have its regular premiere at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 30, with a second showing of the pilot.


"Traveler" stars Logan Marshall-Green ("The O.C.") and Matthew Bomer ("Tru Calling") as Tyler Fog and Jay Burchell, grad-school roommates who, on a trip to New York, decide to play a prank and roller-blade through an art museum. Upon their exit, they receive a call from their buddy Will Traveler (Aaron Stanford, "X-Men: The Last Stand") who says, "Sorry -- I had to do this," just before the museum blows up.


Branded as domestic terrorists after security footage catches them in their prank, Tyler and Jay go on the run, simultaneously trying to clear their names and figure out why someone they believed to be a friend would set them up.


The scheduling of the "Traveler" preview and a couple other ABC moves also signals that "Men in Trees," which previously occupied the post-"Grey's" spot on Thursdays, won't be back before the 2006-07 season ends next month. The show has received a pickup for next season, however, so it's likely that the five unaired episodes will carry over to the fall.


ABC is airing a two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" on May 3. A "Lost" clip show will fill the spot on May 17 -- the final Thursday of sweeps -- and re-air prior to the "Lost" finale on Wednesday, May 23.


"Traveler" also stars Steven Culp ("Desperate Housewives"), Viola Davis ("Century City"), Anthony Ruvivar ("Third Watch") and William Sadler ("Wonderfalls"). David DiGilio ("Eight Below") wrote the pilot, which was directed by David Nutter ("Smallville," "Band of Brothers").

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