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Timeless (2016)

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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65

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Ratings

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Timeless

Now Playing: Timeless

Timeless (2016)

Series Details & Credits

NBC | Release Date: October 3, 2016

Starring: Abigail Spencer, Goran Visnjic, Sakina Jaffrey, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett, Claudia Doumit

Summary: Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) steals a time machine and its up to a trio that includes the time machine engineer Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett), Delta Force soldier Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) and history professor Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) to use a prototype to stop Flynn from changing the past.

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

Recent Episodes

tbd
S3:E1. The Miracle of Christmas
Air Date: December 20, 2018

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

65

Positive:

21

Mixed:

9

Negative:

1

Critic Reviews

83

Newark Star-Ledger

Vicki Hyman

Oct 3, 2016

Season 1 Review: It's an infectious, engaging hour that sets up the rules of this universe efficiently and effectively (i.e., they can't double back to anyplace they might meet themselves), and the cast gels quickly. Read full review

80

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rob Owen

Oct 3, 2016

Season 1 Review: Timeless is not serious, thoughtful TV. But it is well-produced, escapist fun that gives each of the lead characters some story engine baggage, especially the show’s lead, Lucy. Read full review

80

New York Magazine (Vulture)

Matt Zoller Seitz

Oct 3, 2016

Season 1 Review: Tthe most promising aspect of the series is the challenges it could provide to its cast, if the writing continues to sharpen. Read full review

67

Uncle Barky Ed Bark

Sep 29, 2016

Season 1 Review: From the network that brought you Quantum Leap, it’s NBC’s Timeless, which can be far-fetched even for a show of this genre. But it’s also agreeably fast-paced and a good deal of fun before jumping through another hoop at the end that might make the present an almost equally wild mini-ride. Read full review

67

Entertainment Weekly

Darren Franich

Oct 3, 2016

Season 1 Review: Any potentially thorny issue get pushed aside by excess mythology. [7 Oct 2016, p.50] Read full review

60

Yahoo TV

Ken Tucker

Oct 3, 2016

Season 1 Review: Timeless works in a lot of timely commentary via the characters of Rufus and Lucy, who in earlier eras, as a black man and woman, are not treated well. Having made such sociopolitical points, the series is also free to become a potboiler adventure, with a lot of frantic searches for both historical figures who need protecting, and for Flynn, who’s out to cause mayhem. Read full review

25

Boston Globe

Matthew Gilbert

Sep 16, 2016

Season 1 Review: [An] amateurish effort to summon the ghosts of “Quantum Leap” and “Time Tunnel.” Read full review

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7.5

User Reviews

10

Tss5078

Apr 10, 2020

Timeless is one of those shows that was so ahead of it's time, that it was largely unappreciated for just how good it was. A devoted cult following managed to keep it alive for a second season and wrap up movie, but with all it had to offer, this show should have gone far beyond that. WithTimeless is one of those shows that was so ahead of it's time, that it was largely unappreciated for just how good it was. A devoted cult following managed to keep it alive for a second season and wrap up movie, but with all it had to offer, this show should have gone far beyond that. With the help of a mysterious donor, tech genius, Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph), has developed a time machine. His goal is to explore where we came from, so hopefully we won't make the mistakes and learn where we're going. His mysterious donors however, have other more nefarious plans for the machine. Learning of these plans, an NSA whistle blower, with nothing to lose, Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) steals the machine. Flynn plans to stop this donor from succeeding with their evil plans, by erasing them from time. This could of course do irreparable damage to the timeline, leaving us all in a world we wouldn't recognize. In response, with the help of Homeland Security, and the small original prototype of the machine, Mason puts together a team with the goal of stopping Flynn and protecting history at all costs.

The team that goes after Flynn is made up of a soldier, a historian, and another tech genius. During the first few episodes, it's difficult to see how such a strange trio would work well together. As time goes on, the chemistry is clear, as it's their differences that brings them together, and makes them such an effective team. Each episode is a trip to another era of American history, that is both exciting and educational. I majored in History, with a focus on American History, and this show has even taught me a thing or two. Timeless combines two of my favorite aspects of Science Fiction, Time Travel and Alternate History into a stunning adventure that can literally take you from one dramatically different time period to another, in the blink of an eye. It is an adrenaline fueled chase through history with everyone and everything on the line, so why didn't it work?

Timeless failed for two reasons, that were easily correctable had the network not rushed it to air without considering all the possibilities, something NBC is unfortunately notorious for doing. First of all, this was a very expensive show to make, with all the sets, costumes, and special effects, meaning it needed to get big ratings in order to survive, so where is the big name star? Timeless had no one of name attached to it, which makes a big difference! Some of these top stars cost a fortune, but they have hundreds of millions of followers across social media, you think some of them might tune in to watch their favorite stars new show? Next the producers seemed to have no concept of demographics. This is an historical science-fiction adventure, your key demographic is going to be men between 18-45, so where are all the woman? I know there aren't a lot of woman across American history, but they could have done something to appeal more to their demographic and improve the ratings.

Timeless is one of the most original shows I've seen come across network television in a very long time. It is well written, exciting, educational, and just fun to watch. You never know where you're going or who you're going to meet. I loved every second of this show, but the networks bottom line is profit, and without ratings, there is no profit, and another amazing show is dead before it even got started.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

10

Freeger278

Dec 23, 2022

I watched the show a week ago and I feel like it was great. Sadly, I can't get over how season 3 has been canceled a few years ago. The ending feels too incomplete and rushed.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

8

thomas_canada

Jul 26, 2019

It is a decent first season with a killer second season the only episode I dislike is the pilot

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

3

Nobilis1984

Feb 28, 2020

I watched the pilot episode on Netflix today. What I saw was boring mediocrity. The characters don't convince and the story just blares. It is therefore not surprising that the series was discontinued two years ago.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

2

bl1rt

Mar 17, 2020

Frustrating show. Could have been wacky hijinks through history with an interesting perspective on what a weird thing time is: Three time travelers go back in history and meet famous people that help them to fight other time travelers, and when they come back to the present, they need toFrustrating show. Could have been wacky hijinks through history with an interesting perspective on what a weird thing time is: Three time travelers go back in history and meet famous people that help them to fight other time travelers, and when they come back to the present, they need to deal with the changes they caused and how random occurrences can form destiny.

But the show quickly drops everything interesting about the concept. Where they should carefully tiptoe through historic events, they mostly bulldoze their way through, the people they meet are reduced to clueless sidekicks that can do nothing but what they are famous for, and everyone else in the past is useless, pointless and expendable. The ripple effects to the present are played for laughs and soon dropped.

Instead, it gets hung up on its own MacGuffin about an ominous conspiracy, secret family ties, the love life of the characters, and talks about how uneasy they are with all the murder they commit (!?!). It is all proportionally joyless to the lack of complexity, depth and detail.
History will not look back on TIMELESS.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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Seasons & Episodes

65

Series Overview
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: December 20, 2018
- tbd
  S3:E1. The Miracle of Christmas
  Air Date: December 20, 2018
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: March 11, 2018
Season 1

65
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: October 3, 2016