Voyagers!
Tags: psychedelic, historical fiction

Plot synopsis:
Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) was one of a society of time travelers called Voyagers who, with the help of a young boy named Jeffrey Jones (played by Meeno Peluce) from 1982, used a hand-held device called an Omni (which looked much like a large pocket watch) to travel in time and ensured that history unfolded as we know it.
Bogg and Jeffrey first met when Bogg's Omni malfunctioned and took him to 1982 (the device was not supposed to reach any later than 1970), landing him in the skyscraper apartment of Jeffrey's aunt and uncle, who were caring for him after his parents' deaths. Bogg's Guidebook, which contained a detailed description of how history was supposed to unfold, was grabbed by Jeffrey's dog Ralph, and in the struggle to retrieve it Jeffrey accidentally fell out his bedroom window and Bogg jumped out to rescue him by activating the Omni. With his Guidebook stuck in 1982, Bogg (who, being more interested in girls than in history, apparently never paid much attention in his Voyager training/history classes) had to rely on Jeffrey, whose father had been a history professor, to help him. Jeffrey's knowledge proved invaluable; for example, in the first episode Jeffrey ensured that baby Moses's basket traveled down the Nile where it was met by the Pharaoh's daughter.
Phineas was timeless in his machismo, and managed to fall for a beautiful woman in almost every episode. Whenever Jeffrey's wisdom was paired up against Bogg's stubbornness, Jeffrey usually won out, to which Bogg would always mutter, "Smart kids give me a pain!" However, they developed a strong relationship and became a formidable team. In the course of their adventures together, they sometimes encountered other Voyagers whose missions happened to overlap with theirs.
It was revealed later in the series that despite Jeffrey's age, and the accidental circumstances of his first encounter with Phineas, he was always destined to become a Voyager.
Over the closing credits of each episode, regular cast member Meeno Peluce said in voice over: "If you want to learn more about [historical element from the episode], take a voyage down to your public library. It's all in books!"

Review: was a time travel series that aired Sunday nights on NBC from 1982-'83.
The lighthearted fantasy concept involved a kid, a pirate and cool watch like time machine (the Omni) that was worn on the belt.
The show was about a recently orphaned 12 year old named Jeffrey Jones (Meeno Pulce).
Jeff is living a dreary life in his Manhattan high rise with his aunt and uncle, who don't like the idea of suddenly raising a kid themselves.
One night a time traveler named Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) crashes into Jeff's bedroom.
Bogg is a ruggedly handsome man that's dressed like a pirate from the 1700s, who happens to be a member of a mysterious organization called "Voyagers".
Voyagers are people that are trained to "travel through the ages" to keep history on track and make sure it's always on the right path.
They don't get into the philosophical aspects of what is the right or wrong history, and there is no need to in a fun show like this.
The Voyagers seems to exist out of our linear time, they appear to be from the past but use technology from the future.
Through a series of mishaps Jeff winds up as Bogg's time traveling companion, and Bogg is unable to take Jeff back to 1982 because his Omni would only go up to 1970.
Bogg doesn't know much about history so Jeff proves valuable to Bogg, as Bogg left his Guidebook back in Jeff's 1982 bedroom (remember they can't go back).
Jeff basically becomes Bogg's new Guidebook and the two improvise their way through solving problems the best they can.This was created as an educational series for children, and it worked.
I probably learned more about history from Voyagers!
There was always a main plot and then a secondary story line where Jeff and Bogg visited another time line.
Other great episodes were "Worlds Apart" (Thomas Edison and Lawerence of Arabia), "The Travels of Marco Polo", "Barriers of Sound" (Alexander Graham Bell), "Voyagers of the Titanic", "The Trial of Phineas Bogg" (we get to see the Voyager school) and "Jack's Back" (Jack the Ripper).I have acquired all the episodes in recent years, complete with the NBC bumpers ("Voyagers will be back after these messages").
A few of my episodes even have some of the old NBC ads from the time, with Meeno and Jon-Erik dressed in costume and telling us "Sundays are the place to be on NBC!", which was a precursor to the "NBC Let's All Be There!" ads a couple years later.
Sure there are a couple of forgettable episodes and yes there are some corny moments here and there where you can tell this was a children's series, but it's damn entertaining one.
This was a series aimed at children but written with older audiences in mind, so I can still watch this one as an adult and not feel guilty.
That other great time travel series Quantum Leap would be there later to deal with the more regular folk.
At the end of each episode Meeno Pulce would give a quick narration over the closing credits, telling you that you could learn more about the historic figures visited in this episode through reading, "Take a voyage down to your local library, it's all in books".
It's a shame that back in the 80s moron shows like The Dukes of Hazzard lasted for six years and Voyagers!
Then I thought about Voyagers and how I hadn't seen it in almost 30 years.
I was so wrong; I was thrust back to a simpler time, it really was a great way to learn, if we had more educational shows like that today maybe the United States children wouldn't be so "dumbed-down"..
The teaming of late actor Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce was wonderful, they had great chemistry and timing in their roles as Voyagers Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones.
Most of the plot lines were so fun to watch and follow, you really did learn some interesting facts along the way.
This show is a great addition to the time travel genre and it even inspired another excellent show, 'Quantum Leap.' Jon-Erik was strikingly handsome, funny and charming as the confused pirate/Voyager and Meeno Peluce had a rare natural talent that only children could have, the ability to be lovable and a pain all at once!
I highly recommend finding and watching this show to any sci-fi/time travel buffs!.
Underrated Time Travel Series.
"Voyagers!" was one of the best time travel shows I have ever seen.
The show centered around the adventures of 12 year old Jeffery Jones and his dimwitted 20 something adult companion Phineas Bogg.
Bogg is a Voyager but is ill equiped for time travel, Jeff being a history whiz(and every other type whiz) is able to help Bogg out.
Like "The Greatest American Hero", "Voyagers!" features a hook with a lost instruction book.
Tragically Hexum accidently killed himself a year after Voyagers!
However, I recently found out this show exists (I love time travelling shows) and it's still a great pleasure to watch it.
Phineas Bogg - although he's a hopeless womanizer and knows practically nothing about history - repeatedly claims he doesn't drink alcohol and he doesn't want Jeffrey to play with weapons.
There are several things to note about "Voyagers!" The first is that this was a part of a master plan by NBC Program chief Brandon Tartikoff to merge entertainment with education, and to provide kids with intelligent programming, not the usual dreck that seemed so prevalent in the 1980s.The concept of the show was deceptively simple.
There are a team of men and women who keep track of "history." These "voyagers" each have a hand-held device called an "Omni" which gives them their location, the date and a signal if history is "wrong." They all go back and forward through time to correct any "mistakes" that may have occurred in time and keep the world on track.One voyager is named Phineas Bogg (an obvious play on Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg from "Around The World In 80 Days").
However this particular voyager didn't pass his history exam and landed on the windowsill of Jeffrey, who just happened to be a whiz kid in history.
The voyagers traveled back in time and discovered that famed flying ace Eddie Rickenbacher had nothing to do.
Looking at the series now, it would have made for a brilliant "Harry Potter" style string of films, since there really aren't enough historic events to have made it to the famed 100 episode level..
I was an ardent fan and viewer of this show (I was 11 years old at the time) and was so disappointed when it failed to show up on my TV screen.
I didn't know at the time that it had been cancelled...all I knew was a show I loved had just disappeared.I haven't seen this since I was 11 so all my memories of it are from childhood.
No other show I remember from childhood taught and entertained the way Voyagers did.
There has been so much rubbish pumped out on our TV sets for years and it's sad that fun, educational TV like Voyagers just fall by the wayside.
Released by Scholastic Books, this series is clean, fun, and full of historical tidbits and settings.
Voyagers are time travelers who basically give historical figures a nudge in the right direction so they fulfill their destinies, and history goes right.In each episode there are 2-3 different places/events covered that relate to a main story (i.e. Slavery with Harriet Tubman/Spartacus with a message we are "all created equal").
You see presidents, Lawrence of Arabia, Titanic, Salem witch hunts, Thomas Edison, Harry Houdini, World War I and II, Marco Polo, Mona Lisa, etc., along with brief cameos of famous figures for added historical fun, like Francis Scott Key (Star-Spangled Banner) and baby Moses.This series is great for kids and everyone interested in history.
Even my 71-year-old father enjoyed Voyagers (and remembers it when it aired in 1982 when I was young).
It has action, adventure, amusing situations, and the characters never stay in one setting too long so there is no time for boredom.I see many people not know simple historical facts like who is the first U.S. President.
It let you walk through that era while actually captivating a young mind whose attention span would be hard to grasp on such great historical episodes.
I recorded a bunch of episodes of Voyagers on the Scfi channel so I could watch them when ever I want.
I loved Voyagers when it was on TV and I still love it now- I just bought the DVD set off ebay and I've been watching it every night since.
I'm on maybe my third or fourth time through already but I never tire of seeing how great Jon-Erik Hexum was with Meeno Peluce.
People have criticized the acting but you really have to keep in mind that it was a show for kids.I loved that Phineas Bogg was setting a good example for children to watch- he did not swear and there were several instances in the show where he declined alcohol and said right out that he didn't drink, plus he was a gentleman and never hit a woman.I have seen several fan fiction stories on the web written by fellow Voyager enthusiasts and I enjoy reading most of them.
I heartily wish that someone would develop a series of books like was done with Dr. Who.
The best time travel show ever!
This was the pioneer of all time travel shows.
Not only did "Voyagers!" open up the world of time travel in movies/shows before it became common in such movies as "Back to the Future" and "Star Trek", but it made learning history fun..
Jon Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce starred in this series about two "time travelers" who go throughout history and set it straight.
This show was loads of fun for a history lover like me.
Jon Erik Hexum was a fine young actor who had amazing chemisty and charisma that marked him for further and greater things.
I used to watch this show all the time, it's really too bad that the shows producers or the network that produced it, doesn't revive the series, it had a great concept that encouraged kids to read and learn about history, as well as entertain them at the same time.Many fans of the show wish that they could travel through time and "Make things right", too bad they couldn't have stopped the show from being cancelled in the first place!I even got an Omni a while ago and it really takes-me-back to the 80's!.
"Voyagers!" is still my favorite show after almost 16 years.
It made learning history fun for everyone (even adults).
I loved Jon-Erik Hexum, and will remember him forever..
tragedy that the freak death of Jon-Erik Hexum a couple of years later precluded
In this case that was the hunky Jon-Erik Hexum who time travels with
Peluce was a 12 year ol history genius.
better than a reference book that walks and is charming in youthful innocence.The two made a great team for 20 episodes righting all the things that go
We follow them to meet one historical figure after another throughout history.The limitations are of course that we don't go to really exotic locations like the great wall of China in medieval Cathay, nor equally India, Burma or the ancient Ethiopian Empire.
This show is no exception and unlike The A-Team and Knight Rider this show actually teaches kids history and literature in a fun and exciting way.Sometimes the pro-American sentiment lays a bit too thick on it but we've to remember that this was the early 80s.
Time Travel is in theory very sensitive to the butterfly effect but that is often skimmed over, which keeps it possible to focus on the story.I do really love the little of the cuff facts as for example: Jeffery sees a German soldier barely older than him.
He exclaims the fact and his co-star explains that the Germans uses everyone in this stage of the war, young or old.Kids these days have a very poor and black and white understanding of history.
I love watching old episodes and picking out actors that are now famous, like Gregg Henry played Teddy Roosevelt in the 2nd one.
I watched this show with my kids back in the 80's, it came to a very sad end when John Erik Hexum was killed on set.
Have you watched the Voyagers on VHS or DVD?.
I have always been fascinated with any shows or movies pertaining to time travel.
I would be interested in hearing from anyone that may have watched these episodes on VHS or DVD or any information as to when the series may surface for commercial purchase.
I also was not aware Phineas -- the time traveler who didn't quite study enough (he had this big book to help him out, but lost it along the way, so needed the help of a boy he accidentally took back in time) -- was so young.
The idea behind the show was nifty and as a fan of history and time travel stories, I enjoyed it.
Still, the pair -- putting things right in the time continuum, sorta like in "Quantum Leap" -- had some fune adventures.
And, it is a good way to get hooked on history, though the show was not exactly totally historically accurate.
Years later I wanted to share the show, so I posted on youtube.com all 20 episodes (just type in litlbit2001)for anybody who doesn't own the show on DVD.
I often wonder what a second season would of been like and if we could see Jeffrey experiencing a few things teenagers do while traveling through time with Bogg.
there was another show that was similar that we watched in elementary school called " read all about it " that had kids travelling through time to learn about history.
I love historical books and movies about all kinds of different time frames, events and figures, but would love to put my hands on the voyagers.
I don't know about you, but I would LOVE to see this old gem of a series come out on DVD.
Much like the previous review, I remember the show when I was just a kid, and it would be great to be able to relive the episodes again.
It mirrored another movie about a little boy from the U.K. who gets caught up with thieving time travelers and famous people in history called, 'Time Bandits' (which was much "darker"}.
Bogg was clueless about history but Jeffrey was a genius at it.
It touched on good issues like Jeffrey glamorizing criminals (Billy the Kid) and Bogg falling in love with the deaf future 'wife to be' of Alexander G.
Bogg mentions to Jeffrey their job is not changing history but making sure it happens as it is known and the ship sinks.
In the final episode 'Jack the Ripper' was just an evil Voyager named, Drake attempting to "destroy history" by killing Nelly Bly but he wasn't the real Jack.
Hexum was new to Hollywood with Voyagers and years later accidentally shot himself on the set of 'Cover Up' but it was not a suicide..
In that movie people traveling through time end up passing through a boys bedroom also,so the connection is quite obvious.
Phinaes (fin-ay-us) Bogg s hurtling through time one night and accidentally lands in Manhattan circa 1982 and accidentally into Jeffrey Jones' (Meeno Peluce) bedroom!
He and others like him must time travel to make sure all goes right or else history is changed for the worse!
He also has a pocket-watch like Omni which when when the light is red,history is wrong and green when all is right again.
Jeffrey makes up for his dog's lack of manners by agreeing to go on missions with Bogg (as long as he's back home at the same time and never missed).
If it comes out (or is out)on DVD,buy it!I couldn't understand at the time why it was canceled either but that's the way things go in TV.
I do like to think had it been renewed John Erik-Hexum might still be around.
I remember this show before Jon Erik Hexum's death from the show "Cover Up" a year later in 1984.
Along with the handsomeness and beefcake to add to him.He plays not too bright "Voyager" Phineas Bogg who is more brawn than brains.
As his small omni, shaped like a pocket watch, goes back to only 1970, which accidentally malfunctions to go to 1982.
Phineas forms a fatherly and big brother bond with Jeffrey despite their differences and Phineas falling in love with different women during the series run about.Too bad that the show was up against "60 Minutes." And that no show about time travel then and now, has not been a hit.
As it mainly was a hit with kids.But still Hexum and Peluce have great chemistry and acting.
Do you people use your brains or your feet, Incredible Hulk episode 1, season 2 Married Meeno Peluce plays the boy, where do you think casting directors got their first look at his acting talents to cast him in his first recurring role as Daniel in Best Of The West?
Do you people use your brains, or your feet, Incredible Hulk episode 1, season 2: Married, Meeno Peluce played the boy, where do you think casting directors got their first look at his alleged acting talents to later cast him in his first role as Daniel in sitcom Best Of The West.
Do you people use your brains, or your feet, Incredible Hulk, episode 1, season 2: Meeno Peluce played the boy, where do you think casting directors got their first look at his alleged acting talents.