Quote:

NBC chairman explains why they brought back Timeless NATALIE ABRAMS@NATALIEABRAMS In a practically unprecedented move, NBC gave Timeless an eleventh hour renewal just days after canceling the freshman time travel drama — and now we know why. “Well, we all loved the show creatively and we were hoping for it to have a bigger audience in the fall,” NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters Sunday morning. “Once it came off the schedule in midseason, we thought, ‘Well, we love it, but can it grow, and do we have a place for it, and all those questions that you ask yourself when you’re looking at the renewal of a show that is a borderline.” During its first season, the series — which follows an unlikely trio (Abigail Spencer, Malcolm Barrett, and Matt Lanter) who traveled through time to battle a supposed master criminal (Goran Visnjic) — averaged 8 million total viewers and a 2.1 in the 18-49 demographic but dropped sharply by its finale. “There was a moment earlier in the week where we just thought, ‘We have all these shows that are coming back and these new shows and maybe there’s not room for Timeless and we decided to move on from it,” Greenblatt continued. “And then woke up the next morning, all of us, and heard from fans and the outcry and we thought, ‘Well, let’s figure out how to try to bring it back.’ We went back to the drawing board in every way with our partners, with Sony, and I’m happy to say we were able to figure out a way to bring it back. We love the show creatively. Nothing would make us happier than to see the audience grow.” However, in the wake of how the news played out, some skeptics thought NBC had canceled the show and subsequently renewed it as a marketing ploy — after all, what’s better marketing for a time travel show than to ostensibly say time travel exists and the trio went back in time to change NBC’s minds? “I wish we were that clever in the middle of scheduling things,” Greenblatt said. “Maybe we’ll do that with some other shows, so keep your eyes peeled. We would never do that to the creators of the show. That didn’t happen, and they weren’t in on it. These things are really tricky in negotiations. It just happened the way it happened. I’m happy it happened this way as opposed to the other, where we pick up a show and two days later and we cancel it.” Timeless is expected to return in 2018. Check out NBC’s new fall schedule here.[/B]

Quote:

Timeless @ Comic-Con: One Mother of a Villain and More Season 2 Preview By Vlada Gelman Timeless, NBC’s miraculous comeback show, celebrated its surprise un-cancellation/Season 2 renewal during its San Diego Comic-Con panel on Thursday. As a reward for all the fans’ love and devotion, co-creators Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan dropped some tiny teasers about Season 2. (The writers’ room doesn’t start up until September, with an eye on a spring/summer 2018 premiere, so not much is set in stone yet.) “Lucy’s mom [played by Susanna Thompson] is going to be one of the major Big Bads,” Kripke previewed. “And Rittenhouse does have their hands on the time machine. That’s way worse than Garcia having his hands on the time machine. Garcia and the [time] team find themselves facing a common enemy,” so don’t be surprised if they’re forced into a “messy, fraught team-up.” Kripke also shared that Season 2 will be “doubling down” on untold history, like the first season’s stories about minority, women and gay characters. “Everyone contributes to the history of this country,” Kripke noted. “That’s a good message these days… History is for everybody, and America is for everybody.” Read on for more highlights from the panel: * Kripke was “totally, totally stunned” when the show was unexpectedly revived, he described. “We had been cancelled that Wednesday. We started to make peace.” Then came the phone call from NBC brass on a Saturday morning, leading Ryan to joke, “Why is NBC calling? To rub it in?” * Ryan has no complaints about the series’ shorter seasons. Considering the drama’s weekly scope, “this would have been a very difficult show in Season 1 to make a full 22 episodes,” he said. “In that regard, I was happy [with the shorter order]. Sixteen was about the max we could have done in Season 1.” And the sophomore run will have just 10 episodes, “which allows us to tell a really compact story. I’d like to make more than 10 in Season 3 or 4. For now, I’m glad to have the 10,” Ryan added. * Will the time team ever travel to the future? “Never say never. But kind of never,” Kripke replied. “We look at it a lot more as a historical adventure than a science-fiction show, per se. It’s so rare that the future’s done well on TV.” * On Kripke’s wish list: visiting the Robert Johnson era. (Supernatural fans, of course, are well aware of Kripke’s admiration of the blues musician.) Exclusive Comic-Con Portraits From Favorite Shows * For all their raves about the season’s authentic costumes and their favorite eras — the Alamo, Lone Ranger, and Bonnie and Clyde episodes got shout-outs as the cast’s favorites — the stars also had some bones to pick with the historical wardrobe. During the Lincoln episode, “I had like 12 layers underneath [the outfit],” star Abigail Spencer shared. “We started in August, so it’s 105 [degrees] outside in Vancouver, and we’re in 12 layers of wool.” The show’s leading men are not immune to costume challenges, either. Spencer noted that while on most sets, it’s the high heel-sporting women who have a change of shoes nearby, on Timeless, it’s the men who have comfy footwear waiting for them. “The period shoes are very uncomfortable,” she explained. Timeless‘ 10-episode second season is slated for a midseason premiere.