Wondering if anyone can recommend a fairly new TV show for me to binge.
I know it’s an odd request, but I was wondering if anyone is currently using the old “Fugitive” or “Quantum Leap” format. Main character has their own, ongoing problems which they deal with a bit in most or all episodes, but they also move from place to place each episode, and help to solve someone else’s problem. “Kung-Fu” and “The Littlest Hobo” are two other old ones that more-or-less did that.
Anyone know of any new ones? Doesn’t have to be brand new… say… this century?
You might like the remake TV series of The Fugitive from 2000 starring Tim Daley which I thought was really excellent. However it only lasted a single season and - I’ll warn you now - it ends on a cliffhanger. I believe the reason it was so good and also the reason it was canned is because it was the highest budget TV production at the time.
Also there is another new remake of The Fugitive due to start screening in the US on the 3rd August 2020. This will star Boyd Holbrook. Since it is yet to screen the quality is unknown.
The crew of “New Tricks” solve someone else’s problems (i.e.: crimes which the original investigator(s) could not solve), operate out of a London HQ, and the main characters have their own idiosyncrasies to deal with. Some of which were detrimental to their police careers.
The last season misses your “this century” request by a couple of years but “Promised Land” is the sort of thing you’re looking for and (IIRC) is nowhere close as heavy-handed with religion as “Touched by an Angel”, which spawned it.
Doctor Who has kind of this idea. And there was an attempted equivalent series recently made in America called The Librarians. And therefore we might also include Warehouse 13 in the same genre. They’re very light and frothy, though.
It didn’t quite make it to this century, but The Pretender (1996-2000) otherwise fits the bill. I’ve seen a handful of episodes recently, and I’d say it holds up pretty well.
There was a show back I think mid-2000’s called Journeyman that was a lot like Quantum Leap. It was pretty good but didn’t last long, only got one season and it was setting up a bigger arc when it was cancelled which was disappointing.
NBC is also considering (or at least was a few months ago) rebooting Quantum Leap for its Peacock streaming service. They are already bring back old shows like Saved By The Bell and Punky Brewster.
Also, you might want to check out Sliders. It sort of fits what you’re looking for, anyway. It’s from 1995, a group of people find themselves on a different parallel Earth every episode. I can’t remember how much time they spend trying to fix other peoples problems, though, they just keep hoping each time that their next slide… will be the slide home.
…not a single person, but if you want to watch a crew of people that help people solve problems, they move place to place each episode, and there is substantial character growth and b-story, then you have to give Leverage a go (if you haven’t already.) My comfort-food show, consistency from start to finish (with a few wobbles in the final season, but nothing that bad), amazing character growth, and simply feel-good from start to end.
Then there was the very divisive Farscape which started in 1999. Ran for four seasons, ended on a cliffhanger but was then more or less finished properly with a few belated TV movies.
In case you don’t know, the plot is a human astronaut gets sucked through a wormhole and ends up having all sorts of adventures with aliens while always trying to find his way back to Earth.
Fans like me liked it. Detractors loathed it not least since some of the aliens were made by Jim Henson’s company - Best known for Sesame Street and The Muppets.
The Fugitive remake is on Quibi, not television. So 10 minute episodes on your phone. Also the premise has zero to do with the original. Some kind of terrorist plot.