Timeless: How the producers sold the show to NBC (in creative fashion!)
Related Timeless video! – Check out some of our expectations for the upcoming two-hour movie at the bottom of this article. Meanwhile, be sure to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for additional scoop and take a look at our playlist.
The producers for the NBC show have worked for many years to make this series a success, and it actually goes all the way back to the spring of 2016. That was before it was officially ordered to air before the 2016-17 season, and one of the things that NBC had showrunners Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan do (via the studio Sony TV) was craft basically a document explaining their long-term plans for the story. If you are going to have a high-concept show like this, NBC wants to make sure that there is a long-term strategy here. They want to know what a possible season 2 or even further will look like. You can see part of the document at the bottom of this article, which was cleverly written out as a user manual for the famed lifeboat at the center of all of the team’s missions.
How do we know that this document shares details far into the future? Ryan made it clear that he didn’t want to share all of the pages in fear of it being too spoilery. Whether that is for just the upcoming movie or down the road, that remains to be seen. (This guide was also probably open to changes down the line, mostly because no show keeps the same plan note for note through many seasons.)
We do think, though, that this is a sign that producers behind the scenes are still hopeful that there’s at least a chance at something down the line. Don’t get us wrong — the movie is meant to provide at least some closure and we imagine it will serve as a suitable series finale if this is indeed the end. We just do think at the same time that there are some ways in which this story could continue and we could get to learn a little bit more about some of these characters still. Much of that comes back to the performance of the movie on December 20 — if it can defy expectations, it’s certainly possible that someone could opt for a full season or at least another movie down the line. It does have going for it the fact that it’s airing a little bit earlier in the night, and we do also think that there’s a good chance it’s helped by there not being all that much in the way of competition elsewhere. We don’t want to get our hopes up here too much, but we at least know that all diehard fans will do what they can.
No matter what happens, kudos to Ryan and Kripke for sharing this look behind how they got the show a green light. It’s the same creativity we would expect based on everything that we’ve seen from the series to date.
Related News – Be sure to get some other insight on Timeless, including the latest move from the fans hoping to save the series
What do you think about what Ryan and Kripke did in order to sell the show? Share in the comments! (Photo: NBC.)