There is actually a network show that I’m quite enjoying.  TIMELESS on NBC.  It’s time travel crossed with conspiracy theory, but it’s also a mini history lesson in every episode.  It has an appealing cast particularly Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston, Malcomb Barrett as Rufus Carlin and Goran Visnjic as Garcia Flynn.  There is the obligatory square jawed hero guy who is okay, but he less interesting then the three I mentioned earlier and also less interesting than the supporting cast.

Our heroes are attempting to stop a centuries old conspiracy designed to see that the “right” people rule the world from changing history.  They are basically  oligarchs crossed with a toxic conservatism who want women and minorities kept in their proper place.

The show was cancelled but then there was a strong reaction from the public and it was brought back for another season.  The story telling is predictable.

SPOILER HERE!!!!!!!!!***********!!!!****SPOILER

I could see the return of the dead wife was all a nefarious plot episodes before the reveal, but the show is a very pleasant way to spend forty-seven minutes on a Sunday evening.  They also aren’t afraid to have certain small things actually change in the present day because of the actions of our heroes.  They also have an amusing trope of using names drawn from movies, books and television shows when they travel into the past.

It’s presenting history in an interesting, relevant way and the writers are looking for hinge points in history that aren’t the usual would you go back in time and shoot Hitler, save Kennedy, etc. etc.  Instead they find small incidents and people whose impact might not be all that obvious.

They are also focusing on minority and women figures in history.  There was a great episode about Robert Johnson who is credited with being the father of the Blues and is also reputed to have met the Devil at the crossroads and sold his soul for his musical genius.

In a previous episode I learned about Wendall Scott the first African-American NASCAR driver.  We’ve spent time with suffragettes and Hedy Lamarr, Ian Fleming, Marie Curie and Benjamin Franklin’s mother and his aunt who actually was one of the accusers in the Salem witch trials.

Legends of Tomorrow plays with some of these same themes, but it a far more comedic, over-the-top way.  They had the Legends making certain that Elvis would cut his first record while the Timeless team went for Robert Johnson.

They don’t have the budget of a Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon show, but they do a nice job with the themes they are presenting.  It’s worth a look to see if it might be to people’s taste.