As ‘Timeless’ Turns 10, Check Out 10 Other Timeline-Tinkering TV Shows

Dan Clarendon
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Aaron Stanford as James Cole in ‘12 Monkeys,’ Rachel Nichols as Keira Cameron in ‘Continuum,’ Nesta Cooper as Carly Shannon in ‘Travelers,’ Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston and Sakina Jaffrey as Denise Christopher in ‘Timeless’
Steve Wilkie/Syfy/Courtesy: Everett Collection, Syfy/Courtesy: Everett Collection, Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection, Sergei Bachlakov/NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Ten years ago, Timeless tapped into an eternal hook for television: time travel as a means of fixing the past, or saving the present, or changing the future.

Created by Eric Kripke (Supernatural) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Timeless followed a history professor, an Army vet, a programmer, and their “Lifeboat” time machine as the team strove to give recorded history a fighting chance.

NBC introduced Timeless on October 3, 2016, and canceled the show less than two years later — though the network did, at least, give fans a two-part finale special. If you’re still missing the show now, however, consider doing the time warp with the similar TV shows below.

Rachel Nichols as Keira Cameron in ‘Continuum’
Syfy/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Continuum

In Continuum, it’s not just one antagonist traveling through time; it’s a whole group of radicals. Law enforcement agent Keira Cameron (Rachel Nichols) travels with them — following the timeline of duty, if you will — though she’s unsure what she’ll find if and when she ever returns to her home timeframe. Currently streaming on The CW, Fandango, Howdy, Pluto, Plex, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, and Tubi.

Aaron Stanford as James Cole in ‘12 Monkeys’
Steve Wilkie/Syfy/Courtesy: Everett Collection

12 Monkeys

If you’ve seen the 1995 film of the same name, you know the broad strokes of this sci-fi drama that came 20 years later: It’s up to a cross-decade team to stop the outbreak of a worldwide virus. And you might just see a familiar face from the film, too. Currently streaming on Prime Video.

Scott Bakula of ‘Quantum Leap’
Alice S. Hall/NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Quantum Leap

Though its shameful series finale and its short-lived reboot don’t do it any favors, the original Quantum Leap remains a cult classic. Scott Bakula plays Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who leaps across time and into other people’s bodies to correct wrongs, all while trying to find his way home. Currently streaming on Fandango.

Nesta Cooper as Carly Shannon in ‘Travelers’
Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Travelers

In Travelers, on the other hand, it’s a whole team that makes those quantum leaps into other people’s bodies — but, crucially, only people whose lives are about to end anyway. (Grim, right?) The team’s goal: no less than stopping the downfall of society. Currently streaming on Netflix.

Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham in ‘Fringe’
Liane Hentscher/20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy: Everett Collection

Fringe

J.J. Abrams and collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci took an X-Files-esque premise and added timeline jumps and alternate universes for a thrilling TV show that just got more serialized, fantastical, and downright fantastic as it progressed. Just one of many Fringe benefits. Currently streaming on Hulu.

Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves in ‘The Umbrella Academy’
Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection

The Umbrella Academy

Based on the comic book series of the same name, this superhero comedy-drama follows a family of super-powered siblings fending off the global apocalypse one of them saw in the future. Bonus: An impressive roster of actors, including Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, and David Castañeda. Currently streaming on Netflix.

Kyle Chandler of ‘The Umbrella Academy’
Fergus Greer/TV Guide/CBS/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Early Edition

If it bleeds, it leads… Gary Hobson’s to-do list. Played by a young Kyle Chandler, Gary is an ordinary guy with extraordinary circumstances: He gets each day’s newspaper one day early, giving him the power to change the future. (Extra, extra, watch all about it.) Currently available on DVD.

Nick Searcy, Justina Vail, Jonathan LaPaglia, Don Franklin, and Alan Scarfe of ‘Seven Days’
Paramount Network Television/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Seven Days

In this sci-fi series, Jonathan LaPaglia plays a “chrononaut” tasked with using Roswell-derived technology to go back in time to avert disasters. And Seven Days even has a time machine resembling Timeless’ spherical Lifeboat: A dodecahedron-shaped vehicle called the Chronosphere. Currently available on DVD.

Silhouetted characters in ‘El Ministerio del Tiempo’
RTVE Comercial/YouTube

El Ministerio del Tiempo

The reason Spain has the history we know it to have? The efforts of a 16th-century soldier, a 19th-century student, and a 21st-century medic, according to this Spanish series about a secret agency that opens doors to the past to keep history intact. Currently streaming on ViX Premium.

Caity Lotz as Sara Lance and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Charlie in ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’
Michael Courtney/The CW/Courtesy: Everett Collection

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

Put a comic-book spin on Timeless, and you have Legends of Tomorrow. Here, our heroes — superheroes, really, and the occasional villain — travel through the centuries on the time ship Waverider in pursuit of threats to the timeline. Pro tip: Just make it through the first season. Currently streaming on Netflix.

12 Monkeys (2015)ContinuumDC's Legends of TomorrowEarly EditionFringeQuantum Leap (1989)Seven DaysThe Umbrella AcademyTimelessTravelers



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