“Traveler” is the personification of the phrase “wrong place, wrong time.”

In an era when the No. 1 show in the land is a glorified talent show, the networks have grown afraid to make viewers think.

When “Lost” took off in its first season, network executives ran like lemmings to the concept of serial dramas. Which they embraced for, say, a week and a half.

You see, American viewers might sample the new for a season or maybe two, but then they turn back to what’s safe, what’s easy. This means they gravitate to self-contained whodunits, such as the “CSI” or “Law & Order” franchises, or contests, whether of talent or of backstabbing, which are cheaper to produce in the long run (and are proof that Andy Warhol was right).

Some of the serials shot themselves in the foot, breaking their season up into two or three multiepisodic arcs (it’s that short attention span striking again). “24” got it right, running straight through its entire season without interruption. It’s harder to get lost that way.

Not that network execs have helped the situation, yanking serials just as viewers were finding them (The intriguing “Drive” went into the pits after three laps). There’s no such thing are a slow build anymore. “The Seinfeld Chronicles” would never have become “Seinfeld” the cultural touchstone if NBC hadn’t nurtured it. In the words of that great philosopher Axl Rose, “All we need is just a little patience.”

Anyway, at this pause in my rant, let’s go back to “Traveler.” Here’s a synopsis: Three recent college graduates are on a cross-country trip. On a visit to an art museum, two of the friends have a race down the building’s staircase, exiting just as it blows up. Since they’re obviously fleeing the scene, they must be “TERRORISTS.” As things unravel, the law grad and the rich boy try to escape, all the while discovering that their third friend is at the center of this elaborate conspiracy (a phrase that is the kiss of death for the detail-impaired).

ABC at least gave “Traveler” (and its “Prisoner” vibe) the courtesy of putting it on once during sweeps, in the plum post-“Grey’s Anatomy” hole. That worked for “Men in Trees” (which has been renewed even though it has been absent since February) and “October Road” (inexplicably a candidate for renewal).

But then “Traveler” goes off the air until Wednesday, May 30, quickly falling out of the memories of those who did watch it.

If better serials couldn’t flourish during the many months of the year when viewers are trapped inside, what chance does “Traveler” have with summer just around the corner? Better to just head to the lake.