Time Tunnel S1 &2 - Good buy? (1 Viewer)

[younger1968]

I decided to watch an episode of time tunnel on the titantic (Rendezvous With Yesterday). The Rendezvous With Yesterday is one of my favorite episodes of the set. The special effects and scripts were very good for its time. the show aired 1966/1967 and only for one season. Irwin Allen did some right with both time tunnel and voyage to the bottom of the sea.
I would be very interested to hear other people's thoughts on their favourite episode!

 

[Harry-N]

I too love "Rendezvous With Yesterday", and it's probably close to the best the series had to offer. As a pilot, the budget was huge and it showed.

Most fans will say that "The Day The Sky Fell In" is among the series best, and again, it's hard to argue with that. Having Tony find out what happened to his father at Pearl Harbor was a powerful story with some moving scenes. I would surely list it as among the best.

I have some other favorites:

- "One Way To The Moon" - the science is surely lacking, but the fiction is good. Having the boys in the near-future and blasting off into outer space was a lot of fun, as were the temporal anomalies.
- "Secret Weapon" - a Russian Time Tunnel - what could be more fun?
- "The Death Trap" - an unusual Abraham Lincoln assassination story
- "Chase Through Time" - a episode with three time transfers, a little hokey with the futuristic stuff, but fun nonetheless

And there's even a couple of the alien episodes that resonated with me:

- "Visitors From Beyond The Stars" - it did cowboys and aliens long before COWBOYS AND ALIENS!
- "Town Of Terror" - silly nonsense again in 1978, but something about that episode always fascinated me.

Tonight was the 45th anniversary of the pilot episode's *rerun* on ABC. The series had concluded its first run and began its reruns this week 45 years ago, which at the time was the 55th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Harry

 

[younger1968]

I too love "Rendezvous With Yesterday", and it's probably close to the best the series had to offer.  As a pilot, the budget was huge and it showed.
Most fans will say that "The Day The Sky Fell In" is among the series best, and again, it's hard to argue with that.  Having Tony find out what happened to his father at Pearl Harbor was a powerful story with some moving scenes.  I would surely list it as among the best.
I have some other favorites:
 - "One Way To The Moon" - the science is surely lacking, but the fiction is good.  Having the boys in the near-future and blasting off into outer space was a lot of fun, as were the temporal anomalies.
 - "Secret Weapon" - a Russian Time Tunnel - what could be more fun?
 - "The Death Trap" - an unusual Abraham Lincoln assassination story 
 - "Chase Through Time" - a episode with three time transfers, a little hokey with the futuristic stuff, but fun nonetheless
And there's even a couple of the alien episodes that resonated with me:
 - "Visitors From Beyond The Stars" - it did cowboys and aliens long before COWBOYS AND ALIENS!
 - "Town Of Terror" - silly nonsense again in 1978, but something about that episode always fascinated me.
Tonight was the 45th anniversary of the pilot episode's *rerun* on ABC.  The series had concluded its first run and began its reruns this week 45 years ago, which at the time was the 55th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
Harry

You have quite the list. I like the show as it is ties to history. I like the massacre one as well as it had custer!

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Next to VTTBOTS it's the best Allen show, in my opinion. I like some of Lost In Space too, but when I want the best of Irwin's I go for the other two. Some of episodes I personally like the best would be The Ghost of Nero, Invasion (Doug brainwashed by the Nazis), Idol of death, Attack of the Barbarians (John Saxon as Marco Polo) and Crack of Doom to name a few. In all honesty, I like most episodes a lot and think it's one of television's saddest decisions that it got cancelled, I mean stopping this timeless gem and create Land of the Giants? Come on, we saw that trick with Dr. Cyclops in 1940 and it's only so much fun.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Henry,
I tend to agree with you about time tunnel as the episodes/story lines are very good. I was too young to remember the show as i was born in 1968. However, i am acquired a taste for everything good about irwn allen, especially with his work on voyage to the bottom of the sea and time tunnel. I also picked up city beneath the sea, which originally was going to be a tv series but was never continued to become a full pledge series. I also have towering inferno as well.
I also felt that lee meriweather was hottie back in the 1960s. It is too bad that Batman did not keep her as cat woman as i prefer her over julie newmar and eartha Kitt. The other think i like about irwn allen is how he move his actors along with his different projects, i.e. Doug and the admiral from voyage were in the pilot movie for city beneath the sea along with Robert Wagner. I applaud his efforts for keeping these actors in his movies.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Absolutely agreed, Paul. I think Meriwether's one of the prettiest women ever on TV, such a lovely person and I have collected quite a few signed photos of hers. Incidentally, today I received one of James Darren's in the mail and a few weeks ago Robert Colbert. Towering Inferno, goes almost without saying, is one of the best disaster movies ever and while I like the VTTBOTS movie (mainly for Walter Pidgeon) I'd say the show is still the better adventure overall. Unlike say Logan's Run, here's a plot I think is well suited for a series.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Henry,
I watch the day the sky fell again and love that episode, especially with Tony meeting up with his dad.
I also like how the show ends with part of the episode from the next episode. It is too bad this show did not have more than one season. Poor decision by the network. Should i be surprised? I think Gilligan's Island was high in ratings and it was cancel due to wanting to move its' time slot. Gee, Studio execs make some real poor decisions when it comes to canceling shows.
I also think Time Tunnel would be relevant today, especially the history lesson the show teaches. I could imaging there would be some real good episodes you could have done in year 2, like the following
1. Atlantis
2. San Francisco Earthquake
3. Mayflower/pilgrims
4. Kennedy Assination
5. Jack Ripper
6. Bermuda Triangle

 

[HenryDuBrow]

That's a good point there. Meriwether also talks about that in her interview, that teachers would suggest the kids watch the show because they'd be talking about this or that period in class next. Not that it's all historically correct of course, but more as an eye opener for a subject. Colbert also mentions there could've been solo assignments for the characters had it gone on, maybe even get the trio back at base more involved in the adventures. Such a loss it ended too soon.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Henry,
I watch the day the sky fell again and love that episode, especially with Tony meeting up with his dad.
I also like how the show ends with part of the episode from the next episode. It is too bad this show did not have more than one season. Poor decision by the network. Should i be surprised? I think Gilligan's Island was high in ratings and it was cancel due to wanting to move its' time slot. Gee, Studio execs make some real poor decisions when it comes to canceling shows.
I also think Time Tunnel would be relevant today, especially the history lesson the show teaches. I could imaging there would be some real good episodes you could have done in year 2, like the following
1. Atlantis
2. San Francisco Earthquake
3. Mayflower/pilgrims
4. Kennedy Assination
5. Jack Ripper
6. Bermuda Triangle

Hey Henry,
The networks would rather throw up screwed up lives of people into some sort of scripted reality shows as it seems to younger generation is fascinated with Kim Ks or Jersey Shore or X Factor or Dancing with the Stars or American Idol or Survivor or Real House Wives of Orange County, etc. The studios are also at fault, because they feel that smut tv is a good idea and continue to make money off people's despair and/or people looking for a rich quick solution.
TV of the past has value, especially when actors that did not find movie work would do TV series guest acting and/or in some cases star in episodes. You could really push AMC/TCM by releasing tv shows like hondo or serpico or Matt Helm, etc. I think what amazes me is that studios marketing department do not see how important the home video market could be to their revenue targets. All you have to is look at Warner Bros and see they have invested in the archive and reaping the benefits.
I also think there is opportunity being lost as the baby boomers start to age and prefer the older tv shows. All we can do is continue to push our interests through social media. I like to see more polling done by different sites and this information passed on to the studios.

 

[younger1968]

here is a good link on time tunnel

excellent documentary!!

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Hey Paul. You're so right, like this original show had endless possibilities had it continued so it seems the studios have also regarding their archives, only they're very slow to get something like that off the ground. I may not like everything Warner does or have released so far via this route, but they're doing what needed to be done for many titles otherwise never released. I don't think every classic show needs to be MOD though, but many minor titles evidently do. I sincerely hope the other majors take after them in the coming years, if not we could be in deep trouble as collectors and lovers of classic TV. And yep, that documentary is wonderful and seeing it again reminds me of the blood sweat and tears Mr. Allen invested in this project, I sense this was more than just another sci-fi show to him.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Paul. You're so right, like this original show had endless possibilities had it continued so it seems the studios have also regarding their archives, only they're very slow to get something like that off the ground. I may not like everything Warner does or have released so far via this route, but they're doing what needed to be done for many titles otherwise never released. I don't think every classic show needs to be MOD though, but many minor titles evidently do. I sincerely hope the other majors take after them in the coming years, if not we could be in deep trouble as collectors and lovers of classic TV. And yep, that documentary is wonderful and seeing it again reminds me of the blood sweat and tears Mr. Allen invested in this project, I sense this was more than just another sci-fi show to him.

Thanks, Henry!
I am very passionate about keeping classic tv alive as it still does have a place in tv today. I watched the Irwin Allen documentary and found it quite good, especially with the inclusion of James Darren/lee Meriweather/Robert Colbert. Irwin Allen along with Rod Serling had a pulse on sci-fi/anthology series, which solely lacking with today's tv. It is nice to do the stargate series, but it gets to be over kill when sci-fi continues down the same path. I think there writing/creative that was will serling/allen/roddenbury/etc has not been entrenched with the new writing.
It is unfortunate that many social media sites are not able to provide more details and/or options like polling to help bring shows to dvd. I asked question, but get very sarcastic responses from social media site. I remember a comment like if we had information then we would release it and not need you to remind us. It gets to the point that i will find my answer through other means then deal with people that are sarcastic.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

You know, I like polls too but whether or not they help much is another question. I certainly agree they can't hurt, can't see why they would do that in any case. They can give studios somewhat of an indication, but where they tell them nothing is that many people interested in classic TV may not be familiar with the web or know of the poll. So in effect a poll that shows few signatures for a show, might actually still have done well if released. So the things aren't perfect indicators no matter the volume and numbers on them, but I'll always sign nevertheless. I think places like this site, or comments on IMDb, YouTube, their own sites or Facebook tells them a great deal too.

 

[Harry-N]

I received my copy of THE TIME TUNNEL: A HISTORY OF THE TELEVISION PROGRAM by Martin E. Grams, Jr. today and wanted to mention it here and recommend it highly. If anyone recalls, there was a book that came out last year called PROJECT TIC-TOC: THE MAKING OF THE TIME TUNNEL that we were all excited about until it actually arrived. It turned out to be basically a reprinting of the old William Anchors SCRAPBOOK with some "prettying-up" updates. Having owned the SCRAPBOOK for years, I was pretty disappointed in that one, as I really wanted a truly in-depth look at the series - everything about it.

Well it's here now. The Martin Grams book is a 546-page treatise on the subject of THE TIME TUNNEL and will serve as my go-to book for anything I need to know about it. There are tons of never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos of episodes being shot, guest stars in the parking lot, exploration of the two empty soundstages where the Tic-Toc control center would ultimately be and many more. It's all here. Episode budgets, salaries, music cues, notes on the story developments, ABC censorship guides - everything. This one is a keeper. And Martin Grams has generously donated his royalties to the St. Jude's Research Hospital - it doesn't get any more noble than that.

There are different ways of ordering the book. Amazon lists it without a picture (official publishing date is August 20th). I ordered it directly from the publisher, http://www.bearmanormedia.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=511


Harry

 

[Regulus]

Hey Henry,
I watch the day the sky fell again and love that episode, especially with Tony meeting up with his dad.
I also like how the show ends with part of the episode from the next episode. It is too bad this show did not have more than one season. Poor decision by the network. Should i be surprised? I think Gilligan's Island was high in ratings and it was cancel due to wanting to move its' time slot. Gee, Studio execs make some real poor decisions when it comes to canceling shows.
I also think Time Tunnel would be relevant today, especially the history lesson the show teaches. I could imaging there would be some real good episodes you could have done in year 2, like the following
1. Atlantis
2. San Francisco Earthquake
3. Mayflower/pilgrims
4. Kennedy Assination
5. Jack Ripper
6. Bermuda Triangle

One of my Favorite Episodes from this series was the one where they meet Joshua during the fall of Jericho. I wonder if they could have done some other Biblical Stories if the series hadn't been cancelled. If I were Irwin I would have done ones where the Scientists witness:
Noah and the Deluge
The Tower of Babel
The Exodus/Parting of the Red Sea
The Birth Of Christ/Christ's Family Fleeing to Egypt
Other Historical Events they could have done:
The Spanish Armada
The Various events leading to the Revolutionary War
Ditto on the Civil War (They could help a Family of Slaves escape to the North)
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The Stock Market Crash of 1929
The Coconut Grove Fire
I could go on and on, but I'll let all of you post the events for other "Episodes"

 

[MichaelSloan]

I'm quite fond of this show. Frankly I think it's not too late for another season. They could say the Tunnel was shut down for 45 years and Tony and Doug were stranded somewhere in history until someone decided to start it up again, or they could just recast everyone like JJ Abrams has done with Star Trek.
Might I add to that list of plots for new episodes:
Amelia Earhart
Hiroshima
Mars before it died and humans migrated to Earth.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Great news about that fine looking book Harry, this is my favorite Allen show so that one's a must buy ASAP !

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelSloan /t/284240/time-tunnel-s1-2-good-buy/90#post_3951851
Mars before it died and humans migrated to Earth.

I love it.


Gary "on that note, the guys could have shown up with Abbott & Costello on their trip to Venus in 'A&C go to Mars' - oh the possibilities with that one" O.

 

[younger1968]

This is a great show, especially the pearl harbor or Alamo or Lincoln episodes. The historical ties are great! I am history buff and like it just for the historical ties. I do get a laugh of the fight scenes with James Darrien as his hear never seems to mess up!!

 

[Mark Collins]

Harry thanks for the FYI on the new Time Tunnel book. I received mine today from Amazon. The book looks great!! How in the world did you know about this book coming out? Must have for any Time Tunnel fan.