TIME TUNNEL! - Where Are You? (1 Viewer)

[Michael Alden]

Matt, I think I know the problem with your cover picture, compared to the one Fox did. It doesn't show Doug and Tony having any piercings or tattoos so it just won't appeal to the desired demographic of DVD buyers. Now if maybe you could photoshop in some backwards baseball caps, then maybe they'd like it.

 

[Mark_TS]

its funny-FOX uses both the likeness of Crane and Nelson , the Seaview AND the proper VOYAGE logo style, but they dont on TT-strange...


as forTT, Lee Merrywether was sure a hands-on "Get out of my way. boys-theres a capacitor that needs fixing!" type of gal-
Especailly when she rips the heart out of the console to jury-rig a Defibrolator(?) you know the gadget they use to restart a heart-where they yell "CLEAR!"
This was before womens lib...

 

[Doug Wallen]

Great news about this upcoming release. Thanks for the clarification concerning the unaired/unsold pilot.

What is this TIME TRAVELLERS movie. I honestly don't recall seeing or hearing about this. Who was in it and what was it about, if anyone knows.

 

[Harry-N]

TIME TRAVELERS was a '70s pilot made by Irwin Allen to once again attempt to do a series based on the theme of time travel. In this story - a 90 minute TV movie that aired as an ABC Movie Of The Week, a virulent and deadly disease breaks out around a New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration. The "cure" for this disease had already been developed by a doctor back in old Chicago, but his records were destroyed in the great fire. Two men, a doctor and a "chrononaut" are sent back to old Chicago to try and find the cure before it's lost forever.

The film starred Sam Groom, who played Jerry in THE TIME TUNNEL, and Tom Hallick as the two who get sent back. Richard Basehart plays the crusty old doctor back in Chicago.

While some of Irwin's computer consoles from the TIME TUNNEL are visible, there's no giant tunnel apparatus. Instead, our heroes walk through a doorway, and begin descending a staircase, only to rematerialize on the Chicago El stairs. How this "device" would have held up in any planned future episodes is anyone's guess.

This movie shouldn't be confused with a '60s film also called TIME TRAVELLERS.

Harry

 

[Greg_S_H]

Wow! I caught the part about the 2002 pilot, but I missed that another pilot movie is being included! This sounds like it's going to be a great package and quite a bargain! I even like the cover art. :b Hey, I don't mind a little uniformity in design.

 

[Harry-N]

I've seen theories that perhaps Irwin's other "under the sea" pilot, CITY BENEATH THE SEA might be included on one of the VOYAGE sets, since this TIME TRAVELERS inclusion sets that precedent.

Harry

 

[Doug Wallen]

Harry-N, thanks for the information on TIME TRAVELLERS. Don't know how I missed this as I am a fan of Mr Basehart. Sounds like a good movie.

 

[Harry-N]

It IS pretty good as a self-standing TV movie. As I said, I'm not sure how it would have played out as a series. Currently I have a crappy pasted-together version of it from two different airings. One was on local TV way back in the early '80s, and the other was from a more recent run on SciFi. The fellow who taped the SciFi version for me missed the first five minutes or so, but the picture quality and print quality was much better than my old '80s version. So one of my DVD-R shores was to combine the two into one continuous movie. The first few minutes are ugly, but at least it's all there.

Naturally, I welcome the inclusion of TIME TRAVELERS on the TIME TUNNEL DVDs.

Harry

 

[Jeff Willis]

From Bill Hunt, at "The Digital Bits" site. Haven't read this confirmed at TSoD yet but sound's like it'll be there any time.

 

[Harry-N]

(Potential spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen this show!)

I thought I'd do a detailed side-by-side comparison of the two different TIME TUNNEL pilots as presented on the VOLUME ONE DVD set. This would present a bit of a problem for most people, but being the dedicated fan I am, I actually bought two sets of this particular title (backup in case of future failures!), so I was able to put the "same" disc into two players at the same time - necessary since the two pilots are on opposite sides of the same disc. As I mentioned in the VOYAGE thread, my HDTV is capable of displaying two smaller side-by-side images at the same time, so by using two different DVD players, and two sets of the same DVDs, I could accomplish my task.

Many of the differences are blatantly obvious even without simultaneous comparisons, it was the more subtle ones I was looking for, and I found a few minor ones I hadn't noticed before. The first obvious difference comes in the placement of the opening title sequence. On the Unaired version, the title sequence precedes everything elsel on the aired version, we get a teaser followed by the theme and credits. Sharp listeners will notice that the theme on the Unaired version is a different mix/take of the familiar music.

The Unaired pilot has an extended scene in the teaser where Doug gets out of the car to greet the Senator in the desert. Then from the start of the episode credits, all the way through the main part of the Senator's tour, both versions synch up perfectly. A small change in the music swell as the Senator first views the Tunnel chamber is heard in the Unaired version - the one used in the aired version is much more dramatic and fitting with this impressive view.

A small bit of extra dialog is included in the Unaired pilot as Doug mentions both Ray and Ann's accomplishments and qualifications. There's also a slightly longer reaction shot on Doug in one of these conversations at the tunnel's opening in the Unaired pilot.

Things then proceed in synch up until Althea visits Tony in his holding cabin. There's a minor discrepancy at the commercial break spot, since the Unaired Pilot has no commercial break positions edited into it, so you hear the music score continue where these breaks would be. Tony asks Althea for the correct time and sets his wristwatch in the unaired Pilot.

Then again, things remain pretty well in synch up through the beginning of the the disaster. (There's a minor synching discrepancy with the hose-reel sequence's music.) In the Unaired Pilot, there are extended scenes of passengers running about in panic, an extra scene showing the lowering of the lifeboats, and the scene of Tony giving Althea his 1968 wristwatch as she's about to board the lifeboat.

There's one other extended scene back at the Project Tic-Toc complex in the Unaired version. It's where the Senator expresses his displeasure at watching people falling to their deaths and being helpless to do anything about it.

Once the two time travelers are frozen and transferred in time, things really diverge of course. The aired version places Tony and Doug in their next week's adventure aboard the flight to Mars, and the Unaired pilot sends them off in two different and separate little adventures.

The end credit sequence on the Unaired pilot is a bit longer to accomodate extra personnel who worked on the sequences not shown on the aired version. The theme is looped to accomodate the extra credit screens.

A word about the audio and video quality. The Unaired pilot has a sharper, more well defined image than the aired version, but the sound on the Unaired pilot suffers from some distortion in the louder passages, most notable in the opening theme.

My details about the two VOYAGE pilots can be found in that thread.

Harry

 

[Mark_TS]

edit

 

[Joe Kelly]

I am glad that at least 3 of the great classic Irwin Allen sci-fi shows from the 60's are finally being released on DVD. I have especially enjoyed THE TIME TUNNEL, looking forward to the Part #2 release of this terrific series on 6/6/06.
QUESTION: What are the chances of LAND OF THE GIANTS being released on DVD? And if so, will it be in the near future? I gotta confess, man I loved this show. When I was a young buck in the 60's, I thought it had a cool souped-up "Gulliver's Travels" feel to it (just as LOST IN SPACE paid tribute to the Swiss Family Robinson). Not to mention I had a bad crush on Deanna Lund, who played Valerie.

JOE

 

[Randy Korstick]

I'm with you Joe on "Land of the Giants" Its my 2nd favorite Irwin Allen show after VTTBOTS. You won't find much love for it in this thread though. Fox announced last year that Land, Voyage and Time Tunnel were all being remastered for DVD. My guess is because Time Tunnel is almost finished and Voyage still has 3 seasons to go, Fox may continue the 2 show releases with Land replacing Time Tunnel. I.E.: We had Time in January, Voyage in February, Time in June, probably Voyage in July. So Land may be in November and Voyage in December and then on into 2007.

 

[Harry-N]

I've tried, but I can't get into LAND OF THE GIANTS all that much. I appreciate it for what it is, but to me,

- 1. To me the cast never jelled. I appreciate the general similarities of character types to the LOST IN SPACE gang, but thought that overall LIS did these characters better.

- 2. The stories I've seen didn't inspire me in any way. It was always about getting trapped and rescued, or the "little people" needing something in the giants' world. Either way there was a lot of climbing, swinging, running and hiding.

- 3. The special effects were good for the time, but it got old pretty fast.

- 4. If I had to pick a favorite actor/character, it would have to be Heather Young. I found her more attractive in a Marianne vs. Ginger kind of way. But unfortunatley her character seemed under-used to me.

Things I did like about the show:

- 1. The Williams theme songs. I find both of them really appealing.

- 2. I liked the pilot and thought it could amount to something.

- 3. The guest stars from Allen's stable of familiar actors kept thing interesting.

Will I buy a future release? Possibly. It depends on what else is out there demanding my attention at the time.

Harry

 

[Joe Kelly]

Hey Randy, appreciate the info and hoping to see LAND OF THE GIANTS on DVD sometime soon.
Harry, I thought Heather Young was beautiful too in a girl-next-door kind of way, while Deanna Lund was a total bombshell. I believe the reason she was not as visible in the 2nd season is because she was pregnant. In a few episodes, they always filmed her with a giant rock or plant blocking her stomach, then she disappeared completely for part of the season (The other crew members always said stuff like "Betty's back at the ship", and sometimes they would show her briefly talking on the microphone).

JOE

 

[Harry-N]

Now that you mention Heather Young's pregnancy, I think I recall hearing about that before. Makes sense I suppose.

I think I'll probably be more excited about this one if it gets closer to reality and is as good looking as the TIME TUNNEL DVDs.

Harry

 

[phil*]

Is it a fait accompli that the transfers for both TT Vol.2
and VTTBOTS Vol.2 will be as pristine as Vol.1 for both DVD releases were? Or is this just wishful thinking?
Also,is there any significance to the fact that Time Tunnel Vol.2 will be released on 6/6/6 which is the mark of the devil? Perhaps something catastrophic will happen in the world that day and it will be up to our heroes,Tony & Doug to use the Tunnel to travel back through time to try and set things right in the world again...

 

[Harry-N]

I'm fairly certaing that Fox Home Video will want to maintain the quality of the first two series' volumes. We'll know in just about 62 days.

Harry

 

[Bob Hug]

I'd have to agree, especially considering that they are continuing to include some great extras on volume 2 of "The Time Tunnel." And I'd have to assume that wherever the masters used for volume 1 were stored, that the masters for volume 2 episodes were probably kept in the same place.

 

[Harry-N]

Just to play devil's advocate here, though, we can all point to the LOST IN SPACE sets, which decreased in quality as they were released. Seasons 1 and 2 were about on par with each other, 2 being in color, but season 3 started out bad and certainly didn't improve.

I certainly hope that's not the case with the one and only remaining TIME TUNNEL set, and I'll still continue to believe that these will be just as good.

We'll know for sure in two months.

Harry