Series Description:
Beginning Narration-
"Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time."
The Time Tunnel TV show was a 60 minute sci-fi series on ABC! While it may look antiquated by today's standards, it was one of television's first well-made sci-fi series with believeable scripts, great acting, and much better special effects than the "flying saucer on a string" stuff with which audiences had become familiar. A top secret U.S. Government program attempted to build a time machine. When a visiting Senator seemed about to cut off funds for the project, Professor Tony Newman jumped into the tunnel and found himself in the year 1912 on the Titanic just hours before it would sink! Professor Douglas Phillips followed him in a rescue attempt, but they both ended out trapped in time! Their team in the present was constantly trying to repair the time tunnel to bring them back, but to no avail. Each week thereafter, they would either find themselves at some major historical event or they might be battling aliens in the future.
The Time Tunnel is a 1966-1967 science fiction TV series produced by Irwin Allen who was also responsible for shows like Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Project Tic-Toc is a top secret U.S. government effort to build an experimental time machine known as "the Time Tunnel". Dr. Tony Newman (James Darren) turns on the Time Tunnel and heads off into the past before the time machine is completely ready in order to prove to the government it's worthy of continued funding. Scientist Dr. Doug Phillips (Robert Colbert) enters the Time Tunnel to save Tony, and both end up in 1912 aboard the Titanic. Both scientist wind up traveling from one explosive point in history to another even running into aliens, and beings from the far future.
The Time Tunnel Cast:
James Darren ........ Doctor Tony Newman
Robert Colbert ...... Doctor Douglas Phillips
Lee Meriwether ...... Doctor Ann MacGregor
Whit Bissell ........ Lieutenant General Heywood Kirk
John Zaremba ........ Doctor Raymond Swain
Wesley Lau .......... Master Sergeant Jiggs
Sam Groom ........... Jerry
The Time Tunnel Trivia:
After the first few minutes of the first episode, the supporting cast never worked with the stars again. While Drs. Newman and Phillips were traveling throughout the world and time, the rest of the cast were simply dealing with emergencies in the control room.
The Time Tunnel project was actually called "Project Tic-Toc", was buried beneath the arizona desert, and cost $7 Billion to build.Some interesting notes from the series.The series,in someway predicted the much used ''wormholes'' as seem in future tv series such as Star Trek,Sliders,Stargate and so forthe.I'm sure the show did discover the concept of a wormhole,but it is nice to know,that their happy accident of presenting a tunnelling effect is accordence to many physist thinking.
Tony and Doug always reverted back to the same clothes when they transfer, a green turtleneck sweater and a conservative Norfolk suit, which were magically cleaned and pressed before their passage to the next time location.You'd think Project Tick Tock would have provided it's time agents or temporal explorers with some sort of clothe that could alter shape or cast illustions.Holographic imagery wasn't then,but tv producers did understand aliens and alien technology that could cast illusions,so giving Doug and Tony thgis ability wasn't unknown,just unused.Either or have Doug and Tony show in various new time lines,wearring clothes from the previous adventures.They'd have keeping explaning this each week to the people in the new time,that they found themselves in.Only explaination,I can gather,is somehow the Time Tunnel switched whatever they were wearing at the time of temporal transfere back their original clothing again.Ofcourse,the reason,this was done,was so Irwin Allen would not have re-film Doug and Tony falling through the Time Tunnels temporal vortex each week.Better to switch clothing at the end of each episode,before the next week teaser,than refilm the two main stars as fall through the temporal wormhole.
There was an attempt to bring a new Time Tunnel TV show back to television in 2002. A pilot was produced but, unfortunately, was not sold to any network. The theme of this new series would have been slightly different that the original. Instead of aimlessly being tossed through time, the main characters would have gone to specific times in order to fix something that had "gone wrong". They would have returned triumphantly after each episode!
Lee Meriwether was "Miss America" in 1955. Contrary to popular belief, she did not play "Catwoman" on the "Batman (1966)" TV series! She portrayed "Catwoman" in the 1966 movie, also titled, "Batman". Lee is also a desendant of Meriwether Lewis, an explorer and Governor of the Louisiana Territory during the 1800s!
What a coincidence! Lee Meriwether's co-star "James Darren" was married to the Miss Denmark of 1958! Her name was Evy. Do you think they ever got together and talked about their pagent days?
Many of the props used on this series were also used on other Irwin Allen productions such as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)", "Lost In Space (1965)", "Batman (1966)", and "Land of the Giants (1968)". The majority of the control room set was composed of surplus NASA computers and other electronics.
The Time Tunnel TV show's special effects, sets and costumes were so elaborate that this was the most expensive show to produce in 1966!Though much of the series used stock footage from old movies,where film might fit in
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For the Living Colour album, see Time Tunnel (video).
The Time Tunnel
Format Science fiction
Created by Irwin Allen
Starring James Darren
Robert Colbert
Whit Bissell
John Zaremba
Lee Meriwether
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 30
Production
Running time approx. 52 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 9, 1966 – April 7, 1967
The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen, his third science fiction television series. The show's main theme music was Time Travel Adventure. The Time Tunnel was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran for one season of 30 episodes. Reruns currently air on AmericanLife TV Network and on Hulu. A pilot for a new series was produced in 2002, although it was not picked up.
The series
Summary
Project Tic-Toc is a top secret U.S. government effort to build an experimental time machine known as "the Time Tunnel". When the costs of the project approach those of the entire U.S. space program, a United States Senator Leroy Clark (Gary Merrill) launches an investigation of the project. The Senator thinks that the tunnel has cost too much money for too little reward. At his request the Senator is allowed to visit the project base and be given a tour. Once he reaches the central control room the Senator explains his complaints to the project heads. The Senator then says that he wishes to close down the project as a waste of time and money that has not worked.
Key Time Tunnel scientist, young physicist Dr. Tony Newman (James Darren) turns the machine on and sends himself back in time in an attempt to prove that the Time Tunnel project funds were not wasted. In so doing, Newman becomes "lost in time". The Time Tunnel top personnel can see through the Tunnel that Tony Newman is aboard the soon to sink Titanic. They can also see that he cannot escape before the sinking, and they cannot retrieve him.
In an attempt to rescue his younger friend, another key Tic-Toc scientist Dr. Doug Phillips (Robert Colbert) enters the Time Tunnel as well, carrying a newspaper describing the sinking to occur. Unconvinced, the captain of the Titanic threw the newspaper overboard.
However, the system was still being developed and tunnel operations was never able to bring them home. As the series progresses, the two time travelers are swung from one period in history to another, allowing episodes to be set in the past and future. Each episode begins with the following narration:
"Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time."
By luck (or lack thereof) the travelers, Tony and Doug, frequently found themselves thrown onto the precipice of major historical events: on board the Titanic before it hits the iceberg, in Pearl Harbor before the Japanese attack, on Krakatoa before it erupts, and so forth. They would try to warn people about the event, or try to prevent it from happening, while the Time Tunnel crew (led by two scientists and a military general), who once gaining a "fix" can view through the Tunnel the action taking place in the different time, would try to rescue the travelers before the historical calamity befell them too. Sometimes, when rescue was impossible at the time, the Time Tunnel scientists would often try to help Tony and Doug in other ways or, in some cases, communicate with them whenever possible. The final episode provides no resolution, as the series was initially scheduled to continue into a second season.
The Time Tunnel is a a sci-fi's classic of the television history. The episodes are all of interest, the adventures are magnificent, the stage is extraordinary, the performance is sober. But the are two negatives aspects: I show that the tunnel becomes closer and the actors must stoop on having begun or to go out, and jump sparks on having changed time; it would worth a change of color in the lighting of the hoops of the tunnel.The Time Tunnel rivaled Mr. Peabody for improbable history, and in the series' final 15 episodes, scientists Tony Newman (James Darrin) and Doug Phillips' (Robert Colbert) time travels take an increasingly fantastic turn, as witness their close encounters with aliens in "Visitors from Beyond the Stars," "The Kidnappers," "Raiders from Outer Space," and the final episode, "Town of Terror" (listen in these episodes for the music that shamelessly steals from Bernard Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still). Things even take a supernatural turn in "The Ghost of Nero." Tony and Doug's excellent adventures include meetings with such personages as Rudyard Kipling ("Night of the Long Knives"), "Billy the Kid," and, incredibly, Machiavelli, who has been transported to Gettysburg during the Civil War ("The Death Merchant"). They also meet up with such mythical characters as Robin Hood ("The Revenge of Robin Hood") and "Merlin the Magician." One of the series' more provocative episodes is "The Walls of Jericho," in which Tony and Doug join forces with Joshua. Observing from Project Tic-Toc's underground facility, Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether) expresses skepticism over the biblical story. "I'm a scientist," she states. "I don't permit myself to believe in miracles." Other memorable episodes include "Kill Two by Two," set on a Pacific Island during 1945 where Tony and Doug meet a disgraced Japanese soldier, and the episode featuring Robert Duvall as a saboteur who leads Tony and Doug on a "Chase Through Time."
Among this series' enduring charms are the obvious use of footage from theatrical films to clumsily boost production values, as well as some of the more juvenile dialogue. When they learn of one alien plot to attack earth, our heroes proclaim, "We can't let them do it." Time ran out on the Tunnel after only one season. Its cancellation left Tony and Doug to seemingly forever tumble "along the infinite corridors of time" en route to some "new fantastic.If Irwin Allen only produced a better series,Doug and Tony would not been lost in time and space forever.
Ofcourse,one of the series drawbacks was supposed to make an exciting one,was it's Fugitive gimmick-the concept of a character on the run week to week-chasing after something and often pursued by something.Here,nobody was being chased by anything,but the scientist at Project Tick Tock just couldn't get the dam Time Tunnel working properly.You'd think,they would built in failsafes into the tunnel to retreive visitors to the past and future.Something Star Treks combadge and communicator might have done the trick.
Also,you'd think Project Tick Tock would arm their Time Agents.They are after all,going into hostile places in time and space.Ok,you might argue,killing someone might alter time,but some sort of tv's beloved and overused phaser like hand weapon would usefull in this series.Origally,Star Trek was supposed to have some sort of knock out dart pistol for the star ship crew,but that replaced lasers,in the first pilot-the Cage and Phasers later in the Classic series.A laster Mission Impossible series,had Jim Phelps and the IMF used similar dart pistols to render people unconscieous,when needed.Doug and Tony could have had this,but no the producerd desided having our heroes get caught and look stupid was more exciting.
The series used a precursor to the Novikov self-consistency principle as its time travel model. Recorded history could not be altered because all attempts to do so were destined to fail. In other words, they will not change history because they haven't already changed it. However, sometimes Doug and Tony’s actions were essential to cause history to unfold as recorded. The lives of individual people could be influenced by the actions of the travelers or the Time Tunnel scientists. It was in someways a forerunners to later tv series like Quantum Leap, Stargate SG1, and Sliders, although one did not directly deal with time travel on a weekly basis, it employ time travel episodes and concepts.
Editors Note;
Doc Thompson
The base for Project Tic-Toc was huge and located underground in the Arizona desert, with no visible entry. The only way in was a very big secret panel that when it opened a car could quickly go through the entrance. Once the panel closed all any one could see was ordinary desert. Tic-Toc base was a futuristic series of complexes 800 floors deep and employing over 36,000 people ("12 thousand people in each of those complexes").This aspect of the series was never elaborated upon again.What did those 36,000 people do at the Tic Toc base.Surely many were soldier,incase of some sort of enemy invasion from another government or perhaps even through time.But who were the rest ? Scientist ?Historian ?Repair men ?All you got to see was alot of frantic MP's running around and few free fall elevators going up and down that main shaft. It was under the command of General Heywood Kirk (Whit Bissell). The center of the base was The Time Tunnel control room where the tunnel was located.Only once or twice did you get to see the size of the location.Other times,it looked alot smaller,than it was supposed to be.And the balcony,that was eliptical and hanging into lower levels,suddenly had a huge door at the end.Where did that come from I don't know.Project Tick Toc must built a bridge and doors at control platform,so people would fall over the edge.In charge of operating the Tunnel were Dr. Ann McGregor (Lee Meriwether) and Dr. Raymond Swain (John Zaremba). The date at which it was operating was stated as 1968, which was two years into the future for the initial TV audience.
Production
The production basis of the show was the large number of period dramas made by the 20th Century Fox film company. Even black-and-white shots of the Titanic sinking were tinted to fit them into this color production. Only a few actors were costumed for a given episode, interspersed with cuts of great masses of people similarly dressed from the original features. The plots were not noted for historical accuracy.
Certain episodes featured aliens who wore costumes and carried props originally created for other Irwin Allen television and movie productions. Prop sets were similarly re-used. Only in episodes 18, 24, 28, 29, and 30 did aliens appear; only the second and third of these were set in the far future.
"Rendezvous with Yesterday"
The Titanic-based premier episode, "Rendezvous with Yesterday" (based on the original series pilot[2]), was well written, and featured good production values, albeit with an error in that the Captain Smith of the Titanic was called "Malcolm" rather than "Edward" or "EJ". The names of the secondary officers are also fictitious and do not reflect the actual officers of the Titanic, though Walter Lord's best-selling book A Night to Remember had been available for nine years.
Editor's Note;
A short journey to SS Titantic.No DiCapprio here gals,but it does kind of remind of the movie.Stowaway aboard the ship meets a pretty girl.She get off and dosen't this via a Time Mechine.There is two different versions of this pilot-one with some additional footage of Tony giving the girl his wrist watch and Tony meeting Doug,in the Arizona Dessert,ten years before he meet him at Project Tic Tock and them Tony Newman meeting Doug of his time again,during the prehistory,ending both being chased by a dinosaur.Footage was used elsewhere within the series-you know Irwin Allen.He never wastes anything.
Doc Thompson.
The prop computer looked realistic because it was actually an array of memory modules from the Air Force's recently-decommissioned SAGE computer.
The soundtrack for The Time Tunnel was composed by John Williams (credited as "Johnny Williams"), who would go on to become one of film's most celebrated composers.
The series won an Emmy Award in 1967, for Individual Achievements in Cinematography. The award went to L.B. "Bill" Abbott, for his photographic special effects.[citation needed]
The Time Tunnel was not a commercial failure, as it received higher viewer ratings than many other shows of the network. It was picked up for the following year, and four episodes for season 2 were scripted (and falsely rumored to have been filmed) before an abrupt cancellation - after the "cast renewal party" had been held.
Recurring themes and cliches
Themes particularly characteristic of this show include:
The colorful, dynamic opening credits sequence.
A short "teaser" from next week's episode was shown at the end of each episode, as Tony and Doug arrived at their next destination. This device was later used in Quantum Leap.
The impressive introduction to the scale of the project (over 36,000 people and huge underground buildings) is seldom seen after the first episode.
At the end of every episode, Tony and Doug always magically reverted to the same cleaned, pressed clothes: a green turtleneck sweater and a pair of gray slacks for Tony, and a conservative Norfolk suit for Doug. Doug rarely takes off his tie (although he loosens it occasionally). Doug's clothes originally, were definitely meant for the 1912 Titanic, even though the suit changes and looks more contemporary later.
Often, when something is wrong with the main control panel, we see Dr. Swain (a man) pushing Dr. MacGregor (a woman) away from it so he can do her job himself.
In more than two out of every three episodes, Tony and Doug's random placement in time landed them right before an important historical event, and right where the event was about to occur (D-Day, the attack on Pearl Harbor, Custer's last stand, Krakatoa exploding, the Titanic sinking, Lincoln's attempted assassination in 1861 (not the 1865 one he finally died in, although that one is briefly glimpsed), Biblical events, etc.)
The tunnel frequently sent objects and people back to help Doug and Tony, and even brought other people from the past, but it never could retrieve Doug and Tony themselves.
Wild historical mishmashes, such as Niccolò Machiavelli getting involved in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Mixing history and mythology, such as Robin Hood being involved with the signing of the Magna Carta, and Merlin the Magician appearing in the tunnel forcing Tony and Doug to help a very Young Arthur, etc.
No matter what they did they never changed history.
Tony and Doug almost always landed somewhere prior to 1968. When they did travel to the future, it was, with two exceptions (both in 1978), hundreds of years into an unrecognizable future.
Everyone in a group of aliens or people from the future all dressed identically, often in aluminum foil.
Classic 1960s "action" sequences, such as hand-to-hand fighting in which the protagonists fall onto their backs and kick-flip their adversaries over them.[citation needed]
No matter when or where they materialized, they were almost always immediately attacked.
Doug and Tony knew they were being monitored by their colleagues, but rarely spoke to them or asked for help.
At the end of every episode, the tunnel transferred Doug and Tony to another dangerous, random place and time—usually for no obvious reason, since they were finally safe.
When people are hit on the head they get amnesia, always temporarily.
A guest character decides that he has nothing left in 1968 and agrees to enter the past to help Tony and Doug, knowing that he will spend the rest of his life there.
Implausible physics. For instance, in episode two ("One Way To The Moon"), Doug and Tony were fighting in space suits on the moon using earth-like punches and kicks, without feeling the moon's reduced gravity. Also, a loud explosion in a lunar fuel depot ignites a massive fire—impossible in the silent vacuum of the moon.
Everyone, everywhere, in every time period, spoke 20th-century American English. French and German characters have a stereotypical accent, while British, Greek or Afghani characters do not.
Unlike Quantum Leap, no overall explanation is given for the incredible odds of Doug and Tony continuously falling into historically remarkable times and places. Similarly, no explanation is given for the frequent computer glitches spontaneously showing scenes far from Doug and Tony yet related to the storyline, even though characters occasionally wonder aloud if the computer is trying to show them something.
Doc Thompson.
Episodes
While the episodes were first shown in 1966, the show's setting begins in 1968, two years ahead of when the episodes originally aired.[3]
Title Original Airdate Arrival Date Arrival Location Episode #
Rendezvous With Yesterday September 9, 1966 April 13, 1912 RMS Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean 1
The pilot episode. United States Senator Leroy Clark (Gary Merrill), who was once a paratrooper under General Kirk, arrives from Washington, D.C. to observe the status of Project Tic-Toc in Arizona. Clark threatens to cut off funding unless the time travel technology can be successfully demonstrated before he leaves the following day. Late that night and against orders, Dr. Anthony Newman powers up the time tunnel, enters, and is successfully sent back in time. He arrives on board the RMS Titanic on the day before the ship collides with an iceberg and sinks. Realizing what is going to happen, he tries to convince the captain of the impending disaster but the captain orders that he be locked in a cabin. Dr. Doug Phillips convinces the commanding general that he needs to be sent back to rescue Dr. Newman. After breaking Dr. Newman out of the cabin, they send an SOS message requesting immediate, emergency assistance, but they are both captured and locked back in the same cabin. After the iceberg is struck, Doug and Tony convince the captain to begin an evacuation.
Project Tic-Toc shifts the travellers to another time to keep them from dying in the icy waters. Tony arrives outside of Tic-Toc headquarters in 1958, where no one knows him. He is shifted to save him from being shot by security. Senator Clark promises that no action regarding funding of the Time Tunnel will be taken until Newman and Phillips are either safely returned or beyond all possible help. Tony and Doug are shown reunited in a compartment of a manned rocket that is about to launch.
One Way To The Moon September 16, 1966 1978 Spacecraft 2
The two time travellers arrive on a rocket ship. The craft, captained by a man named Kane (played by Larry Ward) and including astronauts Nazarro (Ben Cooper), Beard (James T. Callahan) and Harlow (Warren Stevens) is to be the first manned mission to Mars. The added weight of Doug and Tony, a combined 335 pounds (about 152 kilograms) leaves the ship without enough fuel to make the trip. The ship is also unable to communicate with Earth, and it is discovered that the radio was sabotaged. The captain decides to pick up extra fuel at a depot on the moon built for this mission.
On the moon, Beard kills Harlow in the depot and starts work on a time bomb in order to destroy the ship. Tony, and then Doug, suspect Beard of being the saboteur and confront him in the depot. Beard is knocked out, but the bomb is not found and Beard is killed when the depot explodes. The ship takes off and the time travellers are shifted.
Meanwhile, back at Project Tic-Toc, General Kirk receives a scientist named Dr. Brandon (Ross Elliott) and an admiral (Barry Kelley) from the Department of Space to help them. The admiral's aide, Ensign Beard, is shocked to find he is on board the craft in the future. Brandon is found to be a spy, kills the admiral, and tries to hide in the complex. Beard, unaware of his own future, kills his accomplice Brandon to escape suspicion.
It would have nice to both enemy agents killed at Project Tick Toc-creating a parallel Universe,but no one of them deside somehow to sneak plastic explosives and a pretty big chunk to blow up the control panel,so nobody at the Tunnel can see the future events upon the moon.Duhhh.Still despite some big oxigen explosion on the moon,destroying the moon suppy hut,pretty good considering what came later on.
Doc Thompson.
End Of The World September 23, 1966 May 21, 1910 A mining community 3
During the 1910 pass of Halley's Comet, the travellers arrive in a small town where the local mine experiences a cave-in, trapping a number of miners. Doug and Tony try to organize a rescue party, but all of the townspeople have left the town after a local professor named Ainsley (played by Gregory Morton) predicted the comet would destroy Earth that very day. Doug reviews Ainsley's calculations, but is unable to find a flaw with them. Doug then theorizes an invisible gravity field could be the reason why the comet would eventually go off course and miss the Earth. Using a radiometer and the university telescope, Doug and Ainsley discover such a field. The professor then tells the townspeople–who are waiting for their doom on a hillside–the comet will not hit, and they go back to town to rescue the trapped miners.
Meanwhile, back at Tic-Toc HQ, the Time Tunnel accidentally pulls the comet toward the complex. Ray shuts down the Tunnel to prevent the destruction of the Earth. The incident stops the heart of crew member excitable Jerry (Sam Groom), but the staff revives him by shocking him with electrical cords. Ray then muses that the project should be shut down if it could lead to the end of the world, but Ann and Kirk disagree.
The scene from episode one, in which Tony arrives outside of Tic-Toc headquarters in 1958, is then replayed in its entirety. Then he and Doug are shifted to another time.
What is never explained is what is drawing in Haley's comet-which unscienfically has tail,made of flame,not ice by the way.TV people seem to mistakenly though comets were made of flame or were some sort of big meteor.Either,that just dosen't make sense.Anyway,is the Time Tunnel drawing in the comet ?If so,then that there is a wormhole openning orbitting the earth .
Doc Thompson.
The Day The Sky Fell In September 30, 1966
December 6, 1941 Honolulu, Hawaii 4
The time travellers arrive inside the Japanese consulate in Honolulu the day before the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The young Anthony Newman was living in Honolulu at the time and had spent that night at his friend Billy Neal's house–which would be destroyed in the raid–but Dr. Newman has no memory of what happened. His father, a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, was never seen again after the attack. When the travellers try to warn Tony's father of the impending attack, they are not believed. The attack goes on schedule the following morning, but the travellers are able to persuade Billy's mother, Louise Neal (played by Susan Flannery), to take Billy and young Tony and flee to the mountains. Lt. Commander Newman is seriously injured at the communications center in a bomb blast while trying to warn the USS Enterprise to stay away from Pearl Harbor. Tony arrives and helps his father transmit the warning to the ship. The elder Newman then dies in his son's arms.
The Last Patrol October 7, 1966 January 6, 1815 near New Orleans, Louisiana 5
The time travelers arrive in Louisiana the day before the final battle of the War of 1812. They are taken prisoner by the British troops, court martialed as spies and sentenced to be shot at dawn. A British general, General Southall, played by Carroll O'Connor, is brought to the time tunnel so that the team can establish the location of their scientists. Recognizing his ancestor, Colonel Southall, and confessing that he does not have long to live anyway, General Southall insists on going back to order his ancestor, also played by Carroll O'Connor, to release the two scientists and to find out why he led his troops into the strong point of the opposing army, resulting in their deaths.
Note: This episode said that the battle occurred on January 7; it actually occurred on January 8.
Crack Of Doom October 14, 1966 August 27, 1883 Krakatoa in Maritime Southeast Asia 6
The time travelers arrive somewhere in Indonesia on the island of Krakatoa the day of its eruption in August, 1883 just in time to stop the sacrifice of a young Indonesian by his companions, who are there to serve as guides to Dr. Holland and his daughter. Dr. Holland is conducting a scientific investigation of the island following the loud vulcanic explosion a few months before. Karnosu, the chief guide, believes Tony and Doug are devils, who are causing the eruption, and he tries to sacrifice them to the fires to stop the eruption. Tony and Doug find that they have only a few hours to convince the scientists to leave the island before it is blown up with the biggest explosion in history. One problem they face is lack of information, Doug feels that they should go to Java for safety when they must go instead to Sumatra. Tony is retrieved just before Karnosu throws him into a lava pit, but when he gets to the Time Tunnel complex he finds all personnel frozen in a time warp. Tony finds the correct escape information written down by Dr. Swain. He takes it with him when he sends himself back to 1883. Karnosu is thwarted and falls into the lava pit. Doug and Tony finally persuade the scientists and their remaining guides to leave for Sumatra, but Doug and Tony must be left behind due to a lack of room in the canoe. Fortunately Tony left coordinates necessary to move the time travelers on a pad of paper in Dr. Swain's frozen hand when he was there during the time warp. They are shifted just in time to avoid the "big one."
Revenge Of The Gods October 21, 1966 April 23, 1184 BC Near Troy in Anatolia 7
The time travelers arrive near the city of Troy after the tenth year of the siege by the Achaeans (Mycenaean Greeks). Ulysses the Greek commander takes Tony and Doug to be gods from Olympus to the disgust of Sardis, one of Ulysses's commanders. Sardis is defeated by Tony in a sword fight and defects to the Trojans, whose Prince Paris uses him for a raid on Ulysses's camp. Doug is captured and tortured in Troy. Tony distinguishes himself in a battle against the Trojans with the help of Jiggs, the Time Tunnel chief of security, who is sent back in time by accident with modern weapons and amunition. Tony gets the privilege of joining the Greeks in the Trojan Horse for the capture and sack of Troy. Both Sardis and Paris are killed, and Queen Helen and Doug are rescued. (See Trojan War.)
Massacre October 28, 1966 June 23, 1876 Big Horn County, Montana 8
The time travelers arrive a few days before the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Dr. Newman is captured by the Indians and taken to their camp. Dr. Phillips is found by a young courier and goes with him to the camp of the 7th Cavalry. Dr. Phillips tries to convince Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer to rescue Dr. Newman, which Custer will not do. Failing that, Dr. Phillips tries to convince Custer that his regiment will be totally wiped out so he should not go to battle. Custer has him arrested to prevent him from telling this to the rest of the troops. Meanwhile, the Indians threaten to execute Dr. Newman, but for his bravery in facing this, he is adopted by Sitting Bull. Dr. Newman convinces Sitting Bull to not attack the soldiers but to talk peace. Dr. Newman is sent to convey the message of peace to Custer. Custer has Dr. Newman arrested, but Dr. Phillips has already escaped. Sitting Bull remains in his tent for the duration of the battle, waiting for Custer to come talk peace.
Devil's Island November 11, 1966 March 14, 1895 Devil's Island in South America 9
The time travelers arrive on the French penal colony of Devil's Island just as new prisoners arrive. They are mistaken for two of the prisoners who have escaped and are imprisoned in their stead. The other prisoners are not interested in escape until Captain Alfred Dreyfus arrives on the island. (See the Dreyfus Affair.)
Reign Of Terror November 18, 1966 October 8, 1793 Paris, France 10
The time travelers arrive in Paris, France in the middle of the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror. A shopkeeper offers to help them get out of the city if they will help him get to Marie Antoinette in an attempt to free her. Instead, they end up helping the Dauphin, Louis XVII, to escape. In this effort, they end up meeting a young artillery lieutenant by the name of Napoléon Bonaparte.
Note: This episode said that Marie Antoinette was executed shortly after noon on October 15; the execution actually took place on October 16.
Secret Weapon November 25, 1966 June 16, 1956 Southeastern Europe 11
A general in The Pentagon takes advantage of them arriving at the right time and location to send them on a spy mission. They are sent a message to meet a contact who will get them in to a secret, Soviet project, A-13. A-13 turns out to be a project very similar to Project Tic-Toc, but it is not quite functioning. Also, the chief scientist of that project is currently (in 1968) defecting to the United States. The two time travelers pose as scientists and return valuable information on the project and the defector.
The Death Trap December 2, 1966 February 21, 1861 Baltimore, Maryland 12
The two time travelers arrive in a barn while a meeting is occurring of people conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln before he has even begun his Presidency. These followers of John Brown are hoping to make it look like southern secessionists had done it, thereby sparking a war with the South and resulting in an end to slavery.
The Alamo December 9, 1966 March 6, 1836 The Alamo Mission 13
The two time travelers arrive just outside of the Alamo on the final day of the siege. Knowing that the defenders are doomed, they attempt to convince the commander to have the men abandon the fort or at least evacuate the wounded.
The Night Of The Long Knives December 16, 1966 mid May, 1886 Thar Desert in India 14
The two time travelers arrive in the Thar, where Dr. Phillips is immediately captured by Afghanistan rebels. Dr. Newman is shot and presumed dead, but is found by Rudyard Kipling and taken to the local British fort. Rebellion against the British occupiers is rising, and the local commander has been ordered to not attack the rebels. But one of the scientists has escaped and must convince the British to attack the rebels, freeing Dr. Phillips and stopping the Night Of The Long Knives, the signal to begin the general uprising. Dayton Lummis appeared as the character Gladstone.
Invasion December 23, 1966 June 4, 1944 Cherbourg, France 15
Two nights before the D-Day invasion of Europe, the two time travelers arrive in Cherbourg. The two are almost immediately taken captive by the local Gestapo. Dr. Phillips is taken to be brainwashed while Dr. Newman is allowed to escape so that he can be followed.
The Revenge Of Robin Hood December 30, 1966 June 14, 1215 King John's Castle in Runnymede, England 16
The Earl of Huntington, formerly Robin Hood, is petitioning King John to sign the Magna Carta, or the barons (who have raised armies) will overthrow the king. Dr. Phillips has arrived just outside of the throne room and overhears the end of the conversation. When King John orders his men to arrest the Earl of Huntington, Huntington puts up a valiant fight (with swordplay) but is apprehended when he runs into Dr. Phillips on his way out. They are questioned by the king as to where the barons are meeting, but when they don't give up the information, they are taken to the dungeon to be tortured for the information. Dr. Newman had arrived earlier in the dungeon, and when the time is right, he overcomes the guards and frees the two prisoners. The two time travelers escape first, but Huntington is recaptured on his way out. On their way to warn the barons, the two travelers are caught by the Merry Men. After escaping the king's men, rescuing the Earl of Huntington and kidnapping the king, the episode ends with King John reluctantly signing the Magna Carta.
Kill Two By Two January 6, 1967 February 17, 1945 Minami 17
The two time travelers arrive about 700 miles Southeast of Tokyo, Japan in the South Pacific on the island of Minami Iwo, one of two islands off the coast of Iwo Jima, two days before the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. They manage to overpower the observer left on the island to radio the position of the U.S. Navy ships but are captured themselves when a Lieutenant Nakamura surprises them. Instead of imprisoning them or killing them, he offers them an opportunity to capture or kill the Japanese soldiers. Nakamura gives them a one-hour head start but no weapons. Dr. Newman has a badly sprained ankle, so Dr. Phillips sneaks back and manages to take five grenades from the supply room. The two sides play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, but Lieutenant Nakamura seems strangely suicidal.
Visitors From Beyond The Stars January 13, 1967 1885 In space above Mullins, Arizona 18
The time travelers arrive on an alien spacecraft in space above the Americas. Two aliens soon appear, pull a gun, and force the travelers into an area that translates between their different languages. The aliens tell the two travelers that they are going to take all of the protein (food) from Earth and that there will be no life left when they leave, just as they have done with other planets. The aliens also tell them that there are three kinds of people: those who cooperate, those who can be made to cooperate and those whom they must kill. "Resistance is impossible," they say.
The aliens (from Alpha 1) land their ship at a farm near Mullins, Arizona (approximately 112°W 34°N). Their first objective is to take over the farm house, which they do. Their second objective is to take over the town, which they almost succeed in doing. Dr. Phillips has been made cooperative by the aliens. Dr. Newman has to get help from the sheriff and the bar owner in order for his plan to take the aliens' control unit away from them to succeed. Meanwhile, two of the same species of aliens (who no longer need to raid planets for food) appears in the Time Tunnel control room and demand that they prove that they didn't destroy the ship or face the destruction of the Earth. After they are shown an image of the ship leaving Earth safely, the aliens leave.
The Ghost Of Nero January 20, 1967 October 23, 1915 Italian Alps in Villa Galba, Northern Italy 19
The travelers arrive at the Italian Alps just outside of the Villa Galba during the Italian Campaign in World War I, and enter the cellar to avoid an artillery bombardment. A German advance team has just arrived at the villa. A German corporal is mysteriously stabbed to death while investigating a crypt marked Nero, which was exposed by a bomb. Fearing that the Germans will think they did it, the travellers hide and accidentally find a secret passage to the upper floors of the estate, where the owner, an Italian count named Galba–who is descended from Roman emperor Galba–offers to protect them from the Germans. When the Germans arrive at the room, Galba tells the Germans that the two travelers are neutral American guests of his. The German major orders them to stay in the room as prisoners while the Germans use the villa to observe the movements of Italian forces.
A German officer is possessed by the ghost of Nero and tries to kill the descendant of Galba, whom Nero blames as his assassin. The ghost also tries to kill the nobleman by possessing Tony. Project HQ utilizes the services of a paranormal researcher, who suggests zapping Tony with 1,000,000 volts of electricity for one milisecond through the Tunnel to force the ghost out. This nearly kills Tony, so HQ attempts to bring him back to the present. Nero is transported instead, and almost destroys HQ before the scientists can send him back. When the Italian army retakes the Villa, the ghost of Nero enters a young Italian Corporal by the name of Benito Mussolini, who vows to drive the Huns from his country and restore the glory of the Caesars. The travellers are transported to a new era at this point. Note: Germany wasn't at war with Italy in 1915.
The Walls Of Jericho January 27, 1967 1550 BC Near Jericho in Israel 20
The travelers arrive outside of the tent of Joshua during the night, two days before the end of the Israelite siege of Jericho. Joshua comes to believe they are who they say they are–time travellers–and sends them to spy inside the city. Doug and Tony save a young virgin from being sacrificed to the Levantine deity Chemosh by the high priest of Jericho. Doug is captured and sent to the dungeon to be tortured as an Israelite spy. Tony escapes into a house with an unlocked door. When the resident arrives, he calls her (Rahab) because, from the Biblical account, she is the one who sheltered the two Israelite spies. (Rahab is the sister of the almost-sacrificed virgin.)
After Tony rescues Doug from the dungeon, they take refuge on the roof of Rahab's house, but are betrayed by her servant lady, who desires the reward of 1,000 talents of silver. Doug escapes to tell Joshua the information that he seeks. Tony and Rahab are about to be stoned to death, but when the Israelites complete their march, blow their trumpets and shout, the walls of the city fall down as what appears to be a tornado traces the destruction. Ann, a skeptic, decides that since a tornado is a natural phenomenon, that the fall of the walls was not a supernatural event, while Ray is convinced it was supernatural (perhaps because tornadoes are not known to strike in the Holy Lands). The travellers are transported to a new era after telling Rahab she'll be safe.
Idol Of Death February 3, 1967 October 12, 1519 near Veracruz, Mexico 21
Hernán Cortés (played by Anthony Caruso) has captured the royal family of the Tlaxcalan people of Mexico just as his army of 3,000 Tlaxcalans begins its deadly rampage through Cholula during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. He is questioning them about the location of a golden mask, the symbol of ruling authority to these Indians. Doug and Tony arrive before the torture begins and are captured trying to save the royals. Once Cortés gets the information he wants, he kills the king and queen but keeps the timid royal heir alive for the moment. While Cortés is away watching the burning of his ships to prevent the rebellion of his troops, a member of the tribe frees the royal heir and the two travelers. The four of them try to retrieve the mask before the Spaniards gain it.
Project HQ, meanwhile, has enlisted the aid of a Mexican named Castillano to help pinpoint the travellers' location in Veracruz in order to bring the two scientists back. It turns out, however, that Castillano is more concerned with acquiring the mask for himself. He insists that the project team bring back the mask before their colleagues. When HQ transports the mask, Doug, Tony and the young chief are in the cave containing the mask, being forced by a Spanish captain to collect the gold gifted to the pagan god. The transport of the mask threatens to collapse the cave, so the team tries to send it back, but Castillano grabs the mask and threatens to shoot anyone in his way. A short gun battle breaks out in HQ and the mask is successfully sent back. The time disturbances, however, cause the cave to collapse onto the greedy captain. The young chief, now confident in his ability to lead his people, saves the mask while Doug and Tony are transported to a new era.
Billy The Kid February 10, 1967 April 23, 1881 Lincoln, New Mexico 22
The travelers arrive in Lincoln, territory of New Mexico, but a gang on horses chases them into the sheriff's office. The gang kills the deputy who is guarding Billy the Kid. The young outlaw plans to shoot the travellers, but Doug manages to shoot Billy. The scientists then escape out of town. Billy, whose belt buckle deflected the bullet, pursues them and catches them in an abandoned shack outside of town. Before Doug and Tony can be shot, Lt. General Heywood Kirk sends an audio transmission to the room stating that Billy is surrounded by law enforcement. The travellers then overpower Billy and tie him up. Tony goes back to town to get help from the sheriff, but is mistaken for the Kid and arrested. When sheriff Pat Garrett arrives back in town he verifies that Dr. Newman is not Billy the Kid, but the townspeople are convinced that he is and besiege the sheriff's office. Garrett sends out a deputy to start a cattle stampede to disrupt the lynch mob, allowing Garrett and Tony to escape the jail and return to the shack to arrest Billy. Billy, however, has been rescued by his gang. Doug evaded them and headed for town. When he arrives back in town, he finds Billy waiting for him. Billy demands a showdown in the streets, but Garrett and Doug arrive and save him. Garrett arrests Billy and his cohort, and the travellers are transported to a new era.
Pirates Of Deadman's Island February 17, 1967 April 9, 1805 Near the Barbary Coast of Africa 23
The travellers arrive somewhere in the Mediterranean on a pirate ship during the First Barbary War and are captured and taken to an island. Captain Beal, a Barbary pirate, orders that the strangers be shot. However, the nephew of the king of Spain, Armando, was also captured and pleads for the lives of the Americans, saying the travellers can watch over him until a ransom can be paid. Doug, Tony and the boy attempt several escapes, but are recaptured each time. Beal then decides to kill Doug and Tony for good, but the shelling from several U.S. Navy ships–commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur, who has arrived to defeat the pirates in the First Barbary War–puts an end to the pirates' plans. The pirates head for their ship to engage in battle. Tony is hit by a shot on the beach is and presumed dead. The pirates take Armando and Doug onto their ship during the battle. Tony recovers and swims out to the U. S. flagship.
The Time Tunnel personnel accidentally transfer Captain Beal back to HQ, and he causes a ruckus and kidnaps Ann. She persuades him to go back to his ship, where he is intentionally killed by one of his own crew. HQ then transfers Armando and Doug back to the island before the pirate ship is destroyed. They then transfer first Armando and then Doug to Captain Decatur's ship to save them from the shelling. Both Doug and Armando are seriously wounded, however, and it is feared they may both die. The newly retired Time Tunnel staff doctor, Dr. Benjamin Berkhart, insists on going back to save their lives and help the wounded American sailors. Dr. Berkhart arrives and treats Doug's shock with an injection and administers an anesthetic to Armando. Happy knowing he will live out the remainder of his life in this time period, Dr. Berkhart goes to look after the wounded sailors as the travellers are transported to a new era. Note: This is the last episode to have the opening narration.
Chase Through Time 24 February 1967 Various Dates Various Areas 24
The travellers arrive near the Grand Canyon, Arizona, in 1547. Meanwhile, back at HQ, Raul Niman (Robert Duvall) is a spy for an unspecified country or organization. Now that his mission is over, he has planted a nuclear bomb somewhere in the complex, and the timer has been placed in the Time Tunnel control room. In order to place the timer, he killed the person monitoring the time tunnel just before a security check. No other avenue of escape is left, so he jumps into the Time Tunnel. The Tunnel had been tuned to the location of Doug and Tony, so Niman arrives near the Grand Canyon at the same time. The two travellers are told that they must apprehend Niman and get him to tell them the location of the bomb. But the lock on the time period drifts and moves Niman to another time, so the two travellers are sent after him.
They arrive in the year 1,000,000 A.D., ten years after Niman has arrived. Niman is helping the inhabitants of this future age to build a time machine so that the 'masters' can spread their "ultimate human society"–actually a repressive, orderly society based on bee society–throughout different ages. The two travellers are pressed into service to help him build the time machine, but the Time Tunnel personnel are able to move them–along with Niman–before they can come to trouble. However, two people from that time are accidentally moved as well: Niman's guard Vokar (Lew Gallo) and a sympathetic female worker named Zee (Vitina Marcus). All five of them arrive in 1,000,000 B.C. and the chase continues until they all fall into a cell in a giant beehive. Niman is reminded that if the Time Tunnel is blown up, they will all be stuck here. Niman tells them where the timer is located and it is disabled. But the Time Tunnel can only transfer two people at a time; Doug and Tony are moved first, and then the two from the future are moved. The Tunnel can't do anymore moves at this time, so Niman is apparently left to face angry giant prehistoric bees.
The Death Merchant March 3, 1967 July 2, 1863 Adams County, Pennsylvania 25
The two travellers arrive in the middle of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, where Dr. Tony Newman is quickly killed by an artillery blast. Dr. Doug Phillips retreats from the battlefield with a small group of Union soldiers, whose commander tells him to put on a Union uniform to avoid getting shot. The Time Tunnel personnel send a shock through time to revive Tony and he is found by a small group of Confederate soldiers. Suffering from amnesia, he becomes convinced he is the lieutenant whom the Confederate soldiers were expecting and dons a Confederate uniform. The Union soldiers had intercepted the courier so they know that a man named Michaels, who has stolen some gunpowder from the Union army, is going to sell it to the Confederate army. Both sides are attempting to find Michaels first and get the gunpowder.
Mr. Michaels is actually the early-16th century philosopher Machiavelli (played by Malachi Throne), who has been moved to this period by the Tunnel due to similarities with Doug's "pattern". When the Confederates show up, Machiavelli is willing to give them the gunpowder because the war is much more interesting when the sides are evenly matched. Tony takes Doug prisoner. Tony, Doug and Machiavelli eventually make their way to the cave where the gunpowder is stored. Tony and Doug fight, which results in Tony regaining his identity after being knocked out by Doug. The Time Tunnel transfers Machiavelli back to his own time (January 3, 1519,) and then moves the two travellers to a new era.
Note: In this episode, Machiavelli says that he is working on his book, The Art of War. This should not be confused with the book by Sun Tzu, which bears the same title when translated into English.
Attack Of The Barbarians March 10, 1967 1287 East Asia 26
Tony and Doug–wearing their usual attire despite having left the previous era in soldiers' uniforms–arrive somewhere in Mongolia or Eastern China and are captured by Mongols and taken to the tent of Batu Khan (Arthur Batanides). Batu–a grandson of Genghis Khan–feels he is the rightful heir of Genghis, but he has to overcome Kublai Khan. Doug is thought to be dead, so Tony is tortured on the rack for information on the weaknesses of the nearby enemy fortress. Batu and most of his guards leave once Doug passes out. Tony wakes up and carries Doug away from the camp, where they are found by Marco Polo (John Saxon). The travellers seek safety in the fortress, where Tony falls in love with Princess Sarit (Vitina Marcus), the only daughter of Kublai Khan. Batu comes up with a plan to kidnap Sarit and marry her, thereby uniting the various Mongol tribes behind him in his quest.
Batu's men succeed in kidnapping Sarit, but she is freed by Doug and Tony. Batu's forces then launch a massive assault on the fortress. Doug and Tony are able to make artillery shells by mixing gunpowder and potassium nitrate in empty water jugs. General Kirk is able to send back igniters to make the bombs successful. The tide is turned in the battle, and the travellers are transported to a new era.
Merlin The Magician March 17, 1967 544 Cornwall, England 27
Merlin the magician appears in Time Tunnel HQ and freezes the personnel. He then brings the two travellers out of their "time limbo" (between destinations) back to the Time Tunnel control room in suspended animation so that he can instruct them to do what he asks, though they may die in the effort. He then sends them to Cornwall in the year 544. There, they fight off a band of Vikings and encounter a young man named Arthur Pendragon whose father has been killed by the Viking raiders. Merlin appears and orders the travellers to protect Arthur at all costs. A band of Vikings then attack and Doug is felled by a sword while Tony and Arthur are captured. Merlin prevents the Time Tunnel crew from moving the two travelers out of this time, going so far as to injure Dr. Raymond Swain with an electric shock.
When Doug awakes, he is in the castle of King Leodegrance of Cameliard and is being cared for by the king's daughter, Guinevere (Lisa Jak). Merlin heals Doug and has Guinevere fetch the doctor new clothes. Tony escapes from his bonds and frees Arthur, but they are later recaptured. Doug goes to look for weaknesses in the Viking-held castle, and he and Guinevere, who followed Doug, are captured as well. Guinevere is imprisoned in a room by the Viking chieftain Wogan (Vincent Beck). Arthur, Doug and Tony are imprisoned in a cell. Merlin frees them from their bonds, but tells them that they must free themselves from the locked room, since there is a limit to how much magic he can perform at a time. Doug and Tony blow the door of the cell off by improvising a pressure cooker from water, a pot and two thumbscrews. Doug gathers Leodegrance's troops and brings them back to fight, but Merlin says that the Vikings will not be frightened by these "gentlemen knights," so he changes their clothing to that of Vikings, which is the last way Merlin can help them in this venture. The knights storm the castle and drive the Vikings out while Tony kills Wogan in a sword fight. Arthur declares he will make Doug and Tony his first knights, but they are transferred by the Tunnel.
The Kidnappers March 24, 1967 8433 Planet orbiting Canopus 28
An alien time traveller from the future called OTT appears in the Time Tunnel control room and kidnaps Dr. Ann McGregor. After the kidnapping, a metal punch card is discovered that has a set of time and space coordinates. Time Tunnel HQ then directs Doug and Tony to those coordinates. HQ attempts to bring the three back together, but OTT arrives, stops the transfer, and steals their space-time converter.
Doug and Tony find out that the head of alien encyclopedic project (the Curator, played by Michael Ansara) wanted them–the first time travellers from Earth–and Ann was just the bait to get them. The project involves gaining all knowledge from important historical Earth figures for an in-depth database of Earth, but the process leaves the subjects in a permanent vegetative state. The Curator intends to do the same to Doug, Tony and Ann, and has administered sleeping pills to them in the guise of nutritional supplements. They didn't take them, however, and come to discover that the aliens have a significant vulnerability: they derive their energy directly from the light of their sun and so are inactive and vulnerable at night. Doug, Tony and Ann find the converter and successfully send her and the device back to the Time Tunnel Headquarters. Doug and Tony are then shifted to another era.
Note: This episode gives the distance to Canopus as 98 light years when it is actually 310 ± 20 light years.
Raiders From Outer Space March 31, 1967 November 2, 1883 Near Khartoum, Sudan 29
The two travelers arrive in the middle of the Battle of Khartoum between British and Arab forces in the Sudan. This chapter is loosely based on the campaign of General Gordon. In their efforts to hide from the battling armies, they encounter two aliens who take them prisoner. The alien leader (from Aristos) then contacts the Time Tunnel control center and tells them not to interfere. Rather than kill them, the aliens are ordered by their leader to bring the two travelers back to their base. After explaining their plan to conquer Earth, the aliens order Dr. Newman to be taken out in the desert and killed with a dehydration ray while Dr. Phillips will be put in a machine to extract all of his knowledge. But the alien ordered to kill Dr. Newman leaves when they are encountered by two British soldiers. Dr. Newman is thought to be an Arab spy, so he leads them to the alien base where one of the soldiers is killed. The Time Tunnel is also able to move Dr. Phillips out of the alien machine to where Dr. Newman is. But in response, the aliens send a bomb in to the Time Tunnel control room that will explode in sixty minutes unless all personnel are evacuated to the upper levels of the complex.
Unable to attack the aliens effectively with the resources they have on hand, the two travelers and the British soldier return to Khartoum. There, they acquire grenades and gunpowder. When they return to the alien base, they attack it successfully enough to enter, but have insufficient resources left to destroy it. However, just before the bomb explodes in the Time Tunnel control room, they use the Time Tunnel to transfer the bomb to the alien base thereby destroying it. Note:The Battle of Khartoum was fought in 1884-1885.
Town Of Terror April 7, 1967 September 10, 1978 Fictional town of Cliffport, Maine 30
The travellers arrive in a hotel cellar containing sophisticated equipment. When they get to the lobby of the hotel, the proprietor (played by Mabel Albertson) tells them that there is no cellar. When they attempt to show her, she immobilizes them. The Time Tunnel frees them from their immobilization by moving them. Doug and Tony flee and are pursued. A force field around the town prevents their escape, but two young people–Joan (Heather Young) and Pete–soon encounter them. The travellers find out that the townspeople have been immobilized and aliens are using the forms of the townspeople to appear as humans. The aliens are planning to transport all of the oxygen from Earth's atmosphere to their atmosphere-poor home planet of Andros. The aliens also start sucking oxygen out of the Time Tunnel headquarters, nearly asphyxiating the staff. Joan and Pete help the travellers procure dynamite, which are made into time bombs. Doug and Tony successfully destroy the alien control room, destroying their ability to remove Earth's oxygen, freeing the townspeople and saving Time Tunnel personnel. In the final shift of the series, Doug and Tony end up back on the Titanic, and a synopsis of that episode ("Rendezvous With Yesterday") is shown in clips.
[edit] Movies excerpted
Forbidden Planet
Titanic (1953)
Destination Moon
How Green Was My Valley
Khartoum
Pearl Harbor - Now It Can Be Shown
The Story of Ruth
The 300 Spartans
Prince Valiant
Taras Bulba
A Farewell to Arms
The Buccaneer
To Catch a Thief
The Day the Earth Stood Still
[edit] Novel versions
Prolific science fiction author Murray Leinster had published a 1964 Pyramid Books novel titled Time Tunnel with cover art somewhat similar to the television series' Tunnel.[4] The actual plots were quite different — the 1964 novel was set in France, the tunnel was built by a professor, and it only established a fixed connection between 1964 and Napoleonic era 1804.[5]
In any case, in 1967 Leinster wrote a loosely based novelization of the television series, entitled The Time Tunnel and also published by Pyramid. This was followed later in the year by TIMESLIP Time Tunnel Adventure #2. [1]
[edit] After the original run
In 1967, a feature length film, Aliens from Another Planet, was produced using a compilation of three of the TV episodes.[6]
Despite the series having only been on the air for one year, the number of websites and fan reminiscences concerning it attest to the series having made an impression on its audience.
The series was re-shown on American television in the early-mid 1990s, and it was re-shown on British television after the success of the 1997 Titanic movie due to the Titanic-related content of the first episode. It was also parodied by Alexei Sayle as Drunk in Time on British television. In the U.S., it can now be seen on the Encore Action cable network at various times.
The first 15 episodes were released on DVD in North America on January 24, 2006. The second volume, containing the final fifteen episodes, was released June 6, 2006. It also includes the unaired 2002 pilot and the made-for-TV film The Time Travelers as special features.
The Time Tunnel is being shown on the AmericanLife TV Network cable channel, as of September 2007.
The Time Tunnel was very similar to a later time-travel show, NBC's Voyagers! (1982-83). 1) Both shows ran for only one season, and had extremely high budgets. 2) In both shows, the time travellers would "fall" through an elaborate and colorful special-effect backdrop, and "land" in the targeted time period. (In this regard, The Time Tunnel was often more convincing; in Voyagers, it often seemed obvious that stuntmen were jumping from an off-camera ledge.) In each case, they would "fall" just softly enough to avoid major injuries. 3) The Time Tunnel ("Rendevous with Yesterday") and Voyagers! ("Voyagers of the Titanic") both used the Titanic as a plot setting. In the respective stories, both Tony Newman and Jeffrey Jones try desperately to warn of the coming disaster, and both of them fail. (In a somber warning against such tampering, Bogg conceded that "Sometimes, history's cruel. But it's going to happen, and we can't change that.") 4) Both shows usually dropped the characters into other major historical events. 5) Both shows always had the characters back in their original "period" costumes at the beginning of each episode. (Voyager Phineas Bogg stood out the most, being dressed as a 17th century pirate.) 6) Like Tony and Doug, Jeffrey Jones could never return to his own time (1982). However, Phineas Bogg presumably could (his "Omni" time machine being capable), though he never tried to do so.
Remakes
Two attempts were made to resurrect the show. One produced a pilot episode, but neither resulted an a new series.
2002 Remake
In 2002, Fox showed interest in remaking this series. A pilot was produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, Fox Television Studios and Regency Television in association with Irwin Allen Properties. Executive Producers were Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni. Sheila Allen was credited as one of the producers. It was not picked by Fox, in order to make room in its schedule for Joss Whedon's Firefly.
The new series had a much much darker, serious tone. Doug Phillips (David Conrad) is the main character, and Tony Newman is now Toni Newman, a female minor character. The unaired pilot episode is available on DVD from Fox Home Entertainment on The Time Tunnel: Volume Two, Disc Four.
In this remake, the (21st century) Time Tunnel is a Department of Energy research project into "hot fusion", which produces nearly limitless energy.Hollywood loves cold fusion-even no legetamate scientist as ever reproduced the experiment and believe it be either bad science or a hoax. When they initiated the reactor (an event not shown in the episode,because obviously the pilot had a budget of a buck 19 and couldn't afford such), it caused an unintended "time storm"freely ripped off from movies like the Philadelphia Experiment and Millenium.How original,you hack. For four hours—240 minutes—the time storm was uncontrollably whipping around in the past and changing history. The DOE was able to anchor one end of the storm by using the Tunnel like a lightning rod.
On their way into the tunnel complex, Flynn tells Doug Phillips, a former friend, that Phillips has been recruited because he has a detailed knowledge of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. The head of the Time Tunnel likens their team to Federal Emergency Management Agency ?Federal Emergency Management Agency-why them and not Area 51 or top secret time tunnel location in the Arizon dessert is beyond me, in that they don't send a team back for a rain storm but they do for hurricanes.The jo,who I can only assume,desided topical garbage was more important than common sense.Typical hack work scripting,like in Kevin Cosners Waterworld fiasco.Pull crap out of the news,but don't research time travel and such on the net.That might be smart.Just beat your typewriter and have 300 monkeys write for you. However, they can only go through time to where the other end of the storm is at the current moment, so they have a limited amount of time in which to fix what is wrong and to be retrieved by the Time Tunnel.
The team (Doug, Toni, Flynn, J.D. and Wix) must go back to WWII in 1944, to the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in Germany. They are to retrieve a person who was moved there by the time storm from 1546. During the mission, Doug Phillips meets his grandfather, a soldier who will be killed in this battle. Doug knows this, but cannot tell him and save his life because it would change history. Toni Newman tells him that she used to have three brothers and two sisters before the time storm accident, but is now an only child. They find out that the displaced person is a (very confused) medieval monk who is carrying bubonic plague. A number of the team have to pretend that they are Germans and switch uniforms. Two of them say they are Colonel Klink and (Sergeant) Schultz. Everyone who came in contact with the monk is given an antibiotic injection and the time ripples stop. But Flynn has been fatally stabbed, so he reveals that Phillips was a bitter man before the "240", but he now has a family. Flynn told Phillips this information to give him incentive to keep the timeline the way that it is.
Reality changes due to the time storm
There are some notable differences between the series world and the real world;
Traffic lights use red for "go" and green for "stop" while yellow retains its meaning.Were just lucky there wasn't two traffic light figures fighting each other like in Superman III.
There are 49 states in the USA. The title sequence shows New Jersey disappearing and the territory being divided between New York and Pennsylvania.
The title sequence shows the USSR winning the race to the moon as the American flag dissolves into the Soviet flag.
The New York Yankees are now the Boston Yankees.Whoopie.
[edit] 2006 Remake
The SciFi Channel (a US cable network) announced in 2005 that it was going to create a new pilot for its 2006/07 season. Allen's wife, Sheila, and two producers of the 2002 FOX remake (Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni) began work on the new pilot. John Turman (Hulk) wrote the script.[8] The series never materialized.It was good call,because the production was inferior to the original 1960's series.Project Tick Tock or the Time Tunnel location It looked as if was filmed in somebodies office.The Time Tunnel resemble left over props from a bad movie called 'Event Horrizon.''.I did not at all care one freaking bit about this new Doug Phillips,Toni Newman as a potential love interest for Doug,his wife problems,his kid or his fraking mac and cheese.The story was very dull,despite some over fanatic sci fi fan boys will tell you all over message boards on the net.This show one superior to old series-the existance of many alternate time travel and messing the past,by travelling into the past.Otherwise,the pilot was an abomination-inferior to anything Irwin Allen produced.Watch it on U-Tube and you'll as Blackadder would tell utter,utter crap.
Related material
Two movies made previously,The Time Travelers (1964 film) well as the 1967 remake Journey to the Center of Timeboth are somewhat similar to this series.Both employ time travellers hopeflesly lost in the infinate corridors of time,with no way to get back their own time period.Although the movie,made in early 1960's, The Time Machine (1960 film) might inspired this to be produced, the plot and characters are not similar enough to warrent similarities between the two. Ib Melchior, also has connection two these movies and Irwin Allen on other material, such as Lost in Space, is debaited in various publications and websites,of who created what first-Melchior or Allen.
[edit] References
^ The Time Tunnel: Volume One and The Time Tunnel: Volume Two DVD sets
^ Original, unaired pilot
^ The Time Tunnel: Volume Two and The Time Tunnel: Volume Two DVD sets
^ Time Tunnel cover art
^ Time Tunnel review
^ Aliens from Another Planet plot summary
^ a b The Time Tunnel: Volume Two, Disc Four, side B
^ IMDB link for 2007 series
[edit] External links
The Time Tunnel at the Internet Movie Database
The Time Tunnel at TV.com
Episode list
Episode list noting time travel model issues
Episode summaries emphasizing cliffhangers
The Irreverent Guide to The Time Tunnel funny episode reviews
Irwin Allen News Network (The Irwin Allen News Network's Time Tunnel site)
The Tunnel Photo Vault
Timeline of TIME TUNNEL episodes
The AN/FSQ-7 on TV and in the Movies
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Tunnel"
Categories: 1960s American television series | 1966 television series debuts | 1967 television series endings | American Broadcasting Company network shows | American science fiction television series | Television series by Fox Television Studios | Time travel devices | Time travel television series
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Like most Irwin Allen Productions, The Time Tunnel TV show was often critisized for its weak script dialog and plotlines but the fast-paced action and suspense was what made Irwin Allen shows successful! Writers were instructed to keep dialog short such as, "Hurry Up!", "Let's Go!", or "We have to get out of here!" They were also asked to include fist fight scenes wherever possible!
The first episode of the Time Tunnel TV show aired one day after the first episode of the original Star Trek TV Show, another of TV's first quality sci-fi series!
James Darren starred in many 1950's teenager films and became a teen idol! He also had a successfull singing career in the mid 60's. You may have seen him decades later as the holographic nightclub singer, "Vic Fontaine" on several "Star Trek Deep Space Nine (1993)" episodes! He also starred on the series "T.J. Hooker (1982)". He's also the Godfather of "Angela Jennifer Lambert" who is Nancy Sinatra's daughter and Frank Sinatra's granddaughter.
Whit Bissell was a huge star in the 1940s and 50s! He was in more that 200 movies and dozens of television series! He usually played the "Man In Charge" or a doctor. He's probably best known for his role as the evil scientist in the movie, "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" where he co-starred with Michael Landon.
Time Tunnel Opening Narrative:
"Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project - the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new, fantastic adventure somewhere along the infinite corridors of time!"
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Episodes List With Original Air Dates
The First And Only Season
1... Rendezvous With Yesterday (9/9/1966) - Tony and Doug find themselves on the Titanic's fatefull voyage!
2... One Way To The Moon (9/16/1966) - The guys appear in the future on a spaceship headed for Mars! The astronauts think they are spies and their extra weight puts the mission in danger!
3... End Of The World (9/23/1966) - In the year 1910, Tony finds himself in a cave-in along with 200 other miners. Meanwhile, Doug must convince the villagers that Halley's comet is not going to hit the Earth!
4... The Day The Sky Fell In (9/30/1966) - The guys materialize in the Japanese consulate in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 6, 1941 ... one day before the attack on Pearl Harbor! Can Tony find his father who is a Naval Commander at the time and convince him of what is about to happen?
5... The Last Patrol (10/7/1966) - Tony and Doug land right in the middle of the war of 1812!
6... Crack Of Doom (10/14/1966) - Can the guys convince a scientist on the island of Krakatoa in 1883 that the island's volcano is about to erupt, causing one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recorded history!
7... Revenge Of The Gods (10/21/1966) - Tony and Doug appear at the battle of Troy where Ulysses mistakes them for Gods.
8... Massacre (10/28/1966) - South Dakota ... June 24, 1876 ... the day before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, otherwise known as Custer's Last Stand! Can Tony stop the carnage by convincing Sitting Bull or will Doug be able to talk some sense into General Custer?
9... Devil's Island (11/11/1966) - The guys find themselves on "Devil's Island", home to the infamous prison of the same name where sentences are nearly always for life and the prisoners' treatment is extremely inhumane. They try to tell the authorities that they are stranded Americans, but when they can't prove it, they are considered escaped prisoners and locked up!
10. Reign Of Terror (11/18/1966) - It's Paris, 1793, and Doug has been arrested by the Committee of Public Safety that had recently taken control of the French government after the French revolution!
11. Secret Weapon (11/25/1966) - The guys arrive in Russia in 1956 and find that Russian scientists are working on their own Time Tunnel project!
12. The Death Trap (12/2/1966) - Doug is captured by the Pinkertons security service in 1861 when they decide that he is one of John Brown's followers during the abolitionist movement in the southern U.S.
13. The Alamo (12/9/1966) - It's March 6, 1836 and neither Tony nor Doug can convince Colonel Travis, the commander of the Alamo, that his forces are all doomed to death!
14. The Night Of The Long Knives (12/16/1966) - Doug is shot and taken prisoner by Afghani tribesmen, while Rudyard Kipling, the famous British short story author, rescues Tony in 1876 Afghanistan!
15. Invasion (12/23/1966) - June 4, 1944, just 2 days before allied troups with attack German forces at Normandy, an evil German scientist brainwashes Doug into believing that Tony killed his father. Then Doug goes after Tony!
16. The Revenge Of Robin Hood (12/30/1966)
17. Kill Two By Two (1/6/1967)
18. Visitors From Beyond The Stars (1/13/1967)
19. The Ghost Of Nero (1/20/1967)
20. The Walls Of Jericho (1/27/1967)
21. Idol Of Death (2/3/1967)
22. Billy The Kid (2/10/1967)
23. Pirates Of Dead Man's Island (2/17/1967)
24. Chase Through Time (2/24/1967)
25. The Death Merchant (3/3/1967)
26. Attack Of The Barbarians (3/10/1967)
27. Merlin The Magician (3/17/1967)
28. The Kidnappers (3/24/1967)
29. Raiders From Outer Space (3/31/1967)
30. Town Of Terror (4/7/1967) - In the "future" (1978), the guys uncover a plot by alien androids to steal Earth's oxygen!
Irwin Allen’s “Time Tunnel” series. Although Allen’s shows were often silly, they had some kick ass production design. When Herman gave me the beat sheet for the episode
Concept art for Irwin Allen’s Time Tunnel complex
. especially the time tunnel homage. something that comes as no surprise, actually… perhaps a little Krell influence thrown in?
I believe it was Robert Kinoshita who designed both Robbie and the histrionic, arm-flailing robot from “Lost in Space.”
LM… I knew you would know! I think Al Nozaki was the conceptual designer on Pal’s War of the World’s. Anybody? Am I wrong again? – Doug
Yeah, I thought this was one of the coolest concept eps. And The Time Tunnel baby! I used to love that show! Pretty much dug ALL IA shows.
Joseph Thompson
September 6, 2009 at 11:55 am
Time Tunnels-I like your concept.I actually think if somebody did that old right,as you did in illustration,Time Tunnel could as good as say Stargate series.Irwin Allen was like Mr.Kelso a talented theif-he did draw artistic talent from Forbidden Planet. The Time Tunnel complex was based on the Krell mechines. Other shots of the complex are dead on Forbidden Planet. The Robot from Lost In Space was based on Robbie, and in fact designed by the same artist.The Allen had great concepts with Lost In Space,Voyage to the Bottem of the Sea and Time Tunnel-often overlooked,but those concepts were as good Star Trek/Star Wars and Stargate.What Irwin Allen did get was the execution beyond the pilot.He didn’t character developement,story arches-rarely if ever done in 1960’s tv,done all the time theses days.I’ve working a similar concept myself called Project Time Stalkers,Inc.using elements from Time Tunnel,Stargate Sg1,Sliders,the Guardian of Forever-which make a neat Star Trek spinnof-if ever done for some years.You see some my notes on my blog,for that.
Joseph Thompson
Maveric Entertainment Group, Inc ™2009
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Much of Project Time Stalkers,Inc. is Time Tunnel re imagined and the Krell Machine of Forbidden Planet,with bits of the Fantastic Four, Challengers of the Unknown,Stargate Sg1, Quantum Leap,
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