The Time Tunnel (1966–1967)

Scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips are the young heads of Project Tic-Toc, a multi-billion dollar government installation buried beneath the desert. They have invented a Time Tunnel, ... See full summary »

Creator:

Irwin Allen

Stars:

James Darren, Robert Colbert, Whit Bissell

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
James Darren	...	Dr. Tony Newman (30 episodes, 1966-1967)
Robert Colbert	...	Dr. Doug Phillips (30 episodes, 1966-1967)
Whit Bissell	...	Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk (30 episodes, 1966-1967)
John Zaremba	...	Dr. Raymond Swain (30 episodes, 1966-1967)
Lee Meriwether	...	Dr. Ann MacGregor (30 episodes, 1966-1967)

Storyline

Scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips are the young heads of Project Tic-Toc, a multi-billion dollar government installation buried beneath the desert. They have invented a Time Tunnel, which will allow people to visit anywhere in time and space. While testing the tunnel for an impatient senator, Newman and Phillips became trapped in time, and each week coincidentally found themselves at the site of an important historical event, be it the Siege of Troy, the sinking of the Titanic or an assassination attempt on President Lincoln. Sometimes they traveled into the future, and battled alien invaders. Ann MacGregor, Gen. Kirk and Dr. Swain are the scientists trying to fix the malfunctioning Time Tunnel and bring Doug and Tony back to the present (1968).

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Plot Keywords:

titanic | lost in time | historical fiction | cult tv | alien invasion | 

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au coeur du temps

Filming Locations:

Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 20th Century Fox Television, Irwin Allen Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (30 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Whit Bissell, who played General Kirk, was also in two adaptations of the H.G. Wells novel which popularised time machines: The Time Machine and The Time Machine.

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Quotes

Announcer: [opening narration for most episodes] 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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Connections

Referenced in Boom! Hollywood's Greatest Disaster Movies (2000)

User Reviews

Kind of fun, but...

We had to watch "Time Tunnel" every Friday evening back in the heyday of 1960s-style TV sci-fi. And this show fit right in. A nice blend of storytelling, fantasy, and early techno-gadgetry.

Much of the appeal of time travel stories relates to, surprisingly, familiarity. We've learned (or at least used to learn) in school about the Trojan War, the French Revolution, the Titanic, Billy the Kid, etc. This show re-lived those tales with a modern-day twist. What would two modern-era men do in these historical events? Would they, could they, effect changes? Should they? The shows depicting historical events were best. When it tried some standard-fare sci-fi things, like trips into the future or outer space, the stories kind of plodded along and floundered.

But...some suspension of disbelief is a must if you watch this show. First, why did the time travellers have to end up in every episode in the middle of some dangerous, terrifying, world-shaking event? Why did they never appear in my quiet backyard back in the 1950s in suburban New Jersey, or out on a farm in Kokomo, Indiana? They would have saved themselves a lot of wear and tear. Oh, but, then we wouldn't have much of a show, right? Ah. Somehow, the stars always managed to get cleaned up and a set of fresh clothes just in time to make their next time leap, no matter how badly tattered and torn they were from their current misadventure. Pretty neat, that. I wish I had one of those when I wake up at 6 a.m. But, hey, if you can make a time machine, its probably no big deal to throw in an instant clothes changer and time traveller touch-up device. Lets not be square, play along with the gag and we'll enjoy the show more.

You'll recognize many of the cast. James Darren of course was the teenage heartthrob of the early '60s as Gidget's boyfriend. Sci-fi stalwarts Whit Bissel and John Zaremba reprise familiar characters. And Lee Meriwether adds some nice eye candy as the comely and brainy project scientist.

For its time, the Tunnel featured some nifty gadgets, although some of them were borrowed for/from and used in contemporary shows like Batman and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Those ancient mainframe-style computer banks look awfully familiar from different shows. But, hey, this was the '60s, and those were pretty modern back then. The Tunnel itself was quite striking, appearing to fade off into infinity when activated thanks to the magic of matte art and decent camera work. I've heard that the show's producers originally tried for a "time vortex" effect, showing clips of stock film footage from different eras speeding by the viewer as the time travelers made another leap in time. But when they tried it the effect looked more like a blurry version of brown pea soup. So they opted for the pop-art Tunnel, with very nice results.

Overall, a good sci fi effort from the mid '60s, for those who remember such a time fondly.