"The Time Tunnel" One Way to the Moon (1966)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Harry Harris

Writers:

Irwin Allen (creator)
William Welch (writer)

TV Series:

"The Time Tunnel" (1966)

Original Air Date:

16 September 1966 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Doug and Tony escape death aboard the Titanic only to be hurled ten years into their future aboard a rocket bound for the moon...

Plot Keywords:

Titanic | Historical | Cult Favorite | Cult TV | 1910s

Cast

James Darren	...	Dr. Tony Newman
Robert Colbert	...	Dr. Doug Phillips
James T. Callahan	...	Navy Ensign Beard
Ben Cooper	...	Nazarro
Warren Stevens	...	Major 'Doc' Harlow, M.D.
Larry Ward	...	Col. Kane
Whit Bissell	...	Army Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk (as Whit Bissel)
John Zaremba	...	Dr. Raymond Swain
Lee Meriwether	...	Dr. Ann MacGregor
Wesley Lau	...	M / Sgt. Jiggs
Barry Kelley	...	Vice Admiral Killian
Ross Elliott	...	Dr. Brandon

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight scene between the saboteur and Tony at the supply outpost, their oxygen tanks change back and forth between real ones (cylindrical) and fake painted boxes between shots.

Quotes:

Astronaut Beard: [on Time Tunnel viewscreen] The question is, Colonel, can we make a soft lunar landing with two extra men on board? Now I don't think we can. Let's face it Colonel, if we don't get them off the ship, we're *all* gonna die.
Navy Ensign Beard: [in Time Tunnel control center] I can't believe it! Is that *me*?
Army Lt. Gen. Heywood Kirk: That's you, *ten years* from now.
Navy Ensign Beard: I don't believe I'm saying those things!
Dr. Raymond Swain: Well I'm afraid it's true. You just can't tell about the future.

The Teaser & Act One Just Manage To Save The Hour

Another poster has asked "What are the rules" to watching The Time Tunnel? The rules are to have fun and not think about it too much.

Granted, One Way To The Moon is a lesser episode, but, to me, The Time Tunnel is the 2nd or 3rd greatest TV series ever made, so for that reason the series can't do a bad episode, 28 of the 30 episodes have something of interest.

I first viewed this episode in February 1978 when I was just 12 years old, even at that age I could see that the general acting was w-a-y too stiff (mainly from the guest stars). The second problem is that after act one the episode goes one way to hell. But then, the teaser and act one are so well done, well, you can PARTLY forget the later sections of the tale.

Who could forget the teaser when we hear Dick Tufield's memorable narration for the first time ever, then we see our time travellers tumble inside a spacecraft. They panic. And the sight of them pounding on a hatch ("Let us out! Don't blow the hatch!") is indeed powerful.

Act one is loaded with imaginative William Welch lines, given to spacemen Warren Stevens and Larry Ward, about the time travellers coming from ten years in the past. Great stuff. This alone makes the whole hour worthwhile.

But what went wrong once act two begins? Spacewalking that is really Destination Moon (1950) stock footage. Fist fights on the moonbase. People running around the moon then running to the ship then running around the moon again.

Then again, an act four death scene in the Tunnel command centre is a shining moment in the acting range of Whit Bissell as General Kirk. Kirk appears on the scene, looks at the dead body, then gives a look to the killer, that one look from Bissell says a 1000 words. What an under-rated talent Mr Bissell was.

Warren Stevens was another great talent and this actor also appeared in THREE episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (a year one spy show, a year three alien show & a year four ghost show). As for Larry Ward, well, without wishing to give too much away, you might wish to watch The Outer Limits episode Counterweight (1964), guest starring Larry Ward.

This review is a bit on the negative side but my other Tunnel reviews on the IMDb are a lot more positive. See my reviews for Rendezvous With Yesterday, End Of The World, Crack Of Doom, Billy The Kid, Raiders From Outer Space, etc.