The Time Tunnel (1966-1967) – Review

Irwin Allen may have been known as The Master of Disaster, giving the world such theatrical classics as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, but he was also a powerful force on television with such great shows as Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants, and today we will look back at his personal favourite, The Time Tunnel.

Irwin Allen’s The Time Tunnel centres on Project Tic-Toc, a top-secret U.S. government experiment designed to explore the feasibility of time travel, because, why not? The project is housed in a massive underground complex in Arizona, where scientists have constructed a sophisticated tunnel capable of sending individuals to any point in time. Dr. Tony Newman (James Darren) and Dr. Doug Phillips (Robert Colbert) are the show’s primary protagonists, two scientists who have been working on the project for years. They become a little upset when United States Senator Leroy Clark (Gary Merrill) shows up to determine if they will continue to be funded, as this facility has cost a large fortune but has shown no tangible results. This is the show’s inciting incident. Clark delivers the ultimatum that either they send someone through time and return him safely during his visit, or their funding will cease. The interesting thing here is, even though he may be a government stooge, he’s not completely wrong.

“Your budget on this thing could have ended world hunger.”

Tony volunteers but is turned down due to the danger, needless to say, our hot-headed hero isn’t going to let his life’s work be shut down so defies this decision and sends himself back in time, landing on the deck of the Titanic, and Doug quickly follows after in an attempt to rescue him. The series then follows their adventures as they are involuntarily hurled from one historical event to another, unable to control their destinations or return to their own time, with each episode placing Tony and Doug in a different era, where they encounter significant historical figures and events. From the sinking of the aforementioned Titanic to the Battle of the Alamo, the duo must navigate the dangers of the past while searching for a way back home. They are aided on their journey by those back in the Time Tunnel control room by base commander Lt. General Heywood Kirk (Whit Bissell), Dr. Raymond Swain (John Zaremba), a foremost expert in electronics, and Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether), an electrobiologist whose main job is determining the when and the where of their missing friends. Sadly, these guys are just as trapped as Doug and Tony, as we never see them out of this control room.

“Anyone up for karaoke tonight?”

The Time Tunnel explores several recurring themes, most notably the unpredictability and potential consequences of time travel – though it never tackles the grandfather paradox – and each episode serves as a self-contained narrative, with Tony and Doug’s struggle to survive and influence historical events at its core. What is a repeating theme is our two heroes never seem all that concerned with the dangers of messing with history, in the very first episode we have Tony ending up on the Titanic and almost immediately warns Captain Smith about the fate of his ship, urging him to change course, but as Tony is supposed to be this super genius it’s strange that he doesn’t consider the on-world history of 1,517 people who were supposed to die now living.

“Captain, have you heard of the Butterfly effect?”

The series often highlights the tension between scientific curiosity and ethical responsibility, as our heroes grapple with the moral implications of their interventions in the past. Lucky for the timeline, whenever Tony or Doug try and explain what horrible events are about to occur, whether it be the sinking of the Titanic or the attack on Pearl Habor, people will either simply not believe them or lock them up for being crazy. Sadly, this narrative crutch is used way too often and its repetitive nature gets old really fast. There are only so many times you can have Tony screaming “You don’t understand, you are all going to die. I know this because I’m from the future” before you start wanting to see him go down with the Titanic or be bombed by the Japanese.

Shoot him and save us all a lot of grief.

The show also delves into the idea of history as a living, mutable force, rather than a fixed and immutable sequence of events. This perspective allows for a dynamic storytelling approach, where historical accuracy is sometimes sacrificed for dramatic effect. The series’ episodic structure, with its “adventure-of-the-week” format, enabled the exploration of diverse historical periods and scenarios, keeping the narrative fresh and engaging. Another interesting aspect is the fact that Doug and Tony never actually change historical events so it’s possible that their excursions in time were always part of history and that their interactions with the past were destined to occur.

As to their encounters with aliens, who knows?

Stray Observations:

• We are told the Time Tunnel complex cost $7.5 billion in 1968 to build, which is equivalent in purchasing power to about $66 billion today. I can see why Senator Clark was a little concerned about the price.
• Despite the Time Tunnel being a top-secret project, hidden beneath desert sands, they bring in a surprising number of outsiders to help save Tony and Doug, from other governmental branches to even foreign dignitaries.
• Our time travellers tend to land somewhere significant, like on board the Titanic or at the Battle of Troy, their never somewhere boring and uneventful. Of course, if that were the case, it would be a pretty boring show.
• Doug and Tony are scientists and it is never stated that they’ve had any kind of special military training, yet throughout the series they prove to be well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and even out-duel numerous Trojan soldiers with swordplay.
• For the episode “One Way to the Moon” much of the spacewalking and moonwalking scenes are re-used footage from Destination Moon (1950).
• Tony and Doug travel to various lands and countries, many of which have different languages, yet everyone speaks English and the two travellers can understand them. Did the Time Tunnel provide them with a Universal Translator like in Star Trek?
• Actor Sam Groom, who plays Jerry one of the Time Tunnel technicians, would later star in Irwin Allen’s failed reboot of this series, Time Travelers in 1976.
• The elevators used in Tic Toc came from the Metaluna set seen in 1955’s This Island Earth and is another great example of Irwin Allen utilizing pre-existing sets and props.
• Every time they jump to a new time/location they end up back wearing their original clothes regardless of what they’d changed into, often with their new clothes simply vanishing like magic.

I’d love to have seen them show up at Custer’s Last Stand dressed like this.

Irwin Allen brought his penchant for grandiose and elaborate productions to The Time Tunnel and the show’s set design was particularly noteworthy, featuring the iconic tunnel itself—a marvel of mid-century science fiction aesthetics. The impressive set, with its spiralling lights and futuristic control room, became a visual hallmark of the series. The special effects were also ambitious for their time, utilizing a combination of practical effects, stock footage, and early chroma key technology to depict time travel and historical settings. The scenes of the Time Tunnel underground complex are similar to but not the same as those in 1956’s Forbidden Planet, representing one of the service columns in the giant Krell machine buried under the surface of Altair IV.

This is what 7.5 billion dollars will get you.

Sadly, despite getting decent ratings the show only lasted one season, with the cost of the series being the main reason behind its cancellation – at the time of its production from 1966 to 1967, this series was the most expensive television show ever produced by any studio and the Time Tunnel complex took up two huge soundstages at 20th Century Fox – and while the studio was willing to greenlight a second season they insisted that Allen would have to cut the budget by a third, something he was not willing to do. I’d say Irwin Allen was quite justified in his decision, as he utilized stock footage, costumes and sets from previous 20th Century Fox productions he was already saving the studio a bundle, so asking him to cut costs even further was pretty ridiculous.

How can you cancel a show that looks this cool?

Though The Time Tunnel was not a ratings juggernaut and faced stiff competition from other popular shows of the era, it has garnered a cult following over the years. The series’ imaginative premise and adventurous spirit have inspired numerous time travel narratives in television and film. Its influence can be seen in later series such as Doctor Who, Voyagers, Quantum Leap and Timeless, all of which explore the complexities and paradoxes of time travel in similar ways. Moreover, The Time Tunnel reflects the optimistic and adventurous spirit of the 1960s, a time when space exploration and scientific discovery captured the public’s imagination. The show’s emphasis on exploring the unknown and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge resonated with the contemporary zeitgeist.

“Can someone get Samuel Beckett on the phone?”

In conclusion, Irwin Allen’s The Time Tunnel remains a beloved and influential entry in the science fiction television canon, with its innovative concept, coupled with engaging storytelling and pioneering special effects, it has ensured its place in the pantheon of genre classics. And while it may have only lasted one season it pulled in an amazing collection of guest stars, with the likes of Michael Rennie, Carroll O’Connor, Ellen Burstyn, Mako and Tom Skerritt. Short-lived or not, The Time Tunnel’s legacy endures, reminding us of the timeless allure of time travel and the lasting quest to understand our past, present, and future.