"Rendezvous with Yesterday"
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TTT episode
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1.1/1st of 30 aired
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First aired
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Written by
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Irwin Allen, Harold Jack Bloom, Shimon Wincelberg
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Directed by
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Previous episode
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none
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Next Episode
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Summary[]
U. S. Senator, Leroy Clark, arrives at Project Tic-Toc, a top-secret government complex buried deep beneath the Arizona desert. At the center of the base is an experiment Time Tunnel that has so far cost $7.5 billion (U. S.), without showing much by way of results. The Senator gives the team in charge an ultimatum: send a man into time and return him or the the project will be scrapped.
Desperate to save the project, one of the scientists, Dr Tony Newman, activates the Time Tunnel and runs into it. The young scientist is hurled backwards through time only to land on the deck of the RMS Titanic hours before it is to sink. Tony is unable to convince the Captain that his ship s doomed and the scientist is confined under guard to stop him from alarming the passengers with his wild tale.
Back at project Tic-Toc, Tony's colleagues are able to view his predicament on the Tunnel's massive view-screen. They know that he will go down with the ship unless they can help him. Dr Douglas Phillips, chief scientist on the project, decides that it is his responsibility to go back in time and rescue his friend.
Doug arrives on the Titanic and proceeds to free his friend. Together, the two scientists take over the radio room and wire for help before the disaster has occurred. History is not so easy to change, though, and the Captain and his men storm the room and cancel the S.O.S. messages. It is only later, when the ship strikes an iceberg, that the Captain starts to believe their incredible story. Sadly, it is too late, and the R.M.S. Titanic sinks beneath the waves.
The team at Project Tic-Toc watch with horror, and realize that they must attempt to move Doug and Tony to a new time and location. The Time Tunnel has yet to be perfected, though, and has very little control over the two scientists as they enter the swirling maze of past and future ages. Senator Clark tells the team that no decision will be made regarding the project's fate until the two men are returned safely home, but, for now, Doug Phillips and Tony Newman are now hopelessly lost in time.
Background information[]
- Although there appears to be nothing on the surface (there are no visible buildings to be seen when approaching the area), Project Tic-Toc actually runs several hundred stories deep and employs 12,000 people.
- Whenever someone enters the Time Tunnel to be sent to another time period and place, they first pass through a radiation bath.
- It is revealed that the Time Tunnel is not perfected, so it is unknown where any individuals could end up in time if they enter it.
- In case of an emergency, whoever has been sent to another place can be “frozen” in time for a few seconds before being sent to another time and location. However, if they are left frozen for more than just a few seconds they will die.
- Tic-Toc personnel have access to a history computer from which they can obtain information in order to help out Tony and Doug. As the series progresses, they will also call in experts to help.
- At the end of every episode, Newman and Phillips are transported to another place and time; in this case, at the end of this episode, they are sent forward into the future, on board a space ship that is about to lift off for places unknown.
Cast[]
- James Darren as Doctor Tony Newman
- Robert Colbert as Doctor Doug Phillips
- Michael Rennie as Captain Malcolm Smith
- Susan Hampshire as Althea Hall
- Gary Merrill as Senator Leroy Clark
- Lee Meriwether as Doctor Ann MacGregor
- Wesley Lau as Master Sgt. Jiggs
- John Zaremba as Doctor Raymond Swain
- Whit Bissell as Lt. General Heywood Kirk
- Don Knight as Grainger
Links[]
The episode can be viewed at Hulu.com at The Time Tunnel channel