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The Time Tunnel is a science fiction television show that aired between 1966-1967. "The Time Tunnel" was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran for a single season of 30 episodes.

Cast[]

Titanic Tony

Dr. Tony Newman

MEM Doug 2

Dr. Doug Phillips

General Kirk

Lt. General Heywood 'Woody' Kirk

Ann MacGregor

Dr. Ann MacGregor

Dr

Dr. Ray Swain

Premise[]

Project Tic-Toc is a top-secret U.S. government effort to build an experimental time machine, known as "The Time Tunnel" due to its appearance as a cylindrical hallway. The base for Project Tic-Toc is a huge, hidden underground complex in Arizona, 800 floors deep and employing more than 12,000 specialized personnel. The directors of the project are Dr. Douglas Phillips (Robert Colbert), Dr. Anthony Newman (James Darren), and Lt. General Heywood Kirk (Whit Bissell). The specialists assisting them are Dr. Raymond Swain (John Zaremba), a foremost expert in electronics, and Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether), an electrobiologist supervising the unit that determines how much force and heat a time traveler is able to withstand. The series is set in 1968, two years into the future of the actual broadcast season, 1966-67.

Project Tic-Toc is in its tenth year when United States Senator Leroy Clark (Gary Merrill) comes to investigate to determine whether the project, which has cost $7.5 billion (equivalent to $55 billion in 2019), is worth continuing. Senator Clark feels the project is a waste of government funds. When speaking to Phillips, Kirk, and Newman in front of the Time Tunnel, he delivers an ultimatum: either they send someone into time and return him during the course of his visit or their funding will cease. Tony volunteers for this endeavor, but he is turned down by project director Doug Phillips. Defying this decision, Tony sends himself into time. Doug follows shortly after to rescue him, but they both continue to be lost in time. Senator Clark returns to Washington with the promise that funding will not be cut off to the project, leaving General Kirk in charge.

The stage is set for the progress of the series as Tony and Doug are now "switched" from one period in history to another, allowing episodes to be set in the past and future. Episodes 2–23 begin with the following narration (voiced by Dick Tufeld): "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."

Tony and Doug become participants in past events such as the sinking of the Titanic, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the eruption of Krakatoa, Custer's Last Stand, and the Battle of the Alamo among others. General Kirk, Ray, and Ann in the control room are able to locate them in time and space, observe them, occasionally communicate with them through voice contact, and send help. When the series was abruptly cancelled in the summer of 1967 by ABC, they had not filmed an episode in which Tony and Doug are safely returned to the Time Tunnel complex.

About the Show[]

The adventures of scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips, lost in the vortex of time during an experiment to prove the effectiveness of the Time Tunnel. Both men are bounced from one era to the next as the personnel of the Tunnel keep them alive while they try to bring them home.

Episodes[]

Title Episode Original Airdate
Rendezvous with Yesterday 01x01 September 9, 1966
One Way to the Moon 01x02 September 16, 1966
End of the World 01x03 September 23, 1966
The Day the Sky Fell In 01x04 September 30, 1966
The Last Patrol 01x05 October 7, 1966
Crack of Doom 01x06 October 14, 1966
Revenge of the Gods 01x07 October 21, 1966
Massacre 01x08 October 28, 1966
Devil's Island 01x09 November 11, 1966
Reign of Terror 01x10 November 18, 1966
Secret Weapon 01x11 November 25, 1966
The Death Trap 01x12 December 2, 1966
The Alamo 01x13 December 9, 1966
Night of the Long Knives 01x14 December 16, 1966
Invasion 01x15 December 23, 1966
The Revenge of Robin Hood 01x16 December 30, 1966
Kill Two by Two 01x17 January 6, 1967
Visitors from Beyond the Stars 01x18 January 13, 1967
The Ghost of Nero 01x19 January 20, 1967
The Walls of Jericho 01x20 January 27, 1967
Idol of Death 01x21 February 3, 1967
Billy the Kid 01x22 February 10, 1967
Pirates of Deadman's Island 01x23 February 17, 1967
Chase Through Time 01x24 February 24, 1967
The Death Merchant 01x25 March 3, 1967
Attack of the Barbarians 01x26 March 10, 1967
Merlin the Magician 01x27 March 17, 1967
The Kidnappers 01x28 March 24, 1967
Raiders from Outer Space 01x29 March 31, 1967
Town of Terror 01x30 April 7, 1967

DVD releases[]

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 2006 in two volumes. Volume Two includes the unaired 2002 pilot and the made-for-TV film The Time Travelers as special features. The DVD box sets include nearly all full-length, uncut and unedited original network prints, but one episode, "Chase Through Time", was edited.

In Region 2, Revelation Films released the entire series on DVD in the UK in one complete series box set.

In Region 4, Madman Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Australia on August 20, 2014.

Cartoonito in the UK started repeating the series on Monday 2nd January 2012.

External links[]


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