The Time Tunnel: Season One: Volume One DVD Set Review

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Title: The Time Tunnel: Season One: Volume One

Region: One

Genre: Sci-Fi TV Series

Episodes Disc One: “Rendezvous With Yesterday”, “One Way To The Moon”, “End Of The World”

Episodes Disc Two: “The Day The Sky Fell In”, “The Last Patrol”, “Crack Of Doom”, “Revenge Of The Gods”

Episodes Disc Three: “Massacre”, “Devil’s Island”, “Reign Of Terror”, “Secret Weapon”

Episodes Disc Four: “The Death Trap”, “The Alamo”, “Night Of The Long Knives”, “Invasion”

Stars: James Darren and Robert Colbert

Guest Stars: Lee Meriwether, Whit Bissell, Susan Hampshire, Gary Merrill, Michael Ansara, Malachi Throne, and Michael Rennie

Created And Produced By: Irwin Allen

Feature length: Approximately 51 minutes Per Episode/765 minutes

Extras: Unaired Pilot Episode – The Original Version Of “Rendezvous With Yesterday” With Additional Scenes And An Alternate Ending, Irwin Allen’s Behind-The-Scenes “Home Movies”, Promotional TV And Radio Spots”, Visual Effects Camera Test, Concept Art Still Gallery, Production Still Gallery, Merchandise Still Gallery, Comic Book Still Gallery

Languages: English, French, and Spanish Language Two-Channel Monaural Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Two 2-Disc Slim Keep Cases Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase

Chapter Stops: 12 Per Episode

Sound: Two-Channel Monaural Sound

Year of Television Broadcast: 1966/DVD Release: 2006

Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

“The Time Tunnel” is one of the Irwin Allen sci-fi TV series that was so before my time that I never even got to see syndicated reruns on TV when I was growing up. Actually regardless if I was born in the late 1960s or not, I think it’s safe to assume that all of the TV shows from the 1960s are before my time since most of them I did not consciously watch on pre-cable 1970s TV back when there was actually something outside of news programs, court shows, and talk shows that aired on free broadcast television. I remember watching reruns of “Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea” and “Lost In Space,” but “The Time Tunnel” was one show I only knew from TV shows about sci-fi television that crop up every decade or so. Most of the time when I think of classic sci-fi television from the 1960s, I either think of Rod Serling or Gene Roddenberry because “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek” have simply captured the imaginations of generations of viewers in ways that very few programs ever achieved. In the 1970s there was “Space 1999,” which sort of filled the gap in the post “2001: A Space Odyssey” and pre “Star Wars” era and then the original “Battlestar Galactica” as well as the numerous late 70s space operas that dominated the genre on television just after “Star Wars” to about 1981. Television seems to run in cycles when it comes to sci-fi. What works in one decade may not work in another and so it is fitting in my opinion to look back upon the work of Irwin Allen because in many ways I feel his contribution to genre television has been overlooked.

Irwin Allen strikes me like a real “high concept” kind of producer who would come up with these ideas and develop them with certain post 1950s cold war sci-fi sensibility. There really wasn’t any sort of “Prime Directive” as in “Star Trek” or the authoritative voice of Rod Serling to drive home the lesson of the week through “The Twilight Zone.” Irwin Allen strikes me like that movie mogul image of a guy who suddenly gets an idea and exclaims it in such a way that he grabs everyone’s imagination and then no one questions his creative impulse, they just follow it. This was good in the case of all of his shows because he really offered intriguing premises like a family “Lost In Space” with a saboteur among the crew or the exploration of the sea with a futuristic submarine. His shows were essentially about adventure, but certain issues related to the consequences of certain actions are not explored. The shows feature cheesy monsters at times as well as stock footage galore and yet there is something innocent to them that makes them endearing. Perhaps they do not hold up as well to the test of time as other programs, but there is an obvious interest in Allen’s work otherwise we would not see “Lost In Space” make the leap to the big screen or see “The Time Tunnel”, “Lost In Space” and soon “Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea” on DVD. I think Allen’s work and contributions to genre television and feature films are worthy revisiting and appreciation for all collectively his body of work has given us.

At a secret underground facility the government has been exploring time travel through the use of a device called the time tunnel. When a visiting Senator balks at the idea of financing the costly project without proof, one of the scientists on the project impetuously steps into the time tunnel and finds himself aboard the R.M.S. Titanic. Although he can be monitored, there is little that can be done to help him without taking the chance on sending another project member back in time and then watch as the two go from the past to the future hoping each trip will be the one that gets them home. The storylines are intriguing and sometimes there are a few surprises mixed in too. Guest stars include Michael Rennie (The Day The Earth Stood Still), “Gary Merrill” (Mysterious Island), Lee Meriwether (Batman: The Movie), Michael Ansara (Star Trek: TOS “The Day Of The Dove”), and Malachi Throne (Star Trek: TOS “The Menagerie”). John Williams score seems somewhat reminiscent of Bernard Hermann’s work.

All 15 episodes included in the set are presented in their original (1.33:1) television broadcast aspect ratio and look reasonably good considering the source materials appear to have a bit of grain and at one point I noticed what appeared to be a line that crossed the tip of screen, which looked as though these discs were struck from network master tapes rather than film. Clear English, French, and Spanish Language Two-Channel Monaural Sound are encoded onto each disc along with English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as Spanish Language Subtitles. The four discs are double sided and housed within two slim keep cases within a glossy cardboard slipcase.

There are some interesting extra value materials included in this set as well that include the original unaired pilot (: 55), which in some ways I liked better than the series premiere episode. It is largely the same, but there are a few clips not seen in the premiere episode that demonstrate the series possibilities and overall the tone seems a bit darker and serious too. There are 16 silent behind-the-scenes clips that can also be viewed via the “Play All” feature (1:08) that gives a glimpse at Irwin Allen and the crew making the pilot. Disc three features the Network Promotional Spot ABC used to announce the sponsors responsible for that evening’s programming (: 39) as well as three network trailers that run just over a minute each and a 32-second TV spot and a syndicated TV promo too (1:01). The radio spots, which run between 11 and 28 seconds each feature series star James Darren’s voice, but seem unintentionally funny because Darren’s delivery is so dry. Some silent effects footage on disc four (1:49) and concept art stills production stills, merchandise stills, and comic book still galleries wrap up the bonus features included within the DVD set.

The menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. “The Time Tunnel: Season One: Volume One” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

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