The Time Tunnel

In 2006, an experiment of the Department of Energy in hot fusion to produce energy releases a storm in time along 240 minutes, changing history. Only the personnel in the core of the laboratory know the true story and now they need to fix points in the history that have been punctually changed. The bureaucrat and former Marine Doug Phillips (David Conrad) is a family man that is recruited by his friend Flynn (Kavan Smith) to join an expedition to 1944 due to his great knowledge of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest in Germany. The team formed by Doug, Flynn, Toni Newman (Andrea Roth), J.D. (Tawny Cypress) and Wix (Bob Kiherr) is assigned to find a monk from 1546 that has been accidentally transported to the spot and is the carrier of Black Plague.

"The Time Tunnel – Unaired Pilot 2002" is a reasonable attempt to revive the cult series from the 60's. The concept is a sort of Stargate and is not bad; however there is too much information in this pilot that is darker than the original show and the characters are not charismatic as the original time traveler scientists are. This pilot id part of the Extras in the second box of "The Time Tunnel". My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I would not call this an update. It was new. The names of the two lead characters should not have been recycled and they could have called it Time Tube or something. Superior to the original, for most episodes maybe but it lacked the thrill of that first Time Tunnel show on the Titanic. Better than Star Gate, sure. The new Toni Newman - wow, but I think calling it an update is what killed it for fans of the old show.

The characters were pretty good. Even the relationships seemed to click pretty good.

All in all a fun ride but I'm not sure I will watch it twice.

Watch it if you can find it. It is for sale here and there on the Internet but the only copy available is from a VHS master.

excellent, for a pilot. the characters are as fleshed out as they can be in 50 or so minutes, while still having time to explain the concept for the tunnel itself, which looks great. i found myself looking for lee meriwether or james darren in the background someplace. this is a superior reworking of the original 60's "time tunnel", except the characters return after completing each mission. the concept, a fix-the-errors-in-time-that-not-everyone-remembers scenario is somewhat more interesting than the original guys-bouncing-around-aimlessly plots that were used originally. i guess i can see why this probably wasn't picked up as a series. it would have been too closely compared to "stargate", which was a ripoff of sorts of the original. i still wish someone would start a network that shows nothing but unaired pilots. some of them are fascinating.

After reading the comments here on IMDb, I decided to track this pilot down. Hurray for file sharing!. The editing, direction and pacing of the pilot make SG1 look rather lethargic. The characterizations are really quite well developed for a pilot show. This really hits the ground running and doesn't let up until the end. The battle scene is really impressive for a TV show, the burning plane is a nice touch. There are a couple of minor things that could have been handled better, but it all flies by at such a pace that you really don't have time(excuse the pun) to dwell on it. Overall, this is one hell of a ride and a superior update to the 60's original. Kudos to the production company. I'm baffled as to why this wasn't picked up.

Jan 14, 2007

The Time Tunnel 2002 Pilot - fantastic

The Time Tunnel 2002 Pilot can be found on DVD #4 of the the second season of the original Time Tunnel. This DVD is available from Netflix.com.

Remembering The Time Tunnel from my youth I discovered to my great joy that Netflix.com had them for rent. It was a great experience watching the entire series again. I was 4-years-old the first time I saw it. The series made such an impression on me that I remembered it 40 years later.

On the last DVD, DVD #4 of season 2 of the original series, I was intrigued by the 2002 pilot for a new Time Tunnel Series. I had never even heard of a pilot for the Time Tunnel coming back. Intrigued I watched it.

After watching the 2002 Time Tunnel Pilot I was so impressed that I watched it three more times. This pilot was very well done and I wish that the finance and marketing people had realized what a new huge potential hit they had on their hands.

This new Time Tunnel pilot at first glance is a darker version. But after watching it several times it really is not. For me it was an amazing thrill to see an updated Time Tunnel. This new Time Tunnel series has so much potential that I cannot encourage the TV industry enough to make a seven year series run of it.

Since Star Trek is no longer running, TV is devoid of good science fiction entertainment. Smallville series excluded.

I've stopped getting cable because there is just no good science fiction shows on TV.

Instead I've turned to Netflix to satisfy my demand for the great science fiction series of my youth. They include The Time Tunnel (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1966-1968), Land of the Giants (1968-1969), and The Invaders.

I cannot urge the television industry enough to bring back these Irwin TV series in an updated modern form with modern special effects.

I absolutely loved the 2002 pilot for The Time Tunnel and I would definitely support a 7 year series run of it sold on DVD/Blue Ray.

The same is true for Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, and the Invaders. I would definitely support a 7 year series sold on DVD/Blue Ray.

Why 7-years? This was a standard run for a Star Trek series. It takes time to build an audience.

Arnold Veness