Series Description

The Time Tunnel TV show was a 60 minute sci-fi series on ABC! While it may look antiquated by today's standards, it was one of television's first well-made sci-fi series with believeable scripts, great acting, and much better special effects than the "flying saucer on a string" stuff with which audiences had become familiar. A top secret U.S. Government program attempted to build a time machine. When a visiting Senator seemed about to cut off funds for the project, Professor Tony Newman jumped into the tunnel and found himself in the year 1912 on the Titanic just hours before it would sink! Professor Douglas Phillips followed him in a rescue attempt, but they both ended out trapped in time! Their team in the present was constantly trying to repair the time tunnel to bring them back, but to no avail. Each week thereafter, they would either find themselves at some major historical event or they might be battling aliens in the future.

The Time Tunnel Cast

James Darren .... Doctor Tony Newman
Robert Colbert .... Doctor Douglas Phillips
Lee Meriwether .... Doctor Ann MacGregor
Whit Bissell .... Lieutenant General Heywood Kirk
John Zaremba .... Doctor Raymond Swain
Wesley Lau .... Master Sergeant Jiggs
Sam Groom .... Jerry

The Time Tunnel Trivia

After the first few minutes of the first episode, the supporting cast never worked with the stars again. While Drs. Newman and Phillips were traveling throughout the world and time, the rest of the cast were simply dealing with emergencies in the control room.

The Time Tunnel project was actually called "Project Tic-Toc", was buried beneath the desert, and cost $7 Billion to build.

There was an attempt to bring a new Time Tunnel TV show back to television in 2002. A pilot was produced but, unfortunately, was not sold to any network. The theme of this new series would have been slightly different that the original. Instead of aimlessly being tossed through time, the main characters would have gone to specific times in order to fix something that had "gone wrong". They would have returned triumphantly after each episode!

Lee Meriwether was "Miss America" in 1955. Contrary to popular belief, she did not play "Catwoman" on the "Batman (1966)" TV series! She portrayed "Catwoman" in the 1966 movie, also titled, "Batman". Lee is also a desendant of Meriwether Lewis, an explorer and Governor of the Louisiana Territory during the 1800s!

What a coincidence! Lee Meriwether's co-star "James Darren" was married to the Miss Denmark of 1958! Her name was Evy. Do you think they ever got together and talked about their pagent days?

Many of the props used on this series were also used on other Irwin Allen productions such as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)", "Lost In Space (1965)", "Batman (1966)", and "Land of the Giants (1968)". The majority of the control room set was composed of surplus NASA computers and other electronics.

The Time Tunnel TV show's special effects, sets and costumes were so elaborate that this was the most expensive show to produce in 1966!

Like most Irwin Allen Productions, The Time Tunnel TV show was often critisized for its weak script dialog and plotlines but the fast-paced action and suspense was what made Irwin Allen shows successful! Writers were instructed to keep dialog short such as, "Hurry Up!", "Let's Go!", or "We have to get out of here!" They were also asked to include fist fight scenes wherever possible!

The first episode of the Time Tunnel TV show aired one day after the first episode of the original Star Trek TV Show, another of TV's first quality sci-fi series!

James Darren starred in many 1950's teenager films and became a teen idol! He also had a successfull singing career in the mid 60's. You may have seen him decades later as the holographic nightclub singer, "Vic Fontaine" on several "Star Trek Deep Space Nine (1993)" episodes! He also starred on the series "T.J. Hooker (1982)". He's also the Godfather of "Angela Jennifer Lambert" who is Nancy Sinatra's daughter and Frank Sinatra's granddaughter.

Whit Bissell was a huge star in the 1940s and 50s! He was in more that 200 movies and dozens of television series! He usually played the "Man In Charge" or a doctor. He's probably best known for his role as the evil scientist in the movie, "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" where he co-starred with Michael Landon.

Time Tunnel Opening Narrative

"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!"