Like most Irwin Allen series, this one was extremely ambitious and boasted the most expensive pilot of it's day -a record subsequently broke by the very next Allen pilot/series! The Time Tunnel concerned a secret military operation to probe time via the titular object. Robert Colbert played Doug Phillips, the serious scientist who invented the Tunnel, and James Darren the impetuous younger scientist, Tony Newman. Both men found themselves trapped in the Tunnel when Tony set out to test the device and Doug followed him in to rescue him. Our heroes now find themselves swirling about the limitless space of time, occasionally finding a stable entrance into a specific moment and becoming a part of past or future history until the time vortex flares up again. Among those who watched near-helplessly from the command station were Lee Meriwether's beauteous lady scientist Ann MacGregor, John Zaremba's Dr. Swain, and project head Gen. Heywood Kirk (brought to life by the always welcome Whit Bissell). What made the series work beyond the flashy aesthetic was the strength of it's cast and the morality of it's characters. Tony and Doug often found themselves in a moment of history for which only they possessed important knowledge which was ignored by those actually a part of it all. The men became a part of the moment, and in a few cases were even the cause of certain events occurring. The show was cancelled when Allen determined the budget couldn't be reduced in answer to the station's wishes. Three episodes were later edited into a feature film for television and video, titled ALIENS FROM ANOTHER PLANET. Great show. Would love to see the whole thing. "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...."
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