THE TIME TUNNEL (ABC 1966-67) is certainly one of the late Irwin Allen's better SF tv series produced in the 1960s and this long anticipated two volume DVD collection promises to be something truly outstanding for the show's devout fan following.
It has been promised (by informed insiders) that the source elements utilized for these disc pressings will be taken from the original 35mm print masters newly restored and digitally remastered in high definition with each episode presented in its entirety along with the original cliffhanger endings complete and intact. Probably in anticipation of ultimately issuing this valuable tv property (once again) in HD somewhere later down the line.
The volume one 4-disc box set (due out on January 24th, 2006) will consist of the first 15 episodes presented in their original ABC Television Network primetime broadcast order along with the 55 minute production pilot of "Rendezvous with Yesterday" (09/09/1966).
Many of the show's best efforts can be found here including "Rendezvous with Yesterday" (in two versions), "One Way to the Moon" (16/09/1966), "End of the World" (23/09/1966), "The Day the Sky Fell In" (30/09/1966), "The Last Patrol" (07/10/1966), "Revenge of the Gods" (21/10/1966) and "Massacre" (28/10/1966).
THE TIME TUNNEL is one SF tv series that certainly got off to a very strong start indeed!
The series' single season is marked by the early tv appearances of such distinguished performers as Carroll O'Connor, Ellen Burstyn, Tom Skerritt, Susan Hampshire, Jim Davis, Susan Flannery and even Robert Duvall many of whom would shortly achieve greater celebrity becoming Hollywood legends in the ensuing years to follow.
The list of actors and actresses who made guest appearances on the show reads like a virtual Who's Who of Hollywood including such notables as Michael Rennie, Gary Merrill, Warren Stevens, James T. Callahan, Paul Fix, Gregory Morton, Paul Carr, James Westerfield, Linden Chiles, Michael Pate, Torin Thatcher, Vic Lundin, John Doucette, Dee Hartford, Joseph Ruskin, Abraham Sofaer, Nehemiah Persoff, Michael Ansara, Kevin Hagen, Michael Pate, Joe Maross, Christopher Dark, Lawrence Montaigne, Marcel Hillaire, Oscar Beregi, Theodore Marcuse, David Opatoshu, R.G. Armstrong, Scott Marlowe, Rhodes Reason, John Lupton, Malachi Throne, Lyle Bettger, Michael St. Clair, John Wengraf, Donald Harron, John Crawford, Mako, Phillip Ahn, Jan Merlin, Frederick Beir, Byron Foulger, Ross Elliott, Edwardo Cianelli, Richard Jaeckel, John Hoyt, Myrna Fahey, Arnold Moss, Anthony Caruso, Rudolpho Hoyos, Peter Brocco, Robert Walker, Jr., Victor Jory, Regis Toomey, Lew Gallo, Vitina Marcus, Arthur Batanides, Paul Mantee, Christopher Gary, Vincent Beck, Mabel Albertson and John Saxon.
The first fifteen episodes contained in the volume one 4-disc box set will be comprised of the following 15 segments:
01) "Rendezvous with Yesterday" (09/09/1966)
02) "One Way to Moon" (16/09/1966)
03) "End of the World" (23/09/1966)
04) "The Day the Sky Fell In" (30/09/1966)
05) "The Last Patrol" (07/10/1966)
06) "The Crack of Doom" (14/10/1966)
07) "Revenge of the Gods" (10/21/1966)
08) "Massacre" (28/10/1966)
09) "Devil's Island" (11/11/1966)
10) "Reign of Terror" (18/11/1966)
11) "Secret Weapon" (25/11/1966)
12) "The Death Trap" (02/12/1966)
13) "The Alamo" (09/12/1966)
14) "Night of the Long Knives" (16/12/1966)
15) "Invasion" (30/12/1966)
All to be presented in spectacular colour taken from pristine, vault stored 35mm negatives for optimum visual and audio quality insuring maximum entertainment value.
This should prove to be one of the major DVD releases of 2006! Coming out in January it's certainly a marvellous way to begin the New Year for serious collectors of classic tv series from the Golden Age when television and imagination were not strangers to each other.
Jeff T. (http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/timetunnelfanforum/)