SUB TITLES : ’60s favorite Time Tunnel a bit worse for wear in ’06
Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2006
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The Time Tunnel, Volume 1, 20 th Century Fox Home Entertainment, $ 39. 98
Before Star Trek, probably the most influential sci-fi TV series of the ’ 60 s, proclaimed that space was the final frontier, disaster movie producer Irwin Allen was exploring not only space (Lost in Space ) but the deep ocean (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ) and time (The Time Tunnel ).
I’m not real sure where Allen’s Land of the Giants fits in.
The first 15 episodes of The Time Tunnel are finally out this week on DVD on four double-sided discs.
James Darren and Robert Colbert play scientists Tony Newman and Doug Phillips, at work on a supersecret, absurdly gigantic government project buried deep beneath the Arizona desert with the goal of controlling time.
Faced with having to show immediate results or have funding cut off, Tony dashes into the tunnel to an unknown point in time. Doug follows to rescue him, and each week they are summarily shifted to another significant spot in history — Pearl Harbor just before the Japanese attack, Krakatoa just before the eruption, the Trojan War, the Little Big Horn, the Alamo and so on.
This was a favorite show of mine when I was a kid, and no, it doesn’t hold up that well nearly 40 years later.
The dialogue is over the top most of the time, the special effects (except for the huge blinking-light sci-fi machinery ) are mostly done with a kaleidoscope and there wasn’t as much attention to detail as there should have been. (The rocket that lands on the moon in Episode 2 looks entirely different from the rocket that takes off from Earth, for example. ) Still, there are some golden moments, like the one where Tony suddenly realizes he’s on the Titanic.
Unlike most sets from this era, this one has bonus material, including radio and TV promo spots and an extended, unaired version of the pilot with additional scenes and an alternate ending, which are entertaining, and “Irwin Allen’s Behind-the-Scenes ‘Home Movies, ’” which, being without sound, aren’t. B
Notes without votes : Universal Studios Home Entertainment, which has taken over the Saturday Night Live DVD franchise, releases two new discs : The Best of Alec Baldwin and The Best of David Spade ($ 19. 98 each ). Baldwin’s disc includes bonus audio commentary, SNL dress rehearsal footage and a photo gallery ; Spade’s offers commentary, photo gallery, outtakes, bonus sketches and Spade’s appearance on Late Night With Conan O’Brian.
For the younger set, Paramount Home Entertainment is putting out The Backyardigans : Polka Palace Party ($ 16. 99 ), two episodes plus two bonus episodes of the Nick Jr. show, plus a bonus music video.
Definitely not for the younger set, MTI Home Video is releasing the R-rated Crusade of Vengeance ($ 24. 95 ) a sword-andsorcery epic with Joanna Pacula as a female crusader who “joins forces with an array of female warriors” to rescue her son, who has been kidnapped by a havocwreaking ex-lord. Rutger Hauer and Arnold Vosloo co-star.
Multidisc sets :
Shout ! Factory is releasing The Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder : Punk and New Wave (two discs, $ 29. 98 ), eight of Snyder’s late-night shows featuring interviews with and live performances by Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, the Plasmatics, the Jam and the Ramones and interviews with Joan Jett, Paul Weller, Patti Smith, Kim Fowley and John Lydon. No bonus material. And, marking the 80 th birthday of pie-in-the-face comedian Soupy Sales, Morada Vision is releasing Soupy Sales : The Whole Gang Is Here (three discs, $ 19. 98 ), featuring “timeless moments” from Sales’ TV shows from the ’ 60 s and ’ 70 s. No bonus material.
Also out this week : Dallas : Complete Fourth Season ; Missing : Season 2 ; The Berenstain Bears : Always Look on the Bright Side ; Codename Icarus ; Live From the Laugh Factory, Vol. 1. Eric E. Harrison’s Sub Titles, which primarily deals with direct-to-video and TV-to-video releases, appears Thursdays. DVD prices are list and do not necessarily reflect what they cost in your local video store. Send e-mail to : eharrison@arkansasonline. com