Got this off a Newsgroup:
---------------------------------
"The Sci Fi Channel has unveiled a new slate of development, with pilot
projects ranging from a remake of the cult 1960s series THE TIME TUNNEL
to a show based on the life and work of author Shirley Jackson.... THE
TIME TUNNEL, based on the Irwin Allen series that aired on ABC in
1966-67, follows a scientist and a government agent who find themselves
trapped in a time-travel experiment. They're able to move between the
past -- witnessing historical events along the way -- and the future,
but can't return home."
---------------------------------
Don't know the source so don't know if it's true or not.

James :)

I liked Time Tunnel when it first came out (I was a kid) but "time travel" stories have really been done to death by now. Its difficult to see how they can spin-it-new but who knows, maybe they will surprise me. I'll watch the first episode at least, just to see what they've done with it (they can hardly ruin it considering what a turd the original was, lol).

I think Quantum Leap will be to fresh in people's minds for a Time Tunnel remake to work. IIRC, the original novel, had the characters travel to Dinosaur times, where a Dinosaur stumbled into the 'ring' and shorted it out, with dino steaks ending-up in the lab. When it was working again, they had to jump half-way back, then half-way again, then half-way again, and so on until they made it back all the way.

BTW, "Stargate SG1" IS "Time Tunnel" done new. The only thing that they've really changed is that, instead of traveling through time, they travel through space. Considering that most of the civilizations they meet are earth derivatives, they might just as well be traveling in time. "Stargate" will be a tough one to top too. Whoever does "Time Tunnel" will have their work cutout for them if they hope to compete.

This project has been in development for some time. I read an early draft of the teleplay back in 2002 and was surprised by how much I liked it, given how tired I've grown of time travel stories in general. Without giving anything away, the pilot had a sort of "TimeCop" meets "24" vibe which I found exhilarating despite the shopworn premise. The tone was somber, the pacing was brisk, the dialogue was smart, and the characters were unusually well developed for a science-fiction series. It's dangerous to get one's hopes up, but given the quality of the writing I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

Keeping my fingers crossed too.

It's gotta be better than "Timeline" or either "Time Machine" remake. (Anybody else old enough to remember the REALLY bad seventies TV "Time Machine" remake with John Beck?)

I liked the John Beck Time Machine movie. The Time Tunnel remake, is one that should not be made. I did not like the original. I have been watching episodes on The Action Channel, and it is the weakest Irwin Allen series. What ever happened to the LIS remake?

let's hope, that with a smarter audience, that this series doesn't take the approach of trying to change the past as the original show did. the original show was trying to change the past by "saving" people, "warning" people of their impending doom, etc.

For this show to work, they'd have to acknowlege that they can't change the past.
So, where will the drama come from?

What ever happened to the LIS remake?

Shelved last May. (http://lismemories.com/lis/new_series/index.htm)

I think Quantum Leap will be to fresh in people's minds for a Time Tunnel remake to work. IIRC, the original novel, had the characters travel to Dinosaur times, where a Dinosaur stumbled into the 'ring' and shorted it out, with dino steaks ending-up in the lab. When it was working again, they had to jump half-way back, then half-way again, then half-way again, and so on until they made it back all the way.

I have that same book!

What did you think about the lead scientist's son getting himself a woman(cave-girl) and bringing her back? "Hey dad? She followed me home. Can I keep her?"

This must be a joke, right?
The Time Tunnel Pilot was made and dropped by Fox in 2002.
It never made it to series - the money they saved on Time Tunnel was probably spent on Firefly, so I understand FOX's choice.
So is SciFi doing a new pilot or rounding up the actors from the 2002 pilot? None of them seem to have become stars in the interim.
I've seen copies of this pilot available on the auction site that makes it's own links around here, and hence must never be named (my maxim, not Hobbytalk's).
AT

The guy on IMDb doesn't think much of the Fox pilot. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313707/

What the 2002 pilot dvd looks like: http://www.uncleodiescollectibles.com/html_lib/tt-collect/00014.html

Irwin Allen said that what killed "Time Tunnel" was that they ran out of stock footage. :lol:

David.

The guy on IMDb doesn't think much of the Fox pilot. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313707/

The above link led me to this review...

"This was a fascinating & superior updating of the 1966 Irwin Allen series of the same name.Unlike that(and all of Allen's sf series)show, this is an intriguing & well thought-out premise.While attempting to create a clean,renewable,& abundant energy source,the Dept.of Energy inadvertently rips open a time vortex into past ages.A timestorm then ripples throughout these distant eras which in turn causes anomalies that disrupt our present.The TT complex is shielded from these alterations & realize how history has changed.They have plotted 240 anomalies which need to dealt with,so a team of experts are assembled in order to journey back in time in order to correct the errors caused by the anomalies,& then are retrieved back to the present.This would have been a wonderful series had it been picked up.In its premise it answers the problem inherent in all time travel scenarios:the past cannot be meddled with,no matter how benevolent the intentions are,because it may produce harmful ramifications all the way into the present.But here the time-team must restore the past to what we know it should be,their missions are to make things right.While this premise is hardly original & has been used by other TV series such as Voyagers & Quantum Leap,it works.The cast was likable & you cared about them.The fx were terrific.What a shame we won't be watching them return to the past to set things right with those other pesky 239 anomalies that are left. "

I dunno, seems like he liked it okay.

While I haven't seen the completed pilot, based on the above description it appears to have been based on the script I read back in `02. What's odd is that the script was originally given to me by a marketing exec. at the Sci-Fi Channel who told me it was the pilot for a series they had in pre-production. Is there some connection between FOX and Sc-Fi I'm unaware of? Very bizarre...

Why did they not call the remake Tunnel of Time? And the LIS changes, i don't like. Call it "Lost in the Space between the Ears"

It's always interesting to get a second opinion:
http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Television&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=&obj_id=48505
The Sci Fi Channel is also developing:




~~~~~~

"Time Tunnel" is an update of the 1966-67 ABC series. In the update, a female scientist and a government agent get trapped in time when their experiment goes awry. They can travel through time but can't get back to their origination point.

Welp, I'm wrong.
Not the first time.
Sci Fi is in fact commissioning a new Time Tunnel pilot, and it looks like it might be a 2 part miniseries. It's different from the FOX pilot entirely.
This info 2nd hand from Kevin Burns via a mutual friend.
AT