The Time Tunnel rivaled Mr. Peabody for improbable history, and in the series' final 15 episodes, scientists Tony Newman (James Darrin) and Doug Phillips' (Robert Colbert) time travels take an increasingly fantastic turn, as witness their close encounters with aliens in "Visitors from Beyond the Stars," "The Kidnappers," "Raiders from Outer Space," and the final episode, "Town of Terror" (listen in these episodes for the music that shamelessly steals from Bernard Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still). Things even take a supernatural turn in "The Ghost of Nero." Tony and Doug's excellent adventures include meetings with such personages as Rudyard Kipling ("Night of the Long Knives"), "Billy the Kid," and, incredibly, Machiavelli, who has been transported to Gettysburg during the Civil War ("The Death Merchant"). They also meet up with such mythical characters as Robin Hood ("The Revenge of Robin Hood") and "Merlin the Magician." One of the series' more provocative episodes is "The Walls of Jericho," in which Tony and Doug join forces with Joshua. Observing from Project Tic-Toc's underground facility, Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether) expresses skepticism over the biblical story. "I'm a scientist," she states. "I don't permit myself to believe in miracles." Other memorable episodes include "Kill Two by Two," set on a Pacific Island during 1945 where Tony and Doug meet a disgraced Japanese soldier, and the episode featuring Robert Duvall as a saboteur who leads Tony and Doug on a "Chase Through Time."

Among this series' enduring charms are the obvious use of footage from theatrical films to clumsily boost production values, as well as some of the more juvenile dialogue. When they learn of one alien plot to attack earth, our heroes proclaim, "We can't let them do it." Time ran out on the Tunnel after only one season. Its cancellation left Tony and Doug to seemingly forever tumble "along the infinite corridors of time" en route to some "new fantastic adventure." Thanks to DVD, we can join them time after time. --Donald Liebenson