One thing about this show has always puzzled me: why is the Time Tunnel a literal physical “tunnel” — as in a concentric-ringed physical structure?
Why does everyone who gets sent backward or forward in time have to actually WALK deeper into the tunnel, rather than just standing still?
I mean, the time-travel device could just as easily been conceptualized as something more like Star Trek’s transporter room: you just step up onto a small platform, stand still, wait for it, and then poof — you’re gone.
So what’s with all the walking? And how far (how many steps) must one take before all the little mini-explosions along the way finally end with the big one that transports the “time walker”?
I get that the concept may have been inspired by Ib Melchior’s 1964 film The Time Travelers. But there, folks just briefly stepped through a shallow “tunnel” that amounted to no more than stepping through an open window (into another era).
So why was the TV show’s tunnel so (seemingly needlessly) deep?
This leads me to some baseless speculation.
Is it possible that, somewhere in the show’s earliest conceptual development, there was some sort of idea that the deeper you walked into the tunnel, the further backward (or forward) in time you traveled? (And perhaps later this subtle detail was merely abandoned)?
It is perhaps suggestive that, in one episode, Ann mentions (in the episode “Revenge of the Gods”) that “the tunnel goes to infinity.” Could one, in theory, walk FOREVER into the depths of its concentric rings?
Maybe the original idea was that you walk into it as deeply as necessary to reach your target point in time, and then “hop off”— like exiting a subway tunnel, when you reach your chronological “stop”?
I also wonder because, when the pilot was filmed, the deleted conclusion (as evidenced by View Master reel photos I had in my youth) depicts prehistoric jungle growth intruding into the Tunnel (coming up between its rings).
So was there some sort of idea that, at the end of each episodic adventure, the Tunnel itself was supposed to physically materialize right in front of Tony & Doug (in whatever era they might be), allowing them to “hop on” (through the gaps between its rings), much as one might catch a subway train?
All of which was simplified and streamlined later (probably due to budget)?
Why does everyone who gets sent backward or forward in time have to actually WALK deeper into the tunnel, rather than just standing still?
I mean, the time-travel device could just as easily been conceptualized as something more like Star Trek’s transporter room: you just step up onto a small platform, stand still, wait for it, and then poof — you’re gone.
So what’s with all the walking? And how far (how many steps) must one take before all the little mini-explosions along the way finally end with the big one that transports the “time walker”?
I get that the concept may have been inspired by Ib Melchior’s 1964 film The Time Travelers. But there, folks just briefly stepped through a shallow “tunnel” that amounted to no more than stepping through an open window (into another era).
So why was the TV show’s tunnel so (seemingly needlessly) deep?
This leads me to some baseless speculation.
Is it possible that, somewhere in the show’s earliest conceptual development, there was some sort of idea that the deeper you walked into the tunnel, the further backward (or forward) in time you traveled? (And perhaps later this subtle detail was merely abandoned)?
It is perhaps suggestive that, in one episode, Ann mentions (in the episode “Revenge of the Gods”) that “the tunnel goes to infinity.” Could one, in theory, walk FOREVER into the depths of its concentric rings?
Maybe the original idea was that you walk into it as deeply as necessary to reach your target point in time, and then “hop off”— like exiting a subway tunnel, when you reach your chronological “stop”?
I also wonder because, when the pilot was filmed, the deleted conclusion (as evidenced by View Master reel photos I had in my youth) depicts prehistoric jungle growth intruding into the Tunnel (coming up between its rings).
So was there some sort of idea that, at the end of each episodic adventure, the Tunnel itself was supposed to physically materialize right in front of Tony & Doug (in whatever era they might be), allowing them to “hop on” (through the gaps between its rings), much as one might catch a subway train?
All of which was simplified and streamlined later (probably due to budget)?
statistics: Posted by tanaleaf — 28 minutes ago — Replies 0 — Views 16
