Updated: June 09, 2004

TV Guide June 10, 1967

How do you build a Time Tunnel, a super device to transport the heros of a series both forward and backward in time, and somehow show a passage of time as well?

In Hollywood the producer dreams up the notion and the art director gives it to him. A relationship like Aladdin and the genie. In this case ther producer is Irwin Allen, one of the largest dreamers on the current scene (he produces Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), and the art director is William Creber.

Allen says, "At first we tried a kaleidoscopic effect, lights flashing and whirling. Then we tried using old newsreel shots, blurring them to give the impression of time telescoping, but it looked like dirty soup. We finally went for op art and came up with this tunnel, built at a cost of $84,000, out of Styrofoam, sheets of aluminum, and mostly paint for trompe l'oeil effect. It rests on an enormous concrete base. The consoles and ancillary equipment cost $45,000. and we used war-surplus material. The thing really works. Wheels turn and lights blink. The power towers are made of iron works put together piece by piece like Tinker Toys. They stand 45 feet tall."

"The set fills a complete soundstage at 20th Century-Fox. The infinity segment of the tunnel at the rear goes back an additional 26 feet into another stage, and is built on wheels so that it can be moved into position to join the body of the tunnel or moved back to increase the tunnel's illusion of infinity."

"The front segment of the tunnel is wired for both lighting and special effects, and can shoot jagged streaks of colored lights and smoke."

Fasten your safety belts !