Al Hirschfeld — Back In Time
TV Guide Illustration, October 29, 1966
Where are we going this time?
Is this the fifties?
Or nineteen ninety-nine? *
Irwin Allen’s Time Tunnel (1966) was one of my favorite shows as a little kid. I was crestfallen that it A) only lasted one season and B) because of its short length, it was rarely available in syndicated reruns after the fact.
When It landed on DVD about 40 years later, I purchased it immediately and watched it with my young kids. They liked it too. James Darren and Robert Colbert lost in time, desperately trying to return to present day? What’s not to like.
And I’ve always wanted piece of art by the legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. And the piece… or the price… never seemed to be quite right.
So, when the opportunity presented itself to own this original Hirschfeld Time Tunnel illustration from TV Guide, I had to push the button.
And despite Cleveland Amory’s bitchy review of the series from the TV Guide article, It was definitely well produced (The pilot/first episode looks amazing). Sadly, It did occasionally suffer from some half-baked scripts and cheesy aliens that crept into the show in the latter half of the run.
But… It employs a high concept that would come into play many times in future fiction, including Stephen Kings 1963:
When you try to change time, time fights back.
More about Time Tunnel can be found here.
*Back in Time,1985
Songwriters: Huey Lewis / John Victor Colla / Christopher John Hayes / Sean Thomas Hopper
Back in Time lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Huey Lewis Music, Cause And Effect Music, Kinda Blue Music, Bedaah Music, Pw 3 Ascap Songs
