Despite the negative review listed on this site, I found this pilot (only 60 minutes, not 120) to be interesting and worthy of more exploration. Despite its similarity to STARGATE, the premise is workable and deserves another shot. Perhaps Sci-Fi can take this pilot and build on it. I suggest a miniseries that would delve more into the creation of the Tunnel, the Belsky character, and the team. Making Newman a woman was a nice touch. Ending was a bit confusing, but could be expanded and explained if the concept were given more than an hour to play out. If a series were to result, it might be interesting to bring in a weekly 'guest specialist' who travels through time with the team to correct errors in the timeline. Fox's loss could be Sci-Fi's gain.

The original "Time Tunnel" series was one of Irwin Allen's less successful efforts. It lasted but a single season (although it was a 30 episode season, long in those days and impossible today) and wasn't widely syndicated in afterschool reruns like Lost in Space or Voyage to the Bottom of the sea. Which was just as well, because it became very formulaic even in that single season. Our dashing heroes (always with impeccable hair) land in a strange time, get into conflict with the denizens of the era (or, in the later episodes, often invaders from space), have a fistfight or two and save the day, then are tossed into next week's episode.This new pilot was perhaps a mish-mash of other series thrown together, but by and large, it worked. Mostly, it was due to the two lead actors playing Doug and Toni. Flynn was a little too gung ho and two-dimensional. JD was a stereotypical CIA agent with ice water in her veins and the medic was little more than strongman Willie Armitage from "Mission: Impossible." He did have potential as a character, though.Unlike the series, there was no ultra-secret, ultra-expensive, ultra-gigantic, ultra-everything government time travel project. It was simply a nuclear fusion experiment gone awry, creating the timestorm that is the source of their problems and allowing the time travel that makes their missions possible. The term "the 240," indicating the 4 hours they spent stabilizing their end of the timestorm, didn't really work. It's hard to believe it took exactly 240 minutes to do that. It might have been better to call that "T-zero," for the point from which everything else is measured.The new Time Tunnel is more impressive than the set from the series, which is to be expected given the march of, uh, time. Actually, the set from the original pilot was also fairly impressive, with additional windows overlooking the large control room, although it was simplified in the course of the series. The new Mission Control is similar to that, with the control room looking down at the tunnel through a shielded window, shades of Stargate SG-1. The CGI tunnel was certainly better than the forced perspective model where actors could only run 15 feet up the tunnel, seemingly growing as the tunnel narrowed too quickly.This remake takes some cues from "Search" aka Probe (1972), a cult series where agents from a secret agency are assigned to search for lost or stolen items. In both, the agents carry equipment that let support personnel at headquarters see and hear everything they do, as well as being able to hear advice from HQ. The implant that could monitor what they see is highly implausible, but certainly better than the God's eye view they would see suspended in mid-air in the tunnel in the original series. It is also similar to Allen's "The Time Travelers" (1976), his own failed attempt at a revival. Unlike the series, where Doug and Tony are haplessly bounced through time, they have nearly full control of the time travel aspect here and in Travelers, having the ability to return to the present at will. In fact, it's very close to Timecop, the short-lived 1997 series on ABC. The premise is almost identical. Agents are sent back in time to correct ripples in history, then return to headquarters when history is restored.Irwin Allen did not place much importance on character development. Throughout the entire run of the original show, we learned almost nothing about the backgrounds of Doug and Tony, other than Tony's father dying at Pearl Harbor. Allen liked to cut to the chase, so ten minutes into the show, Tony Newman had recklessly propelled himself into the past (with no clear reason to, I might add). This pilot spent quite a bit more time fleshing out Doug and Toni, so we can safely assume that they were meant to be the main characters again had the series been bought. The other characters are very sketchily drawn. Whether they would have even remained had the series started is anyone's guess.Alas, time travel science fiction doesn't have a very large audience and the show wasn't ordered. Timecop was the last such failure. The most successful of recent efforts was the ridiculous "Time Trax." (Also ridiculously named. A real-life example of the line from Stargate SG-1's "Wormhole X-Treme" self-parody, "Research says that shows with X in the name get higher ratings.") At the very least, this pilot should have been aired even if the show was never picked up. The production was already paid for, so why not send it over to the Sci-Fi Channel and recoup some of the expenses? It was certainly better than pilots like "Island City" or "Star Command," neither of which were picked up but which did both air on Fox. Time was, decades ago, when unsold pilots were burned off in the summertime, but today's hypercompetitive TV market has no use for anything that doesn't look like a smash hit. We lose decent TV like this because of that mindset.

The Time Tunnel concept is fabulous, and I would love to see a new series, but the 2002 un-aired pilot is the typical today's sci-fi, which focuses more on the proverbial arrogant, cocky characters and the "beating-around-the bush" storyline, with an overindulgence of bad humor. Too many of today's yuppie scriptwriters have no care nor understanding of quality writing and engaging characters. The Time Tunnel (2002) unaired pilot, unlike the original 1960s Irwin Allen series, has unlikeable, cold characters and horrendous acting. It does have an interesting storyline but is far less suspenseful than the original Time Tunnel series because this new version doesn't have Doug and Tony lost in time, but can return them to the tunnel at any time.The un-aired pilot's best attribute is a nicely done war scene with incidental background music that challenges the emotions, and snow flurries that enhances the scenic setting landscape of war.Overall, there is no comparison between the poorly produced Time Tunnel (2002) and the fabulous Time Tunnel TV series of 1966.-- Ed Shifres

By some miracle I have managed to obtain a copy of this film. While it is rough around the edges, as most pilots are, it has alot of potential. With additional character development and some good stories written by strong writers this pilot could have evolved into a very good series had it been given the chance. While this film bears little resemblence to the Irwin Allen series of the 60s, other that the brief hint of the original theme at the beginning, this contemporary version is well worth a look to scifi and time travel fans. I enjoyed it very much and it's a nice addition to my video archives.