Indians in The Time Tunnel
March 17, 2008
Indians in The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel, a short-lived 1960s TV show about time travel, featured Indians in an episode titled "Massacre." Here's the plot of this episode:The guys arrive in South Dakota in June 24, 1876, near Little Bighorn. They are captured by Indians, although Doug manages to escape and make it to Custer's camp. Custer refuses to believe Doug's tale. Meanwhile, Tony has tried to warn Sitting Bull. The Indians prepare to burn Tony at the stake, but Sitting Bull intervenes, impressed by Tony's bravery. A trial-by-combat settles the matter when Tony wins against Yellow Elk but spares his life. Tony tries to convince Sitting Bull to approach Custer peacefully, much to the disgruntlement and skepticism of Crazy Horse. Sitting Bull lets Tony go to Custer's camp with a message of peace, but Custer refuses it and locks both travellers up. They manage to escape, and are forced to watch as history plays itself out and Custer and his men are massacred. Produced midway between the monolithic 1950s and the multifaceted 1970s, "Massacre" was an amalgam of mindless stereotyping and dawning awareness. Here's my take on it:
Indians in The Time Tunnel
Indians in The Time Tunnel
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteTIME TUNNEL is one of writerfella's many best memories of TV SF efforts. It was hindered by the stringent characteristic that time could not be changed, only encountered. That lesson mostly is missed by any and all who remember it. Two of its principal writers, Bob and Wanda Duncan, became writerfella's teachers at Oklahoma University, as they also had written for LOST IN SPACE, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, and LAND OF THE GIANTS. They became regarded influences for writerfella's Emmy-winning episode of STAR TREK, "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth," and writerfella has acknowledged same since on the internet...
Viewers may have "missed" the rule that Doug and Tony couldn't change the past because the show's writers missed it also. Or rather, the writers applied the rule inconsistently. More often than not, I'd say, Doug and Tony tried to change the past by warning key figures what was going to happen. If they truly thought their words would have no effect, they were acting foolishly and pointlessly.
ReplyDeleteP.S. You learned from the writers of three of the most mediocre shows in TV history? Somehow that doesn't surprise me. ;-)
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteLearn to count, Rob. Your own topic, TIME TUNNEL, makes FOUR shows, not three.
Writerfella only can counter that popular culture only is that, popular. 'Popular,' therefore means it never was or is intended to be art or literature or landmark human achievement. It is escapist entertainment and as ephemeral as the morning paper or even what you had for breakfast Tuesday. You perfectly are free to claim that this item or that was "mediocre," but what you fail to see is that you have mistaken 'illusion' for 'allusion." And that, Rob, is a blindness perfectly suited to your own levels of achievement...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Not only that, one of the best TV shows of all time was on the "mediocre" list and did not belong. Nor, for that matter, did the other fine shows.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't counting The Time Tunnel because I'd already discussed its mediocrity. But have it your way, Russ. You learned from the writers of four of the most mediocre shows in TV history.
ReplyDeleteI guess you have nothing to say about the inconsistencies in The Time Tunnel's "logic." Perhaps you didn't even realize there were inconsistencies. Perhaps that's why you haven't risen above the mediocre shows you learned from.
I watched The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea recently, DMarks. They weren't very good. Have you watched any of them recently? If not, you may want to view them again before you form your final opinion.
But I can't stand the suspense. Of The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Land of the Giants, which was "one of the best TV shows of all time"? Television historians await your answer with bated breath. ;-)
Time magazine picked "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." Here are their choices:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1651341,00.html
Almost every show I would've named--I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Hill Street Blues, The West Wing, My So-Called Life, Lost, 24, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Roots, Prime Suspect, Saturday Night Live--made the list. About the only shows I would've named that didn't make it were thirtysomething and ER.
Oddly, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Land of the Giants didn’t make the list either. Based on this, I conclude I have great taste in TV shows. ;-)
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteUm, Rob, you're supposed to WATCH TV, not eat it!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
DMarks answers:
ReplyDelete"Lost in Space."
I think it was Indian stereotype-free, come to think of it. But it did have a few cowboys.