Time Travelers has a really interesting premise and story, but if you watch it, be prepared to for a cheap tv movie from the 1970s. While you can tell Irwin Allen put a lot of money into the production, it still comes across as cheap. The lighting is too bright, the makeup is overdone, and the costumes are too clean. Those three are always a losing combination when making a period piece. But still, if you like Rod Serling's stories and it interests you, you can try it for a matinee.
Sam Groom, a doctor in modern times, comes across a growing mysterious virus that could potentially sweep the country. There's no cure or information in sight, but Tom Hallick approaches him with a chance: together, they will travel back in time to 1871 and speak to Dr. Richard Basehart, who came across the same virus and cured it. All his records were burned in the Chicago Fire, so the only way to gain access to his research is to use time travel. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Not only does the production come across as a little disappointing, but the story deteriorates as well. It's as if Serling wrote the first half and handed it over to a first-time writer to finish up. One scene I found amusing was Basehart's entrance scene. He's seen attending to patients before the advent of sanitation. He doesn't wash his hands between patients, drops a pill on the floor and still gives it to a man to swallow, and takes a drink of the same sick man's water glass. In the modern era, we cringe to see his behavior, but back in the 1870s they thought nothing of it. So, you can try this movie if you want to, but don't be afraid to turn it off or have a good quality flick lined up to cleanse your palate.
