One Way to the Moon

After escaping The Titanic, Doug and Tony wind up ten years in the future, on a manned mission to Mars. Surprised to find the time travellers in the rocket's service hold, the astronauts suspect the two men of being saboteurs...

I've got a big problem with this episode: the time tunnel crew can see where and when Doug and Tony arrive, so why don't they simply put this on record so that the crew of the rocket will be prepared for the eventuality when it happens? If the crew were forewarned, then they wouldn't be suspicious on finding the men on board. It seems so obvious to me that it kinda ruins the fun.

As for the rest of the show, we get stock footage of an Atlas ICBM test launch standing in for the Mars rocket launch, spaceship footage from Destination Moon that looks nothing like the aforementioned Atlas missile, a spacewalk on the exterior of the Mars rocket (also borrowed from Destination Moon), and a fistfight scene on the moon's surface that is clearly not taking place in 1/6th of Earth's gravity.

5/10. Cheap and cheerful Irwin Allen nonsense.

I just watched this episode on the Blu-ray release, which looks great. I watched the series 54 years ago, when I was 9. Irwin Allen's shows often had a very high cheesy factor when set in the future, but this episode was very well done. The look of the Moon was outstanding! Great sets and visuals! Lots of action and excitement. I was watching it thinking. wow, how could a show this good not get more than one season? So far the first two episodes have been first-rate. Looking forward to seeing the other 28.

Doug and Tony jumps to 1978, therefore ten years ahead of their future, on board of the service module of a rocket of project MEM4, in the countdown to head to Mars in a space race with the Soviets. Their overweight does not allow the rocket to reach the escape velocity and the skipper intends to jettison the module; however the speed is reached and the crew formed by Colonel Kane, Major Harlow, Ensign Beard and officer Nazarro discover them and they are considered stowaways. The scientists explain that they are part of the Time Tunnel TicToc Project, and Major Harlow tells that had heard something about this secret project. When the crewman Nazarro discovers that the communication systems had been sabotaged, they blame Doug and Tony while heading to the moon for refueling due to the overburn to reach the necessary velocity. Meanwhile General Heywood Kirk invites three representatives of the MEM4 project to com to The Time Tunnel complex, and one of them is the same Navy Ensign Beard that is one board of the rocket. But neither the personnel of the Time Tunnel nor the crew of the rocket knows that Beard is a traitor.

"One Way to the Moon" was an engaging episode in the 60's with the climax of the Cold War, James Bond, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and many other espionage movies. However, in 2009, both the plot of race against Soviets and the theme of reaching Mars in a rocket are dated. Fortunately the story has no contradiction, since Beard does not see his fate in the future due to the explosion of the control panel and the manhunt to the other traitor. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Túnel do Tempo" ("The Time Tunnel")

In this episode the guys go into the future. They become a liability as they affect the velocity because of their combined weights. It goes without saying that this aired before the voyage of Neil Armstrong (by about three years). It is cheaply made, using stock footage from old movies. The element that is missing in a futuristic episode is that the real charm of the series is attempting to deal with history that could conceivably be altered. In this one, they are definitely not respected for their efforts and are ultimately treated as ballast. I remember being so disappointed by this episode after enjoying the Titanic one so much. There are times when I can understand how this show only made it through one season (although I'm sure budgets and production had much to do with it).

Irwin Allen TV shows and episodes are famous for high action, cheesy monsters, and really dumb plots. But this script is not only intelligent but has barely a glitch - which is amazing for any time-travel story. And the twist at the end with the villain is quite unique.