With the new Sci-Fi thriller "Flash Forward" on ABC's 2009 fall schedule, it's hard not to look back at the grandfather of all time travel shows, "The Time Tunnel." Created by Irwin Allen, this 1966 television series focused on Project Tic-Toc, a government-funded experiment which tried to send a man on a round-trip through time.

Facing budget cuts, Dr. Tony Newman (*James Darren*) decided to use himself as a human guinea pig in the untested Time Tunnel. Newman successfully sent himself to the deck of the Titanic hours before it hit the iceberg. Dr. Doug Phillips (*Robert Colbert*), the scientific director of Project Tic-Toc, followed his friend back to 1912 to help out.

Although the Time Tunnel could send people to different time periods, Phillips and Newman hadn't quite perfected how to bring those time travelers back to their starting point. The best that the technicians could do was to move them from time zone to time zone in the hopes of eventually perfecting the return mechanism.

Doug and Tony traveled through the centuries, landing in such places as a Mars rocket, Pearl Harbor and Krakatoa before the volcanic eruption. The two 20th Century scientists repeatedly had to convince everyone that they weren't crazy, and, quite often, they ended up in fistfights with people in the past.

Even if you believed time travel was possible, this show still required some suspension of disbelief. The staff at Project Tic-Toc, for instance, was constantly bringing the wrong people back through the tunnel, including a sword-wielding soldier and a little boy from the 19th Century. How come they could never get Doug and Tony all the way home?

The other odd thing was the clothing worn by the two doctors. Doug wore a suit while Tony had jumped into the time machine wearing a turtleneck and slacks. No matter how many fights and explosions they were in, their clothing always looked freshly laundered each week.

Still, "The Time Tunnel" is a fun "running and jumping" show that deserved a longer run that just one season.

Before she flew with "The Greatest American Hero," Connie Sellecca was "Flying High" over on CBS. Often referred to as "Charlie's Angels" set on an airplane, this series followed the adventures of three flight attendants for Sun West Airlines, a name that sounded suspiciously like another well-known airline.

Sellecca played Lisa Benton, a flight attendant who was best friends with her co-workers Marcy Bowers (*Pat Klous*) and Pam Bellagio (*Kathryn Witt*). Each week, Lisa, Marcy and Pam would pack their flight bags and end up in one unusual or dangerous situation or another, such as when they spent a few days in a luxurious casino and Marcy learned the evils of gambling.

"Flying High" had plenty of outdoor action as well. In one episode, the pilots became incapacitated, leaving it up to the three flight attendants to land the aircraft. Critics had a field day with this episode, saying it was impossible for Connie Sellecca's character to make such a precision landing without any training.

The girls weren't above using their jobs to get some payback, either. When Pam suspected her boyfriend of cheating, she invited him to join her on a training flight. What Pam failed to mention, though, was that during this kind of flight, the pilots put the plane into power dives to help the attendants become accustomed to emergency situations. While the unfortunate boyfriend reached for his barf bag, he cleared up any misunderstandings and everyone was happy.

"Flying High" debuted with much fanfare in September 1978, but its flight plan was cancelled in 1979. The problem was that producers tried too hard to create a show in the mold of "Charlie's Angels." They even selected three distinct physical types for the lead roles—Lisa was tall and elegant, Pam was short and cute while Marcy was the stereotypical ditzy blonde.

After the last Sun West flight flew into television's Bermuda Triangle, Connie Sellecca had a much better run as Pam Davidson on "The Greatest American Hero" and later on "Hotel." Her co-stars didn't fare as well, though, and pretty much faded from the public eye.
Resources:

http://www.tv.com/flying-high/show/5948/summary.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077011/

In many ways, "Gilligan's Island" was the prototype for the popular reality show "Survivor." During this now-classic 1960's sitcom, seven people from different backgrounds were stranded together on an island during a terrible storm and, like the reality show, they had to work together in order to survive.

After spending 14 years in almost total seclusion before finally making it back home, however, some things just didn't add up:

Practically every week, Gilligan messed up an opportunity for the castaways to leave the island for good. After about a dozen foul-ups, in real life, one of his shipmates would probably tied up Gilligan in his sleep so he couldn't cause more mischief.

Bob Denver, who played the title role in the series, made an appearance in the 1987 movie "Back to the Beach." In character as Gilligan, Denver lamented the fact that he spent years on an island with a guy who could make a nuclear reactor out of two coconut shells and a piece of string, but he couldn't fix a two-foot hole in a boat.

Though Skipper *Jonas Grumby*'s first love was his boat, the Minnow, Gilligan and Professor Roy Hinkley were young, single guys. How come, in 14 years, neither one of them married Ginger Grant or Mary Ann Summers?

Despite the fact that most of the Minnow's passengers overpacked for a "three-hour tour", after 14 years of salt-water washings, even the sturdiest fabrics are going to fade and fall apart. When they were finally rescued, though, Gilligan and the Skipper were wearing fresh-looking clothes.

What exactly did the castaways use for toilet paper, toothpaste and other hygiene products?

Despite the lack of logic, "Gilligan's Island" remains one of the funniest outdoor television shows ever made. Even 45 years after its debut, it still is fun to lace up a pair of deck shoes and watch one of the episodes on satellite.

Before the "Great Cornfield Massacre" in 1971, a time when CBS axed "Hee Haw" and other rural-themed shows, "Green Acres" was a popular prime-time show. Created by the late, great Paul Henning, who also was responsible for "Petticoat Junction" and "The Beverly Hillbillies," this outdoor show focused on a farmer who truly was out of his element.

Eddie Albert played Oliver Wendell Douglas, a New York City attorney who, along with his beautiful wife Lisa (*Eva Gabor*), pulled up stakes and moved to the sleepy town of Hooterville. With his life-long love of farming, Douglas became a true "gentleman farmer," wearing a long-sleeved shirt and vest while his neighbors worked in overalls and work boots.

A small valley town serviced by an ancient train called "The Cannonball," Hooterville was home to a wide variety of colorful characters, including Mr. Haney (*Pat Buttram*), a salesman who always was willing to make a dishonest buck. Mr. Haney sold Oliver and Lisa his farm, which contained a decaying farmhouse that could not be successfully painted.

At times, it seemed as if the people of the Hooterville Valley actually came from another planet. The Ziffels at a nearby farm, for instance, had a "son" named Arnold, who actually was a television-loving pig. Arnold loved nothing more than to sit in front of the TV watching Westerns.

Though devoted to his farm, Oliver Douglas was notoriously bad at growing things. On the rare occasions that he did have a good apple crop, he had to rent a defective truck to take them to market. On the long journey, the apple prices continued to fall, making the trip less profitable as time went on.

"Green Acres" also was one of those rare sitcoms from the 1960's that showed a married couple sleeping in the same bed. Most episodes ended with Oliver and Lisa talking about the events of the day while they got cozy under the sheets. Lisa also could occasionally see the opening and closing credits of the show, which mystified her husband.

Several seasons of "Green Acres" currently are available for purchase on DVD.