The 2002 Pilot Episode

It was OK on its own, and even solved some of the problems with the original. (Why do they keep showing up in major historical events, why can the folks back home control everyone but Tony and Doug, etc.)

Part of the problem was in using "The Time Tunnel", "Toni/y Newman" and "Doug Philips" and then making it nothing at all like the original. That's a sure way to alienate fans of the original. Take the recent Get Smart movie. It was enjoyable in its own right, but it's certainly not the TV show. I didn't expect it to be, so it worked for me, but an awful lot of people who might have enjoyed it couldn't get past "Don Adams was better". Yes, he was. But I could still enjoy this new one anyway.

The other thing is that I recall reading a comment somewhere that the real problem with that pilot was that none of the characters were likable. And I have to say, that's pretty much true. It's been a few years since I watched it, but as I recall, everyone was either geeky or grumpy.

Still, I'd have to agree that someone should have picked it up. Despite its flaws, it was certainly better than most of what's on now.

A friend told me he even liked it over the original series, even though he could still appreciate the original (he having ground up watching the original TT in syndication as a teen -- like me).

He remarked about the 'time storm' explanation for things going array in the past, and of course Toni being a woman this 'time' around, as being improvements.

I wouldn't say it was better than the original "Time Tunnel", but it was good enough -- I thought -- to hold it's own as a weekly series. Maybe a friendlier-looking Doug Phillips could've done the trick, but I thought the casting on the other principal characters was on target.

Also who played the wife in the 2002 pilot?

I keep thinking she's been in a ton of other shows.