''It's About Time'' is an American

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

for one season of 26 episodes in 1966–1967. The series was created by

Sherwood Schwartz Sherwood Charles Schwartz ( ; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series ''Gilligan's Island ...

and used sets, props, and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

from Schwartz's other television series in production at the time, ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

''.

Description

Astronauts Mac McKenzie (

Frank Aletter Frank George Aletter (January 14, 1926 – May 13, 2009) was an American theatre, film, and television actor. Early years Born in College Point, Queens, on January 14 1926 in New York, Aletter studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop in Manha ...

) and Hector Canfield (

Jack Mullaney Jack Mullaney (September 18, 1929 – June 27, 1982) was an American actor. He appeared on Broadway in ''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' from 1953 to 1954. Mullaney acted in several television series and films throughout his career. Early ...

) travel faster than the speed of light, resulting in being sent back in time to prehistoric days where they have to adjust to living with a cave-dwelling family led by Shag/Shad (

Imogene Coca Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and pursu ...

) and Gronk ( Joe E. Ross). Their children were 18-year-old Mlor (Mary Grace) and 14-year-old Breer (Pat Cardi). Tribe Chief Boss (

Cliff Norton Clifford Charles Norton (born Clifford Charles Nathan;"United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KQ4-SYGY : 10 February 2023), Cliffo ...

) and his right-hand man Clon (

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990, born Markiian Yulianovych Mazurkevych) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. Although educated as an attorney, his hulking 6 ft 5 ...

) were always suspicious of the astronauts. Ratings were impressive for the first few weeks on the air, but they soon plunged. Show creator Schwartz concluded that three factors were the cause of the decline in audience interest: *Repetition of the astronauts being in danger from dinosaurs, clubs, spears, volcanoes, and cavemen *An unattractive look to the show (e.g., caves, dirt streets, etc.) *The cave dwellers spoke a primitive form of English that was difficult to listen to He retooled the series beginning with the January 22, 1967 episode, after 18 episodes set in prehistoric times, essentially reversing the premise that had been shown in the first half of the season. The astronauts repair their space capsule and return to 1967, with Shad, Gronk, and their children in tow. Boss and Clon make their final appearances in this episode, which also introduces two new supporting characters who remained with the show:

Alan DeWitt Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *Al ...

as Mr. Tyler, manager of the apartment building where Mac and Hector live, and

Frank Wilcox Frank Reppy Wilcox (March 13, 1907 – March 3, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays. Background Wilcox was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger V. Wilcox. He was born in De Soto ...

as General Morley, their commanding officer. The prehistoric family begins adjusting to life in the 1960s, reacting to the unfamiliar surroundings and setting up a home in 20th-century Los Angeles. For example, Gronk and Shad had to learn to write their names and sign them for many salesmen who brought "presents" which had to be paid for later. Mac and Hector also had to convince their disbelieving superior that they really did travel in time and were not playing some sort of elaborate practical joke. Seven episodes were produced with this new premise before the series was canceled at the end of the season. According to Pat Cardi, who played Greer, CBS considered reversing their cancellation decision after ratings improved during summer reruns; however, Imogene Coca and Joe E. Ross had already committed to other projects, officially ending the series.

Episodes

* "The Stowaway" was originally scheduled to air January 15, 1967, but was pre-empted by an episode of ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with anot ...

'' after CBS revamped its prime time lineup following the first-ever

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

which aired earlier that afternoon. This episode was set in prehistoric times and clearly predates the previous seven episodes. However, it did not air until April 2, 1967. In the show's current syndication reruns on certain networks – such as

Antenna TV Antenna TV is an American digital television network owned by Nexstar Media Group. The network's programming consists of classic television series, primarily sitcoms, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Antenna TV's programming and advertising operatio ...

– this episode airs in its intended order, immediately preceding "20th Century Here We Come...".

Home media

On June 27, 2017, ClassicFlix released The Complete Series on DVD in region 1.

Merchandising

The TV series was adapted into a comic strip by

Dan Spiegle Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics ...

, distributed by

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984. History Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its ...

References

External links