# RIP James Darren **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 3, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660 "2024-09-03T00:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/1 "2024-09-03T00:33:36Z")
> **[James Darren, Teen Idol Actor in ‘Gidget,’ Singer and Director, Dies at 88](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/james-darren-gidget-moondoggie-star-trek-1236127756/)** > > James Darren, who starred in 'Gidget,' 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' and 'T.J. Hooker,' died Monday. He was 88. He’s another one I didn’t know was still alive. Still, 88 isn’t that terribly old nowadays. Of course, he played ‘Vic Fontaine’ on ST:DS9, so I should have realised. (Incidentally, I just found out today that _Danger Island_’s ‘Chongo’ actor, [Kim Kahana, died a couple of weeks ago](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kim-kahana-dead-stuntman-danger-island-charles-bronson-1235973467/).) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/2 "2024-09-03T01:33:53Z")
My wife and I recently re-watched all of DS 9. The Vic Fontaine episodes were always good. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/3 "2024-09-03T03:51:03Z")
I bet he could use that Time Tunnel now. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/4 "2024-09-03T03:59:21Z")
Ooh, I used to have a tiny crush on him in The Time Tunnel. Did anyone even know the other lead’s real name? It was all James Darren. \<\< swoon \>\> ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/5 "2024-09-03T07:44:58Z")
Robert Colbert was Doug Philipps. James Darren was Tony Newman. Despite its many inaccuracies, _ **Time Tunnel** _ drove my interest in science when I was in sixth grade. Also, Lee Meriwether was incredibly hot in those knee-length skirts and white lab coats. 🥰 RIP, James/Tony/Moondoggie! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/6 "2024-09-03T10:00:11Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The Vic Fontaine episodes were always good I was going to post that, on paper, that character shouldn’t have worked — but Darren was so good in the role that everything clicked. And then I checked wikipedia, which says that the character _“was praised by critics, who specifically said that the premise should not have worked but did, due to both the writing and Darren’s performances.”_ Well, then: I _don’t disagree._ So there. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/7 "2024-09-03T10:09:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > And then I checked wikipedia, which says that the character _“was praised by critics, who specifically said that the premise should not have worked but did, due to both the writing and Darren’s performances.”_ Completely agree. The whole “Nog PTSD” storyline" was surprisingly good. But we shall ignore the dubious heist episode. And quite a good singer as well, not surprisingly. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/8 "2024-09-03T14:50:00Z")
Do you know how difficult it was for a seven-year-old to copy that slow-motion-roll-into-the-scene technique they used when we were playing TT in the club basement? Watch out furniture! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/9 "2024-09-03T14:55:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Despite its many inaccuracies, Did Time Tunnel _ever_ have any “accuracies”? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/10 "2024-09-03T15:39:21Z")
Ooo, ooo, I have one: they spelled “Titanic” correctly. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/11 "2024-09-03T16:52:48Z")
We could make a game out of listing _ **Time** _ _ **Tunnel** _’s inaccuracies! I’ll start: “You can’t have a conversation on the surface of the Moon without turning on the radio in your space suit.” That one earns five winces: 😖 😖 😖 😖 😖 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/12 "2024-09-03T16:57:17Z")
Like “The moon landing on _Time Tunnel_ was fake and shot on a sound stage. They never actually left the Earth!”? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/13 "2024-09-03T16:59:26Z")
They mainly used footage from _ **The Conquest of Space** _ and _ **Destination: Moon** _. Their spaceship looked remarkably like the _Luna_ in the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/14 "2024-09-03T19:36:34Z")
There was a generic actor for many years James Karen. One of those faces you recognize, but don’t always have the name (like Len Cariou or Sam Wannamaker). He was on David Letterman’s old NBC program one night, and when David Letterman mentioned him, Paul intoned, “Goodbye, cruel world, I’m off to join the circus.” Paul had some fun intro music that had puns on the guests’ names. Two that I remember are when C.Z. Guest was a, well, a ‘guest,’ her intro was “Legs” by Z.Z. Topp. And after David Letterman read the Top 10 list of “Things the Contras are most thankfule for,” the music was “I Ran” buy A Flock of Seagulls. Nothing more to add about Darren, though, but I did enjoy ~~“Quantum Leap”~~ “The Time Tunnel” and I thought the hourglass logo for “Project Tic Toc” was pretty cool, and the intro to the program was a cartoon of a man trapped in the sands of time. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/15 "2024-09-03T20:42:55Z")
I always wanted Tic-Toc shoulder patches to sew on my Army jackets, and stickers to glue onto my high school notebooks. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/16 "2024-09-03T22:10:12Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The whole “Nog PTSD” storyline" was surprisingly good. That’s the one that stands out for me. Darren and Aron Eisenberg were outstanding in that episode. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-james-darren/1006660/17 "2024-09-06T00:47:35Z")
Vic, Nog, and Odo hanging out in the holodeck.