# "Timeless" New Time Travel Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613 "2016-10-04T03:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/21 "2016-10-05T01:29:56Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > But… but… > > …they actually _did_ prevent (or at least delay) the Hindenburg disaster. Historically, 36 people died, but (unless I misheard) didn’t they say that she was the only casualty? Television time-travelers aren’t supposed to be able to change historical events! It… it… just isn’t done! Yeah, this was actually my favorite part of the show, because it was so original. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/22 "2016-10-05T02:17:14Z")
Highly trained soldier goes off mission because he’s enamored by an attractive blonde, even though he knows he might destroy the world as we know it in the process. Sorry, not going to suspend my belief that much. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/23 "2016-10-05T03:19:10Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > The name of the time machine’s pilot … Rufus Carlin. Is someone on the creative team a fan of Kevin Smith? That’s basically a double name-check to Smith’s film _Dogma_. It’s a double name check to Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure, not Dogma. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/24 "2016-10-05T04:11:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I almost didn’t recognize Matt Frewer. He had a small role as a lab tech. It was his distinctive voice that I recognized. He looks so different now that he’s old. Max Headroom and Psi Factor were over twenty years ago I doubt it was a small role. I assume he’ll be in charge of whatever the bad guys are doing that will turn out to be possibly good guys as the good guys realize they might be working for the bad guys and have to keep everybody apart from each other while they figure out which side to be on. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/25 "2016-10-05T12:22:26Z")
OK show, but I have a hard time believing they could pick a jail cell with the wire from a bra. And what are they doing holding a man and woman in the same cell? But if it gets the historian out of her bra, I’m willing to look the other way. I’m betting that we will eventually learn that the “terrorist” is the hero, and those that sent the trio team back are actually the villains. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/26 "2016-10-05T13:20:00Z")
They subverted expectations by my count; 3 times. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/27 "2016-10-05T14:26:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The cops were looking at the pistol from the future like it was a Buck Rogers ray gun. They might be slightly curious about the exact make but it’s not like semi-auto handguns were unheard of. There was a reason why the standard Army handgun was called the M1911. The gun had a silencer, IIRC. While they existed in the 1930s, I doubt a beat cop in a smallish town would’ve seen one before. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/28 "2016-10-05T14:33:33Z")
Two eye-rolling moments I had 1. “Here’s their walkie-talkie. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll modify it to triangulate their position.” 2. The cell phone strapped to the bomb as part of the detonator. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/29 "2016-10-05T14:38:31Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > The gun had a silencer, IIRC. While they existed in the 1930s, I doubt a beat cop in a smallish town would’ve seen one before. I deleted it off of my DVR so I don’t remember the exact quote but I was struck by the over the top reaction while I was watching. There was also her reaction about if the Nazis got ahold of his gun and sent it to Berlin. So what? Maybe if he had an AK-47 before assault rifles were invented it would mean something. Maybe. But Germany had semi-auto pistols since the late 1800s. The P08 Luger was designed in 1898. They had access to what John Browning had put out. There certainly have been improvements of design but nothing revolutionary. A world class historian wouldn’t be worried able that gun changing history. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/30 "2016-10-05T14:41:42Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Two eye-rolling moments I had > > 1. “Here’s their walkie-talkie. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll modify it to triangulate their position.” > > 2. The cell phone strapped to the bomb as part of the detonator. Ok zoned out a bit during that part. 1. Doesn’t triangulation require a triangle? 2. Yes it would be hard to send a signal to a cellphone to set off the charge. But maybe they brought there own portable celltower equipment? But it had a timer so that doesn’t make sense either. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/31 "2016-10-05T14:52:45Z")
Rittenhouse. That was Margaret Dumont’s character in _Animal Crackers_. I’ll keep watching if it turns out that Groucho is behind the entire conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/32 "2016-10-05T15:58:01Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Rittenhouse. That was Margaret Dumont’s character in _Animal Crackers_. > > I’ll keep watching if it turns out that Groucho is behind the entire conspiracy. We can only hope. All it makes me think of is Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/33 "2016-10-05T16:07:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > OK show, but I have a hard time believing they could pick a jail cell with the wire from a bra. And what are they doing holding a man and woman in the same cell? But if it gets the historian out of her bra, I’m willing to look the other way. [snip] I get ya. But I did love the conceit that they wouldn’t suspect wire to be in her bra, as underwires weren’t a big thing back then. They existed, but didn’t become popular until the 50s. Kind of a 1930’s GOTCHA-YA! I dug the show enough to keep watching. It’ll be interested in a non-Groundhog Day sort of way to try to correct their mistakes, since they can’t travel back to a time period they’ve already visited. So the question is, how to correct the Hindenburg disaster by visiting other times and placed before? This avoids the Back to the Future II trope. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/34 "2016-10-05T16:20:17Z")
It was aceptable, for a pilot episode, the 2 main irritants for me: 1. You have a bomb in a zeppelin, you have a window, throw the friggin bomb out the window! 2. No suspense has been created by the “digital bomb countdown timer” since 1987 at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/35 "2016-10-05T16:26:57Z")
When they discovered the bomb, I thought they were flying over Manhattan, which was why they didn’t just throw the bomb out the window. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/36 "2016-10-05T17:10:41Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > 1. You have a bomb in a zeppelin, you have a window, throw the friggin bomb out the window! You don’t even need the window. One of the crew escaped by kicking a hole in the skin of the airship. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/37 "2016-10-05T17:14:43Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But if it gets the historian out of her bra, I’m willing to look the other way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/38 "2016-10-05T19:10:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > When they discovered the bomb, I thought they were flying over Manhattan, which was why they didn’t just throw the bomb out the window. It’s probably not reasonable for everyone to know the geography of the area. Manhattan is not close to Lakehurst. Even though the Hindenburg was quite fast compared to blimps you might see today, it would still take over an hour to get from Lakehurst to Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/39 "2016-10-05T19:11:34Z")
Here’s a trope (well, sort of) that I noticed: When the villains went back in time, presumably they would have been able to have the Hindenburg land safely, and then plant the bomb so it successfully went off during the return trip. This should have immediately changed the histories of everybody in “the present,” so they would never have known what “should have” happened - and we know this happens as this is exactly what happened when the heroes returned. Presumably, it’s not so much “time travel” as it is “universe jumping” (somebody on another thread pointed out, “So where’s the version of the history professor with the fiancee and without the sister?”) - but in that case, what would be the problem with meeting yourself in the past? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613/40 "2016-10-05T19:27:28Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Here’s a trope (well, sort of) that I noticed: > > When the villains went back in time, presumably they would have been able to have the Hindenburg land safely, and then plant the bomb so it successfully went off during the return trip. This should have immediately changed the histories of everybody in “the present,” so they would never have known what “should have” happened - and we know this happens as this is exactly what happened when the heroes returned. > > Presumably, it’s not so much “time travel” as it is “universe jumping” (somebody on another thread pointed out, “So where’s the version of the history professor with the fiancee and without the sister?”) - but in that case, what would be the problem with meeting yourself in the past? I’m pretty sure that just fluff used by the writers to give consequence to the episode. If they could just keep coming back and back and back and back and back and back then there is no tension for failing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeless-new-time-travel-show/767613.md?page=3)