Forgotten Television: Time Express 1979

In 1979 Los Angeles at the Union Passenger Terminal is a very special train that you board from Gate Y on Track 13.  If you are lucky enough to receive a ticket from the mysterious “Head of the Line”, you may be able to travel back in time to a pivotal point in your life and relive or possibly even change the outcome.  Your hosts on the train are Jason and Margaret Winters (Vincent Price and Coral Browne) who warn you of the risks of travelling to the past.  The train is managed by Engineer Callahan (William Phipps) and conductor R.J. Walker (James Reynolds) who were both killed when the Allegheny Flyer derailed in 1886. Each week saw a new pair of individuals each yearning to go back and change that one choice they believed would make their lives complete.  Some want to find love, others want to right a wrong or find the one thing that could save a loved one’s life.  The etherical train wasn’t just for the living, in one case, both passengers are already dead and are given a chance to go back to the day they died.

Time Express aired on CBS for a brief run in the spring of 1979, debuting on April 26 and concluding after just four episodes on May 17. Despite its intriguing premise and the star power of Vincent Price and Coral Browne, real life husband and wife, the show struggled to find an audience and suffered from low ratings, partly due to stiff competition in its time slot and a lack of clear marketing. Critics generally found the concept charming but the execution uneven, with some comparing it to more successful anthology series like Fantasy Island and The Love Boat, but with a more somber, moralistic tone that didn’t quite resonate with viewers. Its ambitious production and unique narrative hook have since made it a curiosity among fans of obscure TV gems, remembered primarily for its atmospheric style and the gothic gravitas Price brought to the role of the host.

For me, this show wasn’t just forgotten, it was completely unheard of. I would have been about ten years old when it premiered, and even at that age I was an avid TV watcher. I still remember NBC’s Supertrain, which debuted just two months earlier, but I have no recollection whatsoever of Time Express. Luckily, some low-quality copies are still floating around, and I finally got to watch this obscure little gem. It really does have a strong Fantasy Island vibe. Vincent Price and Coral Browne are wonderful as the mysterious hosts who greet their passengers and remind them to be careful what they wish for, because they just might get it. I really liked the blend of supernatural and sci-fi elements, mixed with a subtle spiritual undertone that blurs the line between a straightforward time-travel story and something more about the afterlife. In fact, two of the characters in the series lore are said to have died nearly a century before, and the episode Rodeo / Cop features passengers who are already dead, given a chance to return to the moment of their deaths and possibly change it. Visually, the show is simple but effective. The vintage, ornate train gives it a retro-gothic feel, and the use of fog around the train adds an eerie, dreamlike atmosphere without being overdone. Of course, the show has its flaws, which probably explain why it never found an audience the way similar shows did. For me, the biggest issue was that the individual stories felt too rushed, without enough time for meaningful character development. The show might have worked better if it had focused on just one guest’s story per episode instead of two. Overall, though, I really enjoyed watching Time Express and I wish it had lasted long enough to explore its mythology more deeply. It’s an interesting little piece of TV history , and I’m glad I finally discovered it.