The Technicolor Time Machine

The Technicolor Time Machine is a 1967 science fiction novel by American writer Harry Harrison. It is a time travel story with comedic elements, which satirizes Hollywood. The story first appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine, where it was serialized in three parts in the March–May 1967 issues, under the title "The Time-Machined Saga." The narrative revolves around the efforts of a mediocre film director to save his job, his livelihood and, incidentally, the studio he works for. To do this, he enlists a mad scientist, the crooked studio owner, a jazz tuba player, a cowboy, two fabulously stupid movie stars, and a real live ocean-crossing Viking. He ends up making history, but in a way he never dreamed of. Barney Hendrickson is a mediocre movie-maker with no prospects, and his employer, Climactic Studios, is about to go out of business, particularly as the owner, L. M. Greenspan, has systematically looted the corporation. In desperation, Hendrickson drags Greenspan to see Professor Hewitt, who claims to have a time machine. Hewitt's idea of a demonstration, sending a bottle seven microseconds into the past, doesn't impress Greenspan. Hendrickson takes over the machine, turns everything up to maximum, and sends Greenspan's Cuban cigar three seconds into the future, burning out the circuitry in the process.