The fourteenth episode of the popular sit-com The Big Bang Theory, “The Nerdmabelia Scattering,” featured a prop from George Pal’s 1960 film The Time Machine. The four main characters go in together to buy the original time machine prop, leading to neurotic Sheldon Cooper’s dreaming and crying out, “Not flesh-eating Morlocks!” The disk-backed machine is described by Penny as “something Elton John drives through the Everglades!” But my favorite joke was when the guys simulated the sped-up time effect from the movie, pretending to be moving at advanced speed like the people in the street. Besides being hilarious, this cultural reference to the 1960 film is very telling. The show did not feature any references to the 1978 TV movie or the 2002 film. Why? Because no one, despite big budgets and CGI, has surpassed George Pal’s film.
Of all the films based on HG Wells’ four major SF themes, “The Time Machine” has received the least formal adaptations. This is probably due to the expensive nature of creating a future world. The concept of time travel has become widely familiar though, from comedies to super-hero fare. Anyone from the Three Stooges to the Flash can travel in time. The idea became a mainstream trope while actual adaptations of the story have been sparse.
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https://www.michaelmay.online/2015/04/locked-in-time-time-machine-classics.html
Great overview
Thanks