LAND OF THE GIANTS
Season One
CAST:
Gary Conway-Captain Steve Burton
Don Matheson-Mark Wilson
Kurt Kasznar-Alexander B. Fitzhugh
Don Marshall-Dan Erikson
Stefan Arngrim-Barry Lockridge
Deanna Lund- Valerie Scott
Heather Young-Betty Hamilton
You gotta hand it to Irwin Allen, he managed to crank out entertaining fantasy action in his day. As a kid I always loved LOTG and watching it now on dvd I can see why, because Irwin Allen delivered the goods. Yeah, it's not the most literate or thought provoking but it was colorful and fast paced eye candy for it's time on television. After a snazzy animated opening with a cool John Williams score episode one, "The Crash" introduces the cast aboard the Spindrift and quickly has them land it Giant Land.We learn it's the eighties and they are on a sub-orbital flight to London. Right from the start you can see the "Lost In Space" template that's gonna be used, especially with the boy Barry and the shady coward Fitzhugh, being the show's equivalent of Dr. Smith and Will Robinson. They seem to be setting up Fitzhugh as a spy or traitor, what with his accent and briefcase of money. Steve Burton is all man and self assured, Co-Pilot Dan is also quite capable, Mark Wilson is a type a business dick but far from worthless, Valerie is a sex kitten, Betty is less flaky but still a stewardess and Stefan Arngrim is just there with his dog. For effects we get a Bert I Gordon style giant cat, though not transparent, a similar dog and kid, a giant's car and a couple of giant scientist, one of whom looks like George Lucas. The Spindrift model itself looks great as does all the giant sized props. After learning they are in giant land , no one seems to overly freaked out and the giants themselves don't seem nearly surprised enough at finding tiny people, however in later episodes it is revealed that the giants know of previous little people who have come to their planet. After the initial set up, the plot deals with the capture and rescue of Burton and Valerie, who have been taped to a scientist desk and poked with a pencil. Everyone escapes into a culvert drain after Fitzhugh shoots giant George Lucas in the shin.
Episode 2 -GHOST TOWN
This one is directed by Nathan Juran who had previously done ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN as well as episodes of "Lost In Space", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", and "Time Tunnel" for Irwin Allen.
The litt
le people are trapped and forced to live in a scale model town which has been built by a slightly crazy old man. We learn that the old man had discovered another crew of little people years ago who had crashed on this world like the Spindrift did. The town is surrounded by a force field and is also watched over by the old man's bratty grandaughter. At this point the old man talks about the "dimension lock" on the planet, alluding that this is what the Spindrift passed through. This gets a little sadistic for 60's TV as the grandaughter is jealous of the little people and the attention the old man pays to them. She threatens them with fire and at one point plans on feeding them to a tarantula. But they do manage to escape and the grand daughter is bent over and spanked.
Episode 3- FRAMED
This one starts on a slightly sordid note for a 60's adventure series. A photographer and his attractive model are in the woods when the sleazy photog decides he wants a little piece of her action. They struggle and she hits her head on a rock and dies. Nearby a drunk hobo passes out on a bench. The photog frames the hobo but our little people manage to sneak a photo of the frame by secretly snapping a pic with the photog's camera. The rest of the plot involves them trying to obtain the pic and get it to the police without getting caught. The model camera prop is pretty impressive. A cop mentions that there is a reward out for the capture of little people.
Episode 4-UNDERGROUND
This one reveals a bit more info about the giant world. The government seems to be at least a bit fascistic as the authorities are cracking down on alleged rebels. Once again it is revealed a spaceship of little people crashed previously but everyone died. A professor who found them uses their tiny radio to trick the Spindrift survivors into believing they are going to be rescued. They are captured and forced to work for him in retrieving a list of dissidents that the government has obtained. The professor is killed after destroying the list.