This month our blog series is “Kinda Creepy.” Today we are moving forward a couple of years into the late sixties with Land of the Giants.

This science-fiction show was aired on ABC from fall of 1968 to spring of 1970. It was created and produced by Irwin Allen. Five novels were released during this time, three by well-known author Murray Leinster.

The show was set in 1983 and features the crew and passengers who were on a suborbital transport ship, the Spindrift. The Spindrift is en-route from Los Angeles to London when it encounters a magnetic space storm. It goes through a time warp to an unknown planet where everything is 12 times bigger than on Earth. When the Spindrift lands, it crashes and becomes inoperable.

The crew and passengers include Captain Steve Burton (Gary Conway), First Officer Dan Erickson (Don Marshall), Flight Attendant Betty Hamilton (Heather Young), Passenger Valerie Scott (Deanna Lund), Wealthy Passenger Mark Wilson (Don Matheson), Orphan Passenger Barry Lockridge (Stefan Arngrim), Passenger and Bank Robber Alexander Fitzhugh (Kurt Kasznar), and Inspector Kobick (Kevin Hagen). Fun fact, Matheson and Lund were married in 1970 but divorced before the decade was over.

The Giant society resembles that of the United States in 1968. The survivors get around in drains leading from interior rooms to the pavement. The Giants realize they are there somewhere and have offered a reward for their capture. An authoritarian government seems to dominate part of the planet but other groups are at work to help the small Earth people survive. The Giants do have advanced technology including cybernetics, cloning, force fields, magnetic stunners, androids, and teleporters.

Not only do Earthlings have to survive being caught by the Giants, but they have to be wary of pets, especially cats and dogs. Occasionally someone is captured, and other members of the crew have to rescue them.

One article said that in 1969, “boys could be found sitting in front of the television captivated by the antics of red-haired, mini-skirted Valerie as she was menaced by cats, imprisoned in a dollhouse, cloned, prodded by scientists, carried off by an ape, and even used as a pawn on a giant chessboard.”

The show had a budget of $250,000 an episode. In 1968, it was the most expensive show produced on television. There were a lot of special effects. Gigantic mechanical props were built and used. For example, a slice of bread was made from a four-foot slab of rubber, and one episode had a nine-foot revolver. Some of the props were recycled from Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Batman. Actors had to do a lot of their own stunts like climbing up curbs and phone cords. The one-hour episodes were filmed in color.

The show aired on Sunday nights against Lassie, so I was surprised it achieved decent ratings so quickly. It stayed on Sunday nights for season two but was up against World of Disney which probably created a bit of a ratings decline. The other show, To Rome with Love, moved around a lot and was probably not much competition. The network decided to cancel the show before the third season, but since the writers were not aware that it was going to happen, no finale was written, and we never learned if the characters made it back to Earth or not. The financial cost was the reason the network cited for the cancellation.

Composer extraordinaire John Williams composed the theme for the show; he also composed the theme for Lost in Space.

I don’t really remember the merchandise for this show, but it included comic books, View Master reels, model kits, and a lunch box.

I do remember watching this show and I remember being scared when a large dog was growling at one of the Earthlings. It definitely earned the kinda creepy description. I think I was a bigger fan of The Borrower books. I always wondered if this was one of the inspirations behind Honey I Shrunk the Kids. From what I recall, the concept of the show was better than the reality of the show.