GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Mark Phillips concludes his exhaustive feature on the Irwin Allen TV series Land of the Giants with a look back at its second - and final - series…

Stefan Arngrim, Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, Don Matheson, and Heather Young in Land of the Giants (1968). The props used in this show, (such as the computers and guns) also were used in Lost in Space (1965), The Time Tunnel (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), and Batman (1966)

Land of the Giants’ first season permanently knocked off two of its competitors, Gentle Ben and The New Adventures of Huck Finn and pushed Lassie out of the top 40. But Walt Disney ‘s show had strongly rebounded later in the season and squeezed the momentum out of Giants, leaving Irwin Allen’s sci-fi series finishing at an unimpressive 54th place average out of 110 shows for the 1968-69 season.

Despite this audience erosion, the cast remained highly popular. Don Marshall had a high profile romance with singer Diahann Carroll and Deanna Lund turned down a Playboy pictorial because she didn’t want to embarrass her kids. Heather Young continued to be unhappy with her role as Betty. “I have one word on this show, help. One look, scared and one position, squat,” she told columnist Stan Maays.

She asked Irwin Allen if they could change the format of Giants. “I’d like us to discover that we have been on Earth all of this time and we find an antidote to bring us back to normal size,” she said. Heather then wanted the seven castaways to travel the world as secret agents, similar to her favorite TV show, I Spy.

Steve Bouser of The Janesville Gazette printed his TV wish list: “I want to see Mr. Spock throw a tantrum, Lassie dig up a garden, the President forbid reruns of Mr. Ed, My Favorite Martian and The Flintstones and somebody please step on the set of Land of the Giants.”

Critical barbs aside, Giants was renewed for a second year, 1969-1970. ABC concluded that its 17.7 rating average was better than the disastrous 12 rating averages of their other fading shows like The Avengers, Big Valley and Peyton Place.

William Sarmento, critic for The Lowell Sun, objected to its renewal. “The return of Land of the Giants for another year is a major mistake,” he warned. “This is a one idea show that will only repeat itself.”

Some big-name visitors to the set included Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Groucho Marx, Omar Sharif and Marlo Thomas. Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes) spent weeks observing Harry Harris direct because Werner was an aspiring director and he wanted to learn more.

Gordon Cooper, one of the original seven astronauts of Project Mercury, was given a ride aboard the Spindrift and afterward he told Allen, “Your spaceship is remarkably similar in design to the future space shuttles we are developing at NASA.”

Former actor Barry Coe was in charge of visitor relations and said, “The incredible props of Land of the Giants are the most popular attractions at the studio. People from all over the world ask questions about how they are made.”

Storage space was becoming limited at Fox, and that forced the giant thermos to be put out outside in the parking lot, next to the rotting spaceship from Planet of the Apes. And Irwin received complaints when props spilled over to the set of the Barbra Streisand film, Hello Dolly.

NEW WARDROBES AND LOCATIONS

Giants’ second season had a brighter and less claustrophobic look, with new wardrobe for many of the cast. John (Star Wars) Williams delivered a sensational new title theme that rivalled Hawaii 5-0’s music for excitement.