| For those of you who don't know, Irwin Allen was a | | | | Spindrift. Other characters included rich society girl |
| clever man. He devised a movie and tv series called | | | | Valerie Ames Scott, played by Deanna Lund and a |
| Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, other tv shows | | | | Spindrift's stewardess, played by Heather Young. Kurt |
| that followed included Lost in Space and a time travel | | | | Kasznar played lovable rogue Commander Alexander |
| adventure called Time Tunnel. Having tackled every | | | | B. Fitzhugh. The show used giant props such as a |
| dimension in space-time you would have thought that | | | | giant stool or a giant camera (which was kept on |
| Allen would have quit while he was ahead. No chance. | | | | display at Universal Studios for many years). These |
| By a stroke of genius, in 1967, he came up with Land | | | | props needed to be constructed, moved and stored |
| of the Giants, a tv series where the main characters | | | | and this made production expensive. Throughout its |
| found themselves on a planet just like Earth where | | | | run, the show maintained thought provoking |
| the human were just like us - except that they were | | | | storylines. Ostensibly it was an adventure series |
| 12 times bigger.Irwin Allen knew that the | | | | characterized by the almost constant battle for |
| screenwriters would have great fun with the almost | | | | survival as the "little people" tried get by in a giant's |
| limitless possibilities of the situation he had conjured. | | | | world. The problem was that the writers were |
| At first he played with various potential scenes using | | | | inevitably drawn by the fascinating possibilities that |
| sketch storyboards. He imagined a giant foot coming | | | | were opened by the existence of a parallel Earth. |
| down with the an actor just scurrying out of the | | | | What were the differences between the giant's |
| way and a pursuit by a giant cat and a giant spider. | | | | Earth and our Earth? What kind of society did they |
| Many more scenes were sketched until he was ready | | | | live in? Whereas Irwin Allen's earlier tv creation Lost |
| to take his idea to the television networks. He | | | | in Space had become more frivolous as each season |
| produced an 8 minute presentation movie reel and | | | | went by, there seemed to be a determined effort to |
| took a tour of networks chiefs and production | | | | maintain some serious content and depth to Land of |
| houses. The ABC network soon realised the show's | | | | the the Giants.In a show like this one, a tightrope is |
| potential and gave Allen the go ahead for a pilot and | | | | always being walked. On the one hand a show needs |
| a 26 episode season.Long time collaborator Tony | | | | some glitz and action to maintain audience share |
| Wilson helped Allen write the pilot. This laid down a | | | | especially amongst youngsters. Although this can |
| template for the show so that writers such as | | | | achieve its aim in the short term it has the tendency |
| William Welch and husband and wife team Bob and | | | | to cheapen the whole project over time with each |
| Esther Mitchell could pen other episodes. The cast | | | | story needing to out-glitz the previous one, leading to |
| included Gary Conway who played captain Steve | | | | falling off of appeal and the show's eventual demise. |
| Burton and Don Marshall who played his co-pilot, Dan | | | | On the other hand, keeping some integrity and |
| Erickson.The pilot show sets the scene: it is the | | | | keeping gimmicks and glitz under control will maintain |
| 1980's and Captain Burton and Dan Erickson pilot a | | | | a loyal, albeit limited, following. This approach may |
| routine flight from New York (changed to Los | | | | result in a slow audience build which is fine until the tv |
| Angeles in later shows) to London. In order to | | | | network and advertisers lose patience and pull the |
| escape the drag of the atmosphere, aircraft travel | | | | plug prematurely. This is what happened to Land of |
| such distances through the edges of the atmosphere. | | | | the Giants especially in view of the high production |
| On this occasion, though, things go wrong. Their | | | | costs. Still. there are very few shows that have |
| craft, the Spindrift is caught up in a space warp that | | | | managed to walk this tightrope over a length of time. |
| somehow dumps it on an alien planet that is just like | | | | In this case, two seasons may seem short, but it |
| Earth - except that everything - and everyone - is 12 | | | | was still a great achievement.Vernon Stent is the |
| times bigger than on the real Earth.Land of the Giants | | | | content writer for You can see more information |
| started its run on ABC on 22nd September 1968 and | | | | about this show by clicking on Land of the Giants. |
| lasted for two seasons. The underlying plot of the | | | | What happened to Gary Conway and Deanna Lund? |
| show was that the characters needed to repair the | | | | Find out at Where are they Now? |