Anyone remember Land of the Giants?
- Thread starter steveda19
- Start date
Yes, I remember it.
I enjoyed LotG. I loved seeing the characters climb around all those giant-sized props and things.
Plus it had Deanna Lund...
Not to mention Don Marshall, one of the more prominent and well-handled African-American protagonists in '60s TV. He was never as marginalized as Nichelle Nichols was on Star Trek -- more on a par with Greg Morris from Mission: Impossible.
Plus it had Deanna Lund...
Not to mention Don Marshall, one of the more prominent and well-handled African-American protagonists in '60s TV. He was never as marginalized as Nichelle Nichols was on Star Trek -- more on a par with Greg Morris from Mission: Impossible.
I enjoyed LotG. I loved seeing the characters climb around all those giant-sized props and things.
Plus it had Deanna Lund...
You beat me to it, Christopher. My first thought was Deanna Lund.
Mediocre show not anywhere as good as Star Trek: TOS, and only made good by some fanart:
Land Of The Giants, Revised
Land Of The Giants, Revised
I always assumed that the giants in the show are not, in fact, giants (indeed, they can't be, because of that pesky square-cube law); I think it's the Spindrift crew who were somehow miniaturized.
And I would have preferred if the alternate world was made more convincingly alien. I realize there'd be only so much they can do back then, but at least do something. Didn't the signs and things used to be in some kind of alien language, then they just used English words?
And I would have preferred if the alternate world was made more convincingly alien. I realize there'd be only so much they can do back then, but at least do something. Didn't the signs and things used to be in some kind of alien language, then they just used English words?
I know what you mean, but the square-cube law would also have noticeable effects on the Spindrift crew if they were miniaturized. "Proportionate strength of a spider" and all that. The Earth people didn't act like they were miniaturized any more than the giants acted like they were gigantic.
Murray Leinster tried to address this in his novelization of the pilot. But there's a fundamental disconnect involved; a lot of handwaving is required no matter what.
Murray Leinster tried to address this in his novelization of the pilot. But there's a fundamental disconnect involved; a lot of handwaving is required no matter what.
I remember seeing reruns in the 70s as a kid then again years later. Some good mixed into the standard fare..
Seems ripe for a reboot
Seems ripe for a reboot
When I was in grade school in the mid 60s I had a Land of the Giants lunchbox. I can still smell that hot, almost-but-not-quite rusty, metallic aroma when I'd open it up at lunchtime.
Good times.
Good times.
Mid-60s? That's quite a feat, considering that the show debuted in 1968. Was the lunchbox bigger on the inside than the outside?
Absolutely, Silvercrest, and the "fundamental" part of your post is the key. I took a "Science Fiction As Literature" course at the University of Illinois way back in the Way-Back, and the Professor (yes, Professor and not the T. A. !!!) showed us some calculations. of which I did not pretend to understand the intricacies, but I got enough to grok. Serious Suspension to Disbelieve.
By the by, Deanna Lund has a website which has, among other delights, a picture of most of the cast from around 2012-2013 or so. I think I cannot post links yet, but it is a kick!
For a very long time ('80s and '90s) I was trying to write a series of stories featuring people that had been miniaturized. In the '80s it wasn't very well grounded, as I was just a teenager and was willing to settle for "high concept". But throughout the '90s (when I was in college) I used my physics courses and other things to ground the concept in as much real physics as I could. Exactly what "miniaturization" does to the subject, what kind of strength and other attributes the subject would have, and the specific handwaving that got around certain physical laws.
It's back-burnered these days, probably permanently ... I'm not that great a writer and I managed to confuse myself trying (unsuccessfully) to nail down the physics of the impossible. ("If you handwave this, what about the effects on that? That means we have to handwave this other thing, too. ARRGH!")
But it did leave me with an excellent understanding of the factors involved, even if I couldn't reconcile them.
You should have seen my tirade to Greg Cox a couple of years ago about the logical errors in Richard Matheson's The Shrinking Man.
It's back-burnered these days, probably permanently ... I'm not that great a writer and I managed to confuse myself trying (unsuccessfully) to nail down the physics of the impossible. ("If you handwave this, what about the effects on that? That means we have to handwave this other thing, too. ARRGH!")
But it did leave me with an excellent understanding of the factors involved, even if I couldn't reconcile them.
You should have seen my tirade to Greg Cox a couple of years ago about the logical errors in Richard Matheson's The Shrinking Man.
Never say never, my friend. Many an author or actor or poet or impresario has started later in life. I think I can remember a budding Pulitzer drive of my own lo, those many years ago, concerning Star Trek. Lost in Space represented my "Tom Meier" years, fashioning Jupiter 2s, Robots and Chariots out of erasers, card stock and whatever else we could find!
As it happens, I have a Robot keychain, as we speak. And it gets a comment, or two!
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