episode #18 - Night of Thrombeldinbar

NIGHT OF THROMBELDINBAR episode #18 / prod. #20/ Air Date: 2/16/69
written by Bob and Esther Mitchell; Directed by Sobey Martin

Ai-ai-ai... just when I thought the episodes were getting better. What's a Thrombeldinbar, you might ask? You can try to look it up in a dictionary - I doubt you'll get much in the way of results. It's a term relegated to the giants' world - their version of an elf or leprechaun. One of the little people would fit the description well, probably - which is what happens with Fitzhugh. The littles are in a giant town just as this festival of Thrombeldinbar is beginning. One giant woman is placing cookies on the window sill as tradition, I guess... a giant cookie falls to the ground. Fitzhugh is there.. a giant kid spots him.

Now... if your idea of a great episode is Fitzhugh telling silly stories to a couple of giant kids and playing other silly games, then this one is for you. I found it to be nearly unwatchable. Things take an alarming turn when Fitzhugh finds out that the nice kids plan to burn him alive in order to gain a wish. But, he's rescued by a chimp . Oh, yeah, there's also a bothersome giant organ grinder character - he's greedy like most giants and becomes a threat to both the kids and the little people - "really a sweet character" as Dan sarcastically puts it.
This episode contains moments that really annoy me as in many LotG episodes - little characters, including the supposedly athletic Capt. Steve, are always falling over at just the wrong moments when pursued - it looks really phony. BoG's Score: 3 out of 10
Giant Threat: a chimpanzee - and a missed opportunity for King Kong-like moments



Giants Trivia: Star Trek TOS actor alert - actor Alfred Ryder plays the stern head of a boys' home; he acted in the first aired TOS episode, The Man Trap.