episode #25 - Shell Game

SHELL GAME - episode #25 / production #25 / Air Date: 4/13/69
teleplay by William Welch and Bob & Esther Mitchell ; Directed by Harry Harris

This one tries for a different locale - a seaside village of the giants. The story revolves around a family of three giants; the husband, who sells fish & shrimp on the docks, is told by his banker that his loan will be in default in 2 weeks, so he faces foreclosure. The son, a small boy, is deaf; previous attempts at a hearing aid have failed. He brings Steve and the 2 women home inside a huge seashell. The parents are pleasantly surprised by this; they think they can get a reward for the little ones to solve some of their problems. Later, the boy even leads them to the ship, so they get that too. Things look bad for the little people.

.....as with several episodes, the low angle shots had to be careful not to look up women's skirts

The episode has one cringeworthy scene typical of the series: the 2 women flee a giant lobster who is not really a threat (it's not really advancing on them) and Valerie trips on some netting; her fumble is so bad that she can't get free. It's a sample of suggesting a menace where there isn't one and one of the little people seemingly unable to move like a biped at just the wrong moment. But, the rest of the episode isn't bad. Steve devises a plan where Mark, the brilliant engineer, will construct a new hearing aid for the son; Steve may be able to convince the mother (Jan Shepard), but the father (Larry Ward) is convinced, due to propaganda, that the little people are dangerous invaders.
This episode finally has some scenes where the actors and characters were getting somewhat comfortable around each other; Mark (Don Matheson), especially, had some interesting lines. It's kind of bad, though, that this was almost the last episode of the first season. There was also an interesting depiction of a typical low income giant family which believes foolish propaganda and is ruled mostly by fear. Just one other low point - the hearing aid changes sizes drastically depending on who is holding it. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10

Giant Threats: a lobster (not really) and a weasel
(the giant weasel was one of the more intense giant animal threats on the series)



Giants Trivia: the last name of the family here is the typical odd one among the giants in the series - Ekorb. But, read it backwards - it spells 'Broke.' Yep, they were indeed.