episode #47 - The Toymaker

episode #47 / Air Date: 1/25/67 (episode #18 of 2nd season)
written by Bob & Wanda Duncan; Directed by Robert Douglas

After Smith & Will find another of those intergalactic vending machines (from The Android Machine episode), Smith fiddles with it, ignoring all warnings. He disappears and a drawing of him appears on the machine's screen. A bit later, Will makes the same inadvisable motions and follows Smith's path. Unfortunately, the hint that the two of them had been converted to 2-dimensional beings was not the case; instead, they were teleported to the strange domain of the title character (Walter Burke), which is like a toy shop. Mostly, he makes biped-shaped creatures and thinks Smith & Will are just more toys.

This is another inane episode, with not too much sense to it, annoying characters and a boring narrative. The monster this time is a hairy beast with a bull-like head and a big wind up lever on its front - a big toy, eh? Meanwhile, John & Don deal with a threat to the planet's stability and meet up with Mr. Zumdish again (Fritz Feld, also from The Android Machine), who is in the process of cleaning up another company snafu. At one point, Smith & Will find a path back to Earth - I guess it's some inter-dimensional portal. So close.. yet so far. I admit, the climax, in which 2 problems are dealt with by one 'stone' is not bad. BoG's Score: 3 out of 10
Epilogue Tag: Smith is tinkering with his new rain-making machine (no, no kidding) and ends up sending a missile into the group's weather station... freeze frame!