episode #11 - The Weird World

THE WEIRD WORLD - episode #11 / production #2 / Air Date: 12/22/68
teleplay by Ellis St. Joseph; story by Anthony Wilson; Directed by Harry Harris

This was the 2nd episode to be produced, right after the pilot. The dog and the women find a small case which turns out to contain an Earth-sized tape. The guys, meanwhile, retrieve a discarded battery (used by a giant kid for his toy ray rifle). They play the tape; the audio is by a military major who was on a prior ship from Earth to have landed on this planet; it sounds like things didn't go well for him and his people, being hunted down by the giants.
That night, Major Kagan (Glenn Corbett, in fake gray beard) grabs the boy, Barry. Unfortunately, being alone the past few years, as the last survivor, has made him quite paranoid and a little nuts; also, unfortunately, at this point, devious Fitzhugh (Kasznar) was against the rest of the group and he feeds Kagan's paranoia. The plan is to try to get to Kagan's ship, in a giants' facility.
This seemed like the wrong way to go so early in the series - introducing another little person from Earth as a guest character immediately downgrades the unique status of the regulars. The ending is kind of abrupt and cheesy. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10.
This is of interest to fans of sixties sci-fi TV as Corbett is well known for his role as Cochrane in the Star Trek TOS episode Metamorphosis.
He later played the title character in The Stranger (TV-1973).

Giant Threats: a black bird; a nasty loud gopher; a spider