Category: TV Terror Guide

  • Captain Video & His Video Rangers (1949-1955)

    Captain Video & His Video Rangers (1949-1955)

    The knowledge we have about Captain Video & His Video Rangers (1949-1955) hasn’t come from watching its estimated 1,537 episodes; most of the original broadcasts have been destroyed. However, we have a surprising amount of knowledge about it. The low budget show first aired on June 27, 1949, and was televised live five to six…

  • Sci-Fi Saturdays

    Sci-Fi Saturdays

    For the foreseeable future, #TVTerrorGuide is becoming #SciFiSaturday. Every Saturday (beginning November 16) we’ll discuss some of the earliest science-fiction television shows, from Captain Video & His Video Rangers to Tales of Tomorrow… and beyond? (This could be a longer series than even the 1970s TV Movies series that ran for -gulp- over four years!)…

  • World of Giants EP 13: Panic in 3-B

    World of Giants EP 13: Panic in 3-B

    All good things must come to an end. World of Giants (WOG) wasn’t always a great series, but it was a fun one. Too little, too late, the final episode, ‘Panic in 3-B’ demonstrates just how fun it could be. Producer William Alland is joined by director Jack Arnold to inject some energy that was…

  • World of Giants EP 12: Unexpected Murder

    World of Giants EP 12: Unexpected Murder

    The murder in the titular “Unexpected Murder,” episode 12 of World of Giants (WOG) is so unexpected that, unless I blinked and missed it, it didn’t happen at all! Nevertheless, I enjoyed this as the  penultimate episode of the series. Mel (Marshall Thompson) is sick, and when Bill (Arthur Franz) goes to the drug store…

  • World of Giants EP 11: Off Beat

    World of Giants EP 11: Off Beat

    There’s an amusing sequence in episode 11 (‘Off Beat’) of World of Giants (WOG). Miniature Mel Hunter (Marshall Thompson) climbs inside a piano to look for stolen Egyptian art treasures that might have been placed inside for hiding. Jazz pianist Chick Crescent (Johnny Silver) is nervous about his part in the robbery, so he sits…

  • World of Giants EP 10: The Smugglers

    World of Giants EP 10: The Smugglers

    Before becoming a scapegoat for the demise of once-popular television shows (Star Trek, Space: 1999, and The Six Million Dollar Man), Fred Freiberger was a prolific writer of television westerns who had a couple of big-screen genre credits. He co-wrote The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Beginning of the End (1957.) He also wrote…

  • World of Giants EP 09: Rainbow of Fire

    World of Giants EP 09: Rainbow of Fire

    So far, episode nine of World of Giants (WOG), ‘Rainbow of Fire,’ has been my least favorite… by far. Our trio of heroes, Bill Winters (Arthur Franz), Mel Hunter (Marshall Thompson), and Dorothy “Brownie” Brown (Marcia Henderson) head to South America to search for a crashed missile. I missed what specifically it is they need…

  • World of Giants EP 08: The Pool

    World of Giants EP 08: The Pool

    Something I like about World of Giants (WOG) is that the subplot of a potential romance between Bill Winters (Arthur Franz) and Dorothy Brown (Marcia Henderson) is progressing naturally as the series continues, but without making a big deal about it. Any implied tension between the two last week becomes physical this week when, to…

  • World of Giants EP 07: Feathered Foe

    World of Giants EP 07: Feathered Foe

    My hopes of tiny Mel Hunter (Marshall Thompson) riding on the back of a pigeon in flight were dashed in episode seven of World of Giants (WOG), ‘Feathered Foe.’ After riding a zip line from the top of a telephone pole to the roof of the bad guy’s lair, it’s only to release the birds,…

  • World of Giants EP 06: Chemical Story

    World of Giants EP 06: Chemical Story

    With William Alland now producing, Dorothy Brown (Marcia Henderson) is becoming a more important character in World of Giants (WOG). In ‘Chemical Story,’ she gets to travel with Mel (Marshall Thompson) and Bill (Arthur Franz) to Washington D.C. to visit the commissioner. (This begs the question, where do our heroes live? I always assumed the…