7 /10 1 Votes
6.3/10 TV Original language(s) English No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes) First episode date 5 September 1959 Number of seasons 1 Language English | 7.8/10 IMDb Country of origin United States No. of seasons 1 Running time 30 minutes Final episode date 28 November 1959 Number of episodes 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Starring Marshall Thompson
Arthur Franz Cast Marshall Thompson, Arthur Franz Similar Men into Space, This Man Dawson, Miami Undercover, Lock‑Up, Science Fiction Theatre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World of Giants (a.k.a. W-O-G) is an American black-and-white science fiction spy-fi television series that aired in CBS syndication from September 5, 1959 until November 28, 1959. It starred Marshall Thompson and Arthur Franz.
Contents
Premise
An American spy Mel Hunter, while on a covert mission, is shrunk to a height of 6 inches after an accident. This series stars Marshall Thompson as Federal Counter-Espionage Agent Mel Hunter, who uses his small size to infiltrate areas that a full-sized man could not. When not on assignment, he lives in a specially outfitted dollhouse-like miniature. The series co-stars Arthur Franz as his full-sized partner, Agent Bill Winters.
Agent Mel Hunter quote
"It was up to me to be careful 3600 seconds of every hour. I couldn't expect the rest of the world to live my way. To the rest of the world, my problems are not a matter of life and death. The Bureau guards many fantastic secrets. But none quite so fantastic as Mel Hunter - me. Following my escape from a nightmare behind the Iron Curtain six months ago, I watched along with 14 doctors and 17 scientists and saw myself shrink to the size of a six-inch ruler. The shrinking had stopped. The scientists were still hoping, still working on my case, and I was still a special agent ... a kind of special special agent."
Cast
Production
World of Giants was produced by Ziv Television Programs, the company responsible for such hit TV series as Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, and Bat Masterson.
Not a success, this series only lasted through its initial production order of 13 episodes. Thompson later went on to star in the successful CBS TV series Daktari (1966-1969).
In popular culture
Nearly a decade later, in 1968, a similarly-themed Irwin Allen TV series, entitled Land of the Giants, starring Gary Conway and Don Marshall, ran on ABC. Two years prior to that series, an animated TV show called Tom Of T.H.U.M.B., aired as a part of the King Kong show. In 1973 the Hanna-Barbera's animated series Inch High, Private Eye, about a similarly small detective, premiered on NBC, airing for only one season.