Return to the Land of the Giants

As much as I enjoy feeling like a smartypants, I’ll admit that feeling smart can’t compare to learning something new. And it’s on that note that I present to you the opening credits to the bygone ABC sci-fi series Land of the Giants, a Lost in Space-ish show that centered around a small band of travelers marooned on an Earth-like planet where “humans” are twelve times bigger. The series ran on ABC between 1968 and 1970, and I’d literally never heard of it before yesterday.

It’s dated, but in the best possible way. Watching this crisp version of the show’s opening credits, I almost feel like this is a contemporary thing made to look old. It’s exactly the right combo of hokey and earnest.

Obviously, I love it. If you’re interested, you can watch the whole first episode here. There’s also a very Saturday morning, very Filmation version of the opening credits here.

What is it about dated sci-fi that appeals to me so much? I suppose it’s the now old-timey versions of what might have back in the day suggested something futuristic. Compare, if you will, the opening credits to the early ’70s ITV series The Tomorrow People. (Yes, the one that’s currently being remade on The CW.)

I wish every show on now could begin with something that sets my mind on fire as much as this. Not having been alive when these shows were first on, I wonder why that is.

But really, I wonder why that is.