User Reviews

After a fine premise in early episodes on first season where Giants world was a menace to eathlings in near dark future, now all things becames a comedy lead by Fitzhugh and Barry, try to make something like Will and Doctor Smith in Lost in Space, here a outrageous episode about Horse race, Goat and a Rooster, all thing looks like a joke, as a big fan of LOTG l'm deeply upset over this new directon, worst using a racetrack probable in L.A. and on earth's profiling, Irwin Allen could be thought this extensive project riquires careful planning, and this episode was far away of quality pattens applied in first season!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1971 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD-R-DVD / Rating: 7

In this oddly light hearted adventure, Fitz gets all involved in horse racing which creates problems for the other castaways.

In production order, this was the season opener. I am guessing Irwin Allen took one look at it in the screening room and said "The season opener? Forget it! Stick this *hit later in the season!".

This is one of four Land Of The Giants episodes scripted by Richard Shapiro (later known for TV's Dynasty), and I am surprised Irwin even employed this guy in the first place? Of his four adventures, only Pay The Piper is good...the other three are average.

In The Inside Rail, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the regular cast of "little people" think is okay to make light hearted one liners after each dangerous encounter. That would be all good and well if this was a Roger Moore 007 film but this is an Irwin Allen series. Followers of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel and Land Of The Giants season one would know one thing: you have to play this stuff straight!

Oddly enough, the best laugh comes from a scene that resembles Irwin Allen's When Time Ran Out (1980)...involving the gang making a dangerous bridge walk.

This light hearted talk does make The Inside Rail an okay oddity, but things get back to deadly serious normal next week. And in case you were wondering, these four episodes of LOTG were the only things Shapiro ever did for Irwin.