Episode guide revision date: October 24, 2025
Compiled by Loren Heisey
https://innermind.com/myguides/
Series notes
During a secret mission behind the Iron Curtain a freak accident involving an exploding rocket shrinks American agent Mel Hunter to the size of six inches. "The Bureau" decides to use the pint-sized operative to go where the normal sized G-man cannot. Mel is partnered with full-sized agent Bill Winters.
The series never showed the accident and shrinking opting to do the entire series with Mel shrunken. Sometimes the acronym WOG is used in credits and voice-overs for for referring to World of Giants. CBS started shooting the series in early 1958 with an expected fall network debut. Shooting wrapped in 1958 but CBS was not able to obtain to obtain sponsorship and scrapped the idea of network distribution entirely. This allowed the series to go into first-run syndication starting in 1961. However World of Giants premiered first on television in Australia in 1959.
The episode opening voice-over:
You are about to see one of the most closely guarded secrets and one of the most fantastic series of events ever recorded in the annals of counter espionage. This is my story, the story of Mel Hunter who lives in your world, a World of Giants.
The complete series was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.S. on November 7, 2023 by ClasssixFlix Rare Television. Both the Blu-ray and DVD are region free.
Guide notes
Credits are as listed in the Blu-ray/DVD release. Character names are from imdb.com. The order of the last three episode differs between the imdb.com and video release:
| Episode Order | imdb.com | Video Release |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Unexpected Murder | Off Beat |
| 12 | Panic in 3-B | Unexpected Murder |
| 13 | Off Beat | Panic in 3-B |
Production credits
Production Manager: Joe Wonder
Audio Supervisor: Al Lincoln
Set Designer: Robert Kinoshita
Art Director: Jack Collis
Costume Supervisor: Tommy Thompson
Makeup Supervisor: George Gray
Director of Photography: Monroe Askins; Curt Fetters; David S. Horsley, A.S.C.
Film Editor: Charles Craft, A.C.E.; Thomas Scott; Harvey Manger; Richard Cahoon, A.C.E.; Charles Freeman, George Luckenbacher
Assistant Director: Joel Freeman, James Engle, Donald Verk, Robert Agnew, Gilbert Mandelik, Ed Stein, Richard Evans
Set Decorators: Lou Hafley, Bruce MacDonald, Charles Thompson
Produced By: Otto Lang, William Alland
Ryder Sound Services, Inc.
Ziv Television Programs, Inc.
Westrex Recording System
Cast
Marshall Thompson as Mel Hunter
Arthur Franz as Bill Winters
Marcia Henderson as Dorothy Brown (episodes 5-13)
Episodes
1. Special Agent
Airdate: September 5, 1959
Directed by: Otto Lang
Teleplay by: Donald Duncan and Jack Laird
Story by: Donald Duncan
Guest Cast:
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
James Seay as Official
Tom McKee as Larry Gregson
Craig Duncan as Watchman
Synopsis: Mel and Bill are on a case to bust up an international drug ring. They go to get important documents at the ring's warehouse office. After a shootout leaves Mel alone alone, he tries to call the Bureau on a telephone twenty times his size.
2. Time Bomb
Airdate: September 12, 1959
Directed by: Otto Lang
Written by: Charles Larson
Guest Cast:
Tom Brown as Deputy Commissioner Wade
Don C. Harvey as Len
Don Eitner as Mailman
Synopsis: With Bill set to testify as a key witness in an important government trial, Mel discovers a suspicious ticking package in their apartment. For the first time Mel must venture outdoors alone to get to Bill in the garage.
3. Teeth of the Watchdog
Airdate: September 19, 1959
Directed by: Monroe Askins
Written by: Joe Stone and Paul King
Guest Cast:
Carol Kelly as Sally Thomas
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
Charles Maxwell as Eric Janner
Richard Emory as Richards
Synopsis: The Bureau hatches a scheme for Mel and Bill to infiltrate the apartment of an actress who holds a list of high ranking espionage agents. Mel surmounts a series of obstacles including outwiting a huge Doberman watchdog in order to contact the Bureau.
4. Death Trap
Airdate: September 26, 1959
Directed by: Byron Haskin
Written by: Donald Duncan
Guest Cast:
Tom Brown as Deputy Commissioner Wade
Tom McKee as Larry Gregson
Keith Richards as Murray
Clarence Straight as Gardener
Wade Cagle as Ollie--Gardener
Gay Gadbois as Nurse
Synopsis: Mel is thrown from Bill's car during an accident which forces the "Little Man" to avoid the pitfalls of both man and beast in order to stay alive.
5. Gambling Story
Airdate: October 3, 1959
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Richard Carr
Guest Cast:
Berry Kroeger as Dugger
Ivan Triesault as Jacob Brenner
Michael Garth as Doorman
Frank Scannell as Croupier
Harry Clexx as Gambler
Tom Wilde as Joe
Kay Garrett as Casino Patron
Synopsis: Mel and Bill go on a surveillance job to catch a local casino owner with ties to East German communist spies.
6. Chemical Story
Airdate: October 10, 1959
Directed by: Eugène Lourié
Written by: Meyer Dolinsky and Robert C. Dennis
Guest Cast:
Peggy Castle as Alice Lane
Gavin MacLeod as Arthur Olson
John van Dreelen as Lars Kroner
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
Billy Nelson as Cab Driver
Byron Morrow
Leon Alton as Security Guard
Frank Warren as Police Officer
Synopsis: Shortages in a "rare earth" mineral are reported at a chemical plant in Buffalo. Mel and Bill go undercover to prevent the minerals from getting into the wrong hands.
7. Feathered Foe
Airdate: October 17, 1959
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Dan Lissom and Hugh Lacy
Guest Cast:
Douglas Dick as Agent
Nestor Paiva as Raddick
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
Gregg Palmer as McGraw
Brett Halsey as Driver
Synopsis: Mel and Bill are sent to stop an enemy agent from transporting secret documents using carrier pigeons.
8. The Pool
Airdate: October 24, 1959
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Laurence Mascott
Guest Cast:
Allison Hayes as Diana Lawrence
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
William Masters as Johnny Delgado
Robert Tetrick as Security Guard
Marx Hartman as Security Guard
Dean Severence as Jerry Thompson
Barbara Fuller
Synopsis: Assigned to uncover and break a new espionage code, Mel and Bill must sneak into a spy network's well-fortified compound where there is danger at every turn.
9. Rainbow of Fire
Airdate: October 31, 1959
Directed by: Harry Horner
Written by: A. Sanford Wolfe and Irwin Winehouse
Guest Cast:
Eduardo Noriega as Juan Garcia
Eugene Mazzola as Pedro
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
Alex Montoya as Bartender
Salvadore Baguez as Pedro's Father
Manuel París as Waiter
Synopsis: A missile is launched from Cape Canaveral, but it runs wild and goes down in the Caribbean area. The missile must be found because it contains a newly developed electronic recording device in its nose cone that must not fall into foreign hands.
10. The Smugglers
Airdate: November 7, 1959
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Fred Freiberger
Guest Cast:
John Gallaudet as Commissioner H.G. Hall
Ziva Rodann as Lita
Walter Reed as Ringleader
Roy Gordon as Consul
Donald Lawton as Inspector Hall
Harry Landers as Hood
John Hart as Hood
Robert Kino as Hotel Clerk
Weaver Levy as Ring Member
Frank Harding as Bartender
Synopsis: In exchange for seven American airmen who were forced to land in Red China, the Bureau agrees to send Mel and Bill to Hong Kong to break up a ring smuggling Chinese Nationals off the China mainland.
11. Unexpected Murder
Airdate: November 14, 1959
Directed by: Jack Arnold
Written by: Meyer Dolinsky
Guest Cast:
Mark Roberts as Joe Gordon
Pamela Duncan as Sandra Tanner
Harry Lauter as Dave Tanner
Edwin Mills as Jerry
Synopsis: Bill suspects that a pharmacist at the local drugstore who is an ex-convict is up to no good. Mel and Bill decide to investigate the goings on at the pharmacy where he works.
12. Panic in 3-B
Airdate: November 21, 1959
Directed by: Jack Arnold
Written by: Irwin Winehouse and A. Sanford Wolfe
Guest Cast:
Maria Palmer as Carla Alexandra
Edgar Barrier as Foreign Agent
Synopsis: Foreign agents lure Bill and Brownie away from the apartment in order to take Mel back behind the Iron Curtain to conduct experiments on him. They want to determine the secrets to his body-reaction caused by exposure to a rocket fuel explosion which caused him to shrink.
13. Off Beat
Airdate: November 28, 1959
Directed by: Harry Horner
Written by: Kay Lenard and Jess Carneol
Guest Cast:
Narda Onyx as Madame Corel
Bill Walker as Daddy Dean
Arthur Kendall as Henchman
Johnny Silver as Chick Crescent
Steve Drexel as Henchman
Robert Swan as Man at Bar
Frank Krieg as Federal Agent
Victor Romito as Waiter (uncredited)
Synopsis: Tipped off that stolen art treasures from an Egyptian museum are being smuggled into the U.S. Mel and Bill go into action at a local nightclub. Mel's really an accomplished modern jazz aficionado, and knows all the cool musicians. They contact a famous pianist about stolen artwork and Mel smells a trap when he suspects their contact is a phony.
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