Dr. Shrinker was Sid & Marty Krofft's left-handed homage to the horror B-movies of the 40's & 50's, as part of the Krofft Supershow. Unfortunately, it lasted just one season, and was replaced by Magic Mongo in season 2.
Shrinker (Jay Robinson, "Train Ride to Hollywood") and his sidekick, Hugo (Billy Barty, fresh from Sigmund & the Sea Monsters) take three young people who crashed on their island and shrink them down to virtually doll-size, which recalls "Dr. Cyclops". The idea is that Shrinker wants to sell the kids to a foreign power. I can't see what that would amount to, but then again, a lot of things in the Krofftverse don't make sense years later.
Dr. Shrinker marked a rare on-camera gig for voice acting vet Ted Eccles, who might be better known for his work on The Herculoids and The Three Musketeers. Co-star Jeff MacKay would later star on Tales of the Gold Monkey in the early 80's, while Robinson made the guest star rounds in primetime, including Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
The cheesy production values hurt Shrinker big time, but if they wanted to remake this show, they now have the technology to make it work.
Edit, 11/5/21: The episode was deleted. In its place is the intro:
Rating: C-.
2 comments:
I have never seen this. But it's just as well.
Funny how Ted Eccles and Jeff MacKay would end up here - Eccles' on cam career coming towards its end while MacKay's was just getting started as a character actor. I not only remember him from "Tales" (which as I recall wasa fun show!) but also as "Mac" Thomas Magnum's navy buddy on "Magnum PI". He also appeared in NCIS as Bud's father.
I did see Eccles on an ep of "The Beverly Hillbillies" of all places. He played Mr. Drysdale's money hungry nephew.
I can see this show being remade, but some things put to rest sometimes should stay at rest.
I'll have to look up the Beverly Hillbillies and figure out when that episode you describe aired, perhaps before or after 1967.
Actually, with the tech now available, Dr. Shrinker could be redone, but with better writers, and as a cartoon!
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