TERRIBLE TOYS AND TALKING FIRE MONSTERS
by StuOz

If you have searched the net for episode reviews of Voyage to the
Bottom of the Sea you will find a lot of positive reviews of year
one and a lot of negative reviews of the alien/monster dominated
year three. It seems many fans describe Voyage as a one season
wonder because they see the semi-realistic year one as the best and
the later jump to non-realistic comic book as just too much of a
change, too much of a jump in format. I understand that fan reaction
but I do not agree with it at all. In fact, having two formats in
Voyage (and The Time Tunnel) was a good thing. It is a huge
positive. The problem with television as a whole is that it repeats
itself all the time, Irwin shows did the unthinkable and gave us
variety!

Year one had a great black and white feel and many more extras
playing the Seaview crew, year two had less extras but introduced
colour and the all-important flying sub! Year three is the greatest
action/fantasy comic book ever put on film and the thinking of year
three is rooted in the Republic/Columbia movie serials that ran
between 1935 and 1955 (but they were in black and white). In this
review I will look at the two most hated episodes of year three -
The Terrible Toys and The Heat Monster - and I will expand your mind
and make you understand why these two episodes are just so bloody
good. These episodes are both about aliens invading the Seaview and
causing death or destruction to the crew or ship.

I know two male fans who like year three but take it as a joke. Is
it a joke to me? No. I can see the funny side but, like Irwin Allen,
I take my comic fantasy very seriously. During filming David Hedison
wanted to bring some humour to Voyage but Irwin would not stand for
it. Smart move Irwin. Nelson and Sharkey made some all-important
amusing reactions to the monsters of year three, but to go the
comical way of Batman (1966-68) and LIS would of been a wrong move.
For you to like and understand year three you must like the Irwin
Allen universe of deep voiced aliens who perform with stock feature
film Bernard Herrmann music playing. If you don't like that, you
will not get it. It is that simple. When you watch year three you
are also remembering the alien/monster/voice artist/computer/score 
appearing in LIS or The Time Tunnel. A connection exists.

Irwin Allen voted The Terrible Toys as one of his two favourite
episodes of Voyage (the other was Jonah And The Whale), so you can
understand the mind of Irwin. Irwin liked having old Hollywood stars
around and Toys had Paul Fix, an actor who appeared in the wonderful
1956 epic, Giant.
Irwin loved the look of fire on film (see his disaster movies) so I
would not be surprised if Irwin partly created the talking fire
monster that was The Heat Monster. This episode was helped by having
guest star Alfred Ryder and sometimes shifting the action  to a snow
covered ice station (this also helped Voyage episode The Price Of
Doom). Del Monroe as Kowalski was his usual brave hero figure in
this show and one scene of him with fire man resembles a scene in
The Towering Inferno. But, sadly, one scene is a bit too much for
me, the scene where Sharkey fights with the invisible man!

I hope this review does give some 21st century young people the
drive to watch Voyage on the next cable re-run. I discovered Voyage
in re-runs in the 1970s. I am Australian and born in 1966. In my
1970s childhood, Irwin stole the local movie theatres with his
disaster movies and stole afternoon Aussie tv with re-runs of his
shows. 1960s viewers may not of known him as a "movie producer" so
maybe my 1970s viewings were seen in another light? This 1970s
interest in Voyage has never gone away over the last 32 years.
Voyage has been a life time hobby but I am not a television addict! 
Irwin created Motion Picture Television, Motion Picture Seaview
effects and Richard "The Voice" Basehart gave the best acting I have
ever seen, anywhere.

And what about year four? Well the owner of this website loves year
four but I think it lacked the energy of the other three seasons.
Year four has a few classics but year three has more classics! 21 in
the 26 episodes that make up year three are special to me. Thank you.

With Special Thanks To StuOz For This Great Review.