5 early publicity photos that don’t match the shows they’re promoting

These promotional materials are an interesting look at the early stages of five classic series.

Some shows are perfect right out of the gate, but most take at least a few episodes, if not seasons, to find their footing. Early on, a series can also look different from what it will eventually become due to costume variations, set changes or even cast members dropping out. 

Here are five images created for classic TV shows that don’t quite match the look and feel most people associate with these series. 

1. Star Trek

Yes, that’s Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand in Star Trek. But even casual fans will notice how different she looks in this early publicity shot. Her shirt is similar to the costumes worn in the unaired pilot “The Cage” and early season one episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” By the time she made her first appearance as Yeoman Rand in “The Man Trap,” Whitney’s costume had changed to red and her beehive updo had an intricate braid. 

Image: The Everett Collection

2. The Flintstones

Most of the characters in this early Flintstones artwork look enough like their final forms to be recognizable. But the little boy on the right never made it into the show at all! When it came time for Fred and Wilma to have a baby in season three, a boy was considered but a girl was ultimately chosen for marketing reasons. There was a Little Golden Book published a few months after the show premiered, however, that featured Fred, Wilma and their son, Freddy Jr.

Image: The Everett Collection

3. The Big Valley

Speaking of forgotten TV sons, Eugene Barkley is perhaps the most overlooked character in any classic TV show. Even more than Chuck Cunningham! This promotional photo shows Charles Briles as Eugene hamming it up with costar Linda Evans. While this picture does technically correspond correctly to The Big Valley at the time it was taken, Eugene would only appear in a few first-season episodes, making this image seem strange looking back. But these photos will forever prove he was a part of the show at least for a little while!

Image: The Everett Collection

4. Green Acres

This promotional photo for Green Acres takes a metaphorical approach to the show. It’s referencing the fact that Lisa and Oliver have to climb a telephone pole just to answer calls because the line doesn’t actually connect into the house. But the phone in the show is black and this prop handset isn’t even connected to anything! It gets the point across, but it doesn’t match any actual scene from the sitcom.

Image: The Everett Collection

5. Land of the Giants

This publicity photo featuring Land of the Giants star Deanna Lund was obviously meant to grab attention, but it barely has any correlation to the actual show. She’s posing with the model of the spaceship used in the series. It could make some kind of sense if she played a giant, but she didn’t! She was a tiny, fully-clothed human. 

Image: The Everett Collection

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48 Comments

HopeDuchaine 23 months ago
I love all of the earlier TV shows. My favorite show is "F Troop".
Zip 23 months ago
In #2, the boy just photo-bombed the drawing.
LoveMETV22 23 months ago
#2. The Flintstones:
The original name of the series in which a pilot was even made, was "The Flagstones".
The name "Gladstones" was considered and actually appeared on a number of sketches before the final change to "Flintstones".
LoveMETV22 23 months ago
Lol on #4, always funny when the characters shared the telephone pole.
LoveMETV22 LoveMETV22 23 months ago
PS: yeah technically the bottom one is telephone and electrical, but humorous.
harlow1313 23 months ago
Well, "Freddy Jr." bears a disturbing resemblance to Bernard Rubble. I believe a paternity test is in order.
LoveMETV22 harlow1313 23 months ago
ROFL. Hopefully Fred had a pre-nup.
harlow1313 LoveMETV22 23 months ago
a prehistor-nup
Zip harlow1313 23 months ago
Jerry Springer: "The tests are in. Barney... you ARE the father!"

Fred: "BARNEY!!!"
Catman 23 months ago
That Flintstones LGB with Freddie Jr.
Michael Catman 23 months ago
Those Little Golden Books were so important. I don't remember them arriving home, but there they were. Yes, traditional stories, but "novelizations" of current things. I had the Supercar book, not sure I ever saw the series. Lots of Disney, I had the Babes in Toyland but never saw the film until recently. Famous cartoons, we had a selection of Christmas books with Mickey Mouse and Yogi Bear that only came out in December.
LoveMETV22 Michael 23 months ago
Another good publication back in the day was "Highlights for Children" I think it still published.
LoveMETV22 LoveMETV22 23 months ago
Spellcheck it's.
I learned that the cat had a name (Baby Puss) from a Flintstones book at a friend's house in the 70s. But I can't recall whether it was a Little Golden Book.
SalIanni 23 months ago
Photo #1 from "Star Trek" looks a lot like Endora from "Bewitched".
justjeff SalIanni 23 months ago
Y'know... until I saw the uniform, I was thinking the same thing... that Endora (Agnes Moorehead) was "glammed up" in the original iteration, but changed to fit the "mother-in-law" stereotype for the actual show...
cperrynaples 23 months ago
Also worth noting is that there are also photos of BOTH Chuck Cunninghams! Fun Fact: In the 1972 pilot, Chuck was only seen from the waist down, dribbling a basketball!
LoveMETV22 23 months ago
I read somewhere the reason the Douglas'es needed to climb the pole to answer their phone was that the phone company ran out of wire, LOL
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Snickers LoveMETV22 23 months ago
Thanks, I was just wondering why the sudden disappearance.
Snickers LoveMETV22 23 months ago
Thank you for the kind wishes. Just hoping this is the last one for a while.
Pamela Franklin?- She's appeared on a few other MeTV programs aside from
Green Acres: Bonanza, Cannon, Mannix, The Love Boat and Barnaby Jones. But LOL , yeah she may have been as much trouble as Gidget. 😀
justjeff LoveMETV22 23 months ago
Adding my "two cents worth" for best wishes as well...
Michael 23 months ago
The Flintstone kid looks familiar. I think he was used, but as a non-family character. Or maybe he reminds me of Elroy.
Moverfan Michael 23 months ago
I'm thinking he's a sort version or Arnold the paperboy.
Michael Moverfan 23 months ago
Yes, that's who I'm thinking of. Was he a recurring character, or just memorable?
Moverfan Michael 23 months ago
Both--he was only in a few episodes, but obviously we remember him quite well. And I've just noticed that I wrote "sort version" instead of "short version", so I'm going to go suck my thumb now (or sort through my email...something, anyway).
LoveMETV22 Michael 23 months ago
It says on a few Wiki fandom pages that Arnold the paperboy appeared in 12 episodes.
BrittReid 23 months ago
Deanna Lund got my attention.
Michael BrittReid 23 months ago
I was thinking "wasn't the spaceship sold as a model?"
Jeffrey BrittReid 23 months ago
Mine too!!
CaptainDunsel Michael 23 months ago
Several different model versions of the Spindrift have been sold over the years, from the Aurora model of the early 1970s through the Moebius and Polar lights models of a few years ago, and in al sorts of sizes from about 6 inches to almost 2 feet long.

Back in 2015 I took an unexpectedly expensive "staycation". I got so bored that I spent $15 for the Moebius mini Spindrift models - and about $600 building it. (Yes, really.)
Toward the end of the build, a combination of unfamiliarity with airbrushing, impatience and a heat-gun led to near total disaster. Then I remembered from my visit to the set of LOTG in late 1969 or early 1970 that THEIR Spindrift didn't have a ;eft side *either*. [le sigh]
So I scratch-built a diorama of the forest setting with the ship nestled against the base of a tree, effectively concealing the ... um... "battle damage" (yeah, that's it.)
justjeff CaptainDunsel 23 months ago
...and I thought *I* had way too much time on my hands (then and now)...
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