Hey, I'm first! Yippee! Well, I loved this show when I was a kid. Let me repeat that: I loved this show when I was a kid. I hate it now cuz it's sooooo cheesy and stup¡d. The same props are used for different alien races, the same sets for different planets. Why couldn't they keep the damned J2 repaired and just either get them all home or else just pick a planet and stick with it?

On a positive note I used to have a major crush on Angela Cartwright, the original Penny, and who made a cameo as a reporter at the press conference in the gahdawful movie a few years back. I still somewhat remember a dream I had about her when I was a wee lad. In it I saw her, in her costume (not the silver one), hair long, straight (why, oh, why did she ever cut it?), with bangs, standing next to the upright piano we used to have (Mom still has it), talking, but I couldn't hear her voice. She was looking down at the piano or its keys, but I'm not sure if I stood a few feet back from it or if I was sitting at it and she was looking down at me. That's all I can seem to remember cuz it's been awhile and my memory's fuzzy, but that's how I usually remember it.

If you recall, the pilot and the first six episodes were actually quite good. Recently saw them again on a Sci-fi marathon. I was suprised that given the times, Maureen (rather than Don) was allowed to save John when he was in danger of floating away in space.

The Robot is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi icons.

I have much more to say on this, but can't spend time on it now (from work).

The storyline for the first five (interconnected) episodes was conceived by Simon Wincelberg, who later became one of Star Trek's first season writers. He also wrote the Time Tunnel pilot.

Aifix; I agree 200% that the Robot is one of the greatest icons ever, alongside the original Enterprise, the tv Batmobile and the Daleks, with the Jupiter 2 as an honorable mention. I used to have a model of the Robot when I was a kid, which I foolishly gave away to a friend and never saw again. It would be 25 YEARS before the model was re-released, and I was able to have an even better version of him. Even if some of us didn't like the movie it gave us a re-issue of some of the memorablia, at least.
Some episodes after the original batch were pretty good (the evil twin of John Robinson comes to mind, and when Dr.Smith and the Robot go back to before the launch of the Jupiter 2, and the Robot warning everyone about that evil 'robotoid', which was actually Robby The Robot). Unfortunately, I remember several that had a good first act, then went downhill from there, getting too childish for me.
Couldn't help noticing that Penny disappeared in a number of episodes in those group shots, or maybe Judy did, too, as if the camera wasn't big enough to fit everyone in it.

Gene Roddenberry pitched "Star Trek" originally to CBS c. 1964. The president of CBS, Jim Aubrey (nicknamed "the Smiling Cobra") and his staff listened to the pitch. Upon Roddenberry's conclusion, Aubrey said "Thanks, but we have a sci-fi show we like better," or something similar. That show was "Lost In Space" and I think CBS really ripped Roddenberry off. The episode "The Keeper" was almost lifted directly from Trek's first pilot story "The Cage." I, however, LOVED this show as a kid, and stuck with it for its entire run, even when everyone else deserted it on Wednesday nights for "Batman." I do not subscribe to the theory that the show turned campy because of "Batman." It suffered from "Irwin Allen-Itis" where a show was serious its first season (in "Space's case, this is true) and turned silly and campy its remaining seasons.
Nits: How did the Jupiter 2 gain seats by the control panel the second season? Did we miss the episode "Garage Sale in Space?"
How did Prof. Robinson, Major West aand Dr. Smith keep clean shaven and well-groomed? Did they bring enough Foamy and Gillette razor blades for three lifetimes? Or did they encounter Mr. Mott from Next Gen?
How did a man of Italian descent (The late Guy Williams' real name was Armando Catalano) and a woman of Irish ancestry have a daughter of obviously Scandinavian heritage (Marta Kristen as Judy.)
Speaking of Judy, I had the biggest schoolboy crush on Marta Kristen. Maybe I still do, even though she is now 57 years old and a grandmother.
As much as I needle this show, given the opportunity I would watch any ep in a second, especially a first season one.

One LIS episode really seems to have ripped off a Trek episode . . . the third season "Anti-Matter Man" seems to have flat-out copied Trek's "Mirror, Mirror". In the LIS episode, the Robinsons travel into an alternate (anti-matter) universe where their counterparts are all evil and Don West has a beard. Sound familiar?

CRUSH . . . KILL . . . DESTROY!

WARNING. WARNING. Copycat plots in progress. Instant ripoff.

The big difference between LIS and ST is that
LIS was really a fun Science Fantasy series
while ST was a serious,or tried to be,Science
Fiction series.

Interesting to note that they both lasted the
same amount of time:3 years.

Each added a smaller space vehicle to help
further plots(LIS:the space pod,ST:the shuttle
craft).

Several actors appeared on both series.

Probably the most ironic moment in ST history
was when Bill Mumy(Will Robinson and B5's Lennier)
made his guest appearance on DS9.

Of course the Robinsons,Major West and Dr.Smith
were the FIRST people to get LOST IN SPACE way
before either Moonbase Alpha or Voyager.

One nit:Just how OLD was Major West?He had to be
at least in his early thirties to have made the
rank of Major.

Major West was added as a love interest for Judy; Marta Kristen was about 21 at the time. I think that Mark Goddard was in his mid-to-late 20's during "Space's" run.
Essential Viewing: the original version of the "Space" pilot, sans Dr. Smith. This was carved up and used in the first three episodes. Seeing the original pilot makes you realize how necessary a character Dr. Smith was.
I needled the episode "The Keeper" above, but Michael Rennie's perf was superb.
There was a "Space" retrospect (I think it was called "Lost In Space Again") in 1998, around the time of the movie. The last 15 minutes, both Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris stepped into character on a rebuilt Jupiter 2 set in replicas of their "Space" costumes. (Mumy's was adult sized now, of course.) It was so good seeing them in character again, even if only for a few minutes.

Related to the LIS ripoff of ST:

On http://www.jumptheshark.com, specifically http://www.jumptheshark.com/l/lostinspace.htm, somebody posted the excerpt from Shatner's book about this problem. Basically it erupted into a flame war, with insults being hurled from both sides...very entertaining.

If you recall, the pilot and the first six episodes were actually quite good.
Actually, I don't; I'm not sure if I've ever seen them, other than the pilot in clips. I really only remember all of the eps in B&W first, cuz we used to only have a B&W TV. As a young adult, I saw only the later eps that in color. One ep that scared me as a kid was the one with the mirror that Penny, Will and Doc Smith went into, after following their space monkey, Bloop, into it. The one-eyed monster scared the bejeebers outta me! Was that a B&W ep, and do I recall right? Penny did go into it?

I forgot to say before that I loved the Robot and was really dying for a toy one, especially in the ep with all those dozens of tiny ones. I was like, "Where can I get one?" It's really awful when you're a little kid just dying for something you can't just go out and get.

It was also great that Dick Tufeld, Robot's voice, reprised that role in the movie, along with cameos by not only Angela but June Lockhart and Mark Goddard (thanks, Adam, for reminding me of his name; it was just on the tip of my tongue). As for my crush on Angela, it was probably the start of my preference for brunettes and ravenhaired beauties.

CRUSH . . . KILL . . . DESTROY!
Damnit! I wanted to be the first to bring that up! Oh, well, as they say (whoever "they" are), ya snooze, ya lose."

Maureen went out to rescue John because John told Don he was to stay with the ship, being the pilot.

The original pilot without Smith apparently never aired until about 1997, 32 or 33 years after it was made, then the Sci Fi channel in the US showed it, and Space showed it in Canada in the spring of 1998 during a LIS marathon a few weeks before the movie hit the theatres.

LIS worked its way into some of my dreams when I was a kid and it was on TV in its first run (1965-68 - David Gerrold in one of his early books complained about it being on TV for "five achingly long years").

As to the chairs in front of the control panels, they were added for the first episode of the TV series. They have a curious habit of appearing and disappearing during the first five episodes because those episodes include shots from the pilot.

There were several changes made to the Jupiter II between the pilot and "The Reluctant Stowaway".

An airlock was added at the main hatch. If you watch carefully, Maureen enters the ship, and Will is working on the telescope that he'll use to see the cyclops attacking the two men. There is clearly no airlock. They also added a lower deck, but the original model of the exterior just doesn't give enough room for a lower deck or the "power chamber" shown in the third season episode with that spook that makes family members vanish. (That by itself makes the Jupiter II to be some kind of TARDIS!)

John went outside at the end of "... Castaway" to repair the inertial guidance scanner, but this scanner, which is evidently vulnerable to space debris, is never seen at any other time. Maybe Will figured out a way to install it inside the ship? Maybe in that little bubble in the centre of the top surface of the ship?

The theme song for "Nowhere To Hide", the original pilot, is directly from "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

The CBS people questioned Roddenberry extensively about his ideas for production methods, evidently intent on helping Irwin Allen's team keep down costs on LIS.

I wonder where Allen would have taken LIS if his original pilot had sold? The last scene shows two aliens watching the praying Robinson family, and one nods at the other.

If they stuck to the "nefarious universe" theme that LIS degenerated into, these two aliens would have been up to no good.

If they aspired to the "mostly good, with some meanies, universe" that Star Trek gave us, these two aliens might have been judging the Robinsons as worthy of "first contact", not a bunch of invading savages who landed on their planet and just pulled up in their attack rover.

Hmmm... I'm glad they didn't leave their ship for long in the TV series... in the pilot, they could as easily have lost it forever, and been marooned.

Why did everyone have a crush on Angela Cartwright? What about poor Marta Kristen? I was disappointed that Judy was featured only three or four times during the series' run (there was one ep with a duplicate Judy feeding the Robinson's deuterium to alien plants, another with Leonard Stone as Farnum B who wants Judy for his circus, and maybe some more that escape me.) Marta Kristen was a major league babe, and I think she still is.
I agree with GCapp, in that there was so much crammed into the Jupiter 2, there seemed to be no room for it.
There was a third season episode, with the Robinsons making it back to Earth of the late 1940's. They were deemed invaders, hunted down and called "Voltons". (Voltons/Vulcans-Too close for comfort.) There was also no hint at the end of the ep that the Jupiter 2 returned to their own time.
I believe that "Lost in Space" had a bigger budget per episode than "Star Trek" did.

One second season episode (I believe it was called "Wreck of The Robot") had the robot broken up by an alien race who use mechanical parts to adapt to their own technology. Does this remind anyone of the borg? Or maybe I'm just thinking that because one of the aliens actually said the line "resistance is futile" in the episode!

I think Irwin Allen was also accused of stealing the concept of Lost in Space from a Gold Key comic series called The Space Family Robinson.

Yes, the Dell/Gold Key Space Family Robinson/Lost In Space comic appeared first & they considered filing charges of plagiarism, but since most of Dell/Gold Key's business was in making comic book adaptations of TV shows they decided such a suit would be like slitting their throat.

They did hype the Lost In Space name though.

The TV LIS didn't have a comic book version until Innovation published one in the late 80s/early 90s. (Bill Mumy was involved in that & did write a 2-parter. Issues 3 & 4, IIRC.)

There was also a "Fantastic Voyage" ripoff in which the Robot was made as big as a house, and Smith and Will take a walking tour through his innards. An interesting ep.

Yes, in which we learn that the robot is powered by clockwork gears (really)!

Can't remember the episode title but the one were Dr Smith gets the plantinum touch features a charactor called Officer Bollox (sp?), which gave me & a friend a greath laugh when we saw it as part of a run on Channel 4 (UK) in the late 1980s. I guess the production wern't that clued up on certain areas of slang, along with Lucasfilm when they had to think up a name for Jabba's band. (They came up with the Jizz wailers)

According to my Dad, Penny was closer to tha age of most of the audiance explaining everyones crushes. (Yep, My family does have discussions on these topics. )

Yet another LIS - ST connection is a failed pilot, then again Dr Who had one as well, as did The Man From Uncle & The 1950s Invisible Man. (Is there an unwritten rule here?)

Dr Who - Lost In Space Similarities.
(DW = Dr Who Episode, L = Lost In Space Episode.)

L) The Hungry Sea, DW) Inside The Spaceship, Castrovalva: A close encounter with the sun.

L) The Space Croppers, DW) The Seeds Of Death, The Claws Of Axos: All feature something that can absorb all energy from a planet.

L) Lost Civilisation, DW) The Planet Of The Daleks: An frozen invasion army is almost awakened.

L) A Visit To Hades, DW) The Dalek's Masterplan: A visit to a prison planet.

L) The Golden Man, DW) Galaxy 4: A war between ugly & attractive aliens who are not as they seem.

L) The Toymaker, DW) The Celestrial Toymaker: A visit to an extra dimensional domain populated by toy-like beings.

L) The Astral Traveller, DW) The Terror Of The Zygons: An encounter with the Loch Ness Monster.

L) A Day At The Zoo, DW) The Space Museum: A/The regular(s) almost end up on display.

Another element LIs may have "borrowed" from ST . . . about the time that Gene Roddenberry was going to considerable expense and trouble to get Susan Oliver painted green for the filming of the cage, Lost In Space also introduced a green-skinned girl as a recurring character (played by Vitinia Marcus).

I did think that story was suspicious when I spotted it doing the above list.

I think I may be dreaming here-I was watching "Once and Again" on Lifetime last night, and I saw an Advil commercial. I thought my eyes were deceiving me-I could swear the woman in the ad was Marta Kristen. Her voice is a little older sounding, but she has aged surprisingly well. Way to go, Marta. (Stevie Nicks has released "Trouble in Shangri-La," her first disc in nine years. Although it is a good album, she is 51 now, and her voice is becoming gravelly, too)

I thought the episode in which Dr. Smith meets the devil was not too bad.

The one where Dr. Smith turned William into a dupicate of himself was dumb.

The giant robot episode I remember being very interesting.

Don't even mention the talking carrot episode or the intergalatic motorcycle gang episode

What about the "Space Hippie" epsiode? ("The Promised Planet")
I'd like to take all those people who criticize Trek's "The Way To Eden" and lock 'em in a room and make them watch "The Promised Planet" over and over and over and over again . . . by the time they get out, they'll be begging to be shown "Eden!"

The best scene in that episode would be Smith lifting the Robot by one hand around the Robot's neck, and setting him down.
What? Don't you think that wig was kinda cool on Dr.Smith?

Great LIS movie line:I don't like the sound
of that sound.Judy as they hear the approach
of the spider monsters.

I'm a Doctor,not a Space Explorer.Dr.Smith
as Major West "Volunteers" him to go on the
expedition to the Proteus.

Typical Script

DR. SMITH: Come along, William, let us go over here.
WILL: But Dr. Smith, Dad told me I had to fix the orbiting world-ranger hopper.
ROBOT: That was correct, Will Robinson.
DR. SMITH: Silence, you rust-covered rubbish!
WILL: Well, okay.

(they walk and meet an alien)

DR. SMITH: Goodness gracious! WHO are you?
WILL: He looks like an alien, Dr. Smith.
ALIEN: I am Landani. If you give me an orbiting world-ranger hopper, I will give you the way to make your dreams come true!
DR. SMITH: My dreams come true? That means--money, money, money!
WILL: Golly!
ROBOT: Danger, Will Robinson, danger! He has ulterior motives...
DR. SMITH: Why, you hopped-up tinpot Cassandra of outer space, we don't need your opinion. Take the hopper.
ALIEN: Good! Now your dreams will really come true, foolish earth mortals!

(wackiness ensues until--)

MR. ROBINSON: Have you found Will and Dr. Smith yet, West?
MAJOR WEST: No, I was, heh, heh, with Judy.
MRS. ROBINSON: He's going to be late for dinner.
JUDY and PENNY: Look!

(they see something terribly exciting and wacky, and everything is finally resolved)

MR. ROBINSON: Now you stay away from tempting aliens, Will.
WILL: Yes, sir.
DR. SMITH: Come along, William, let's see what's behind that glowing red rock.
ROBOT: Danger, danger, Will Robinson!
DR. SMITH: You lugubrious lube-jobbed mechanic! Don't talk to me like that!
ALL: Ha ha ha ha!

(Frank DeVol music plays, and it's end)

HA!HA! Great, Mike!

Unfortunately, John, "Trek's" Stanley Adams (actor as Cyrano Jones and co-story credit on "Mark of Gideon") was the talking carrot, filmed during the same season (1967-68) as "Trouble With Tribbles."

There was this movie on FX yesterday (can't remember the title) with Alyssa Milano, Marta Kristen and Ice-T. (What a cast!) Something about a family being wiped out by burglars while Milano and her boyfriend are in the basement. Kristen still looks terrific.

Hi!
"Lost in Space" has been one of my favorite
shows since it aired on CBS in the '60's.
The Jupiter 2 was originally designed to be a
single-deck spaceship, which flew itself in the
unaired pilot episode. Either a CBS executive or
someone with the production company decided to add
a recurring villain, a robot, and on-board living
quarters. Dr. Smith was a serious villain at
first, but Irwin Allen decided that a Long John
Silver type villain would be more fun than a Ming
the Merciless type villain. They had neither the
time nor the money to completely redesign the Ju-
piter 2, so through careful use of camera angles,
etc., for 3 years they kept us from noticing that
a 48-foot-diameter saucer wasn't big enough to
have a lower deck, etc., etc.
On another note: A series isn't "bad" just because it doesn't take itself completely seri-
ously all of the time. And I sometimes think that
militant animal-rights crack-tivists should be
forced to watch "The Great Vegetable Rebellion"
over and over again for 48 hours. (This was the
episode in which a carrot accused Dr. Smith of
murder becaused Smith picked some flowers!)

I guess it doesn't really make much sense to nit pick Lost in Space because it had almost no real bearing on known and you could probably make a 23 vol. encyclopedia doing so but there's one question, Dr. Smith ...

Dr. Smith Repeatedly jeapordizes everyones life every episode for 5 years, why didn't they just jail his ass for the remainder of the voyage ?

Maybe he's a master of hypnotism?
I guess their human compassion made them believe that someday, some way, Dr.Smith would change. That'll be one long wait, however!

To Muas: I discovered "jump the shark" about two weeks ago, and am hooked. (Why I didn't use your link at first, I'll never know.) The flaming and bacckbiting on the "Lost In Space" page is VERY entertaining, and I haven't even read all the posts yet.

Why didn't they jail (or kill) Dr. Smith? After the CBS executives saw the unaired pilot episode, they said they wanted a constant villain; this is why Dr. Smith was added in the first place. After the first few episodes, SOMEONE decided to have Dr. Smith change from a truly hateful villain into a "Long John Silver"-type villain (with a comedic twist). And those of you who know anything about the book "Treasure Island", know that Long John Silver was not only a crook who was with the group almost the whole time, but he also liked to spend a lot of time with the young boy Jim Hawkins. (By the way, the show had 83 episodes and ran for 3 years, not 5).
Also, at least half the time, "LOST IN SPACE" WAS POKING FUN AT EVERYTHING ELSE ... AND DID SO IN A WAY THAT STILL WORKED AS AN ADVENTURE SHOW FOR YOUNGER VIEWERS. They did an episode that poked fun at "Mutiny On The Bounty", they did an episode that poked fun at Westerns, they did an episode that poked fun at Arabian Nights, they did an episode that poked fun at Norse mythology, they did an episode that poked fun at knights in shining armor going on quests to slay dragons. And on and on and on. And all the dimwits show how ignorant they are because they can't tell that the show is actually poking fun at something else, in a way that still works as an adventure series for younger viewers.

As long as we're writing stuff about "Lost In Space", check out this website.

Jonathan Harris, the actor behind the cowardly sci-fi villain Dr Zachary Smith in the TV series Lost In Space, has died at the age of 87.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2403339.stm

Oh, the pain. The pain.

His passing is the most depressing, saddening news I've had since we lost our other famous doctor, Deforrest Kelley.
Would have loved to meet Jonathan Harris at a con.

Jonathan Harris was scheduled to appear at the Chiller Theatre Expo in New Jersey from Oct. 25-27, but dropped out a few days prior. I saw him there last year, but never got a chance to speak with him, something I now deeply regret.

Jonathan Harris died on Nov 3, 2002.

Lost In Space could easily be done as a new series in the "same universe". Think of it.

The Robinsons went back in time from 1999 to 1947 in the episode "Hostile Planet" (early third season - if first season is Sept 1997 to Aug 1998). They could easily have started subtle changes that ricocheted through time.

Already, there's been a change. Their launch date in "Reluctant Stowaway" was September something (20, I think), 1997, but in the episode about the "lighthouse" with Col. Fogey, the computer keeps saying a launch date in October. (Obviously, the producers didn't check back on the earlier episode, the same way that writers for I Love Lucy changed the Ricardos' phone number at least twice.)

So, something about their 1947 visit may have changed history at least once! Since the episode did not have them go through another time warp at the end to return to the 1990s, it is probable that the Robinsons are still in the 1940s, and may have set off other changes that eventually ricochet back to Earth.

Therefore, Earth's desperate population explosion that forced colonization of space may have abated for a while, and a new Lost In Space series could be set in, say, 2040 or 2070. Or... 2047.

If they do revive the series ("Lost In Space: The Next Generation"!), there doesn't need to be any reference at all to the 1997 expedition, since it will have never actually taken place in the altered time line... at least on Earth. When they get out in space, however, when the ship goes out of control and flies at hyperlight speed, it could pass through a space warp and the original 1997 flight now is real... with people some of whom "never existed" or lived entirely different lives. The new cast occasionally encounters evidence of the original cast's adventures from both 48-50 (before the time warp) and 98-100 (after the time warp) years ago.

Interesting, huh?

Geoff Capp

They did revive Lost in Space. It was called "Voyager".

Lost In Space's first season was released on DVD 1/13/04.
A nicely packaged set. All 29 episodes from the first season, presented in (I believe) broadcast order. Also, the original unaired pilot (titled "No Place To Hide") and the CBS network presentation are on disc 8. The only nit I have is that the two-part episode "The Keeper" is broken up onto different discs. Picture and sound quality are good, considering the show was made nearly 40 years ago.
Each disc has its own individual case, with an individual photo of a cast member (including the Robot) on each case. (Me, I would take the pictures to shows that the surviving cast members attend, so they can autograph them.)
The main menu is pretty cool. It's in the style of the opening credits for season one. No easter eggs so far, though. If anyone finds them, please either post here or e-mail me.
This is the way Paramount should be marketing Classic Star Trek- in boxed season sets, not the double episode discs they sell.

The DVD's inclusion of the original unaired pilot is a treat. It's interesting to see how much more serious the pilot was than the show that followed (in particular, a thoughtful John Robinson and his diary). Although, many Trek fans consider Trek's "The Menagerie" to be a most ingenious reuse of a pilot's footage, it must also be acknowledged that Lost in Space did a superb job with integrating new footage of the early episodes with that of the pilot. The addition of Dr. Smith and the robot really did enliven things. Considering what a clown Smith later became, perhaps it wasn't such a good thing after all.

The first season eps of the series were always my favorite. I simply can't stomach the high camp approach of the second and third season. I'll pass on buying the second season on DVD (even though it is priced around 27 bucks at many places). The third season contained a few good eps, the one where they return to Earth and the anti-matter man one. Perhaps, I buy that if it's only around 27 dollars. Though, it would contain that notorious turkey "The Great Vegetable Rebellion".

A couple of nits on the first two eps:

In The Reluctant Stowaway, the Robinsons are shown standing up, unsupported, in their suspended animation tubes. People can't stand when they're unconscious; standing requires both muscular effort and brain coordination. Those tubes also contain no restraints (which would prevent injury during turbulence). The standing glass tubes were purely for visual appeal.

In The Derelict, while outside the Jupitor II in spacesuits, both John and Maureen are overcome by the "heat" of a comet. Needless to say, comets are mostly ice.

Watching the first season, I have to say it's just not as well thought out as Star Trek or even Outer Limits. There are just too many plot holes and instances where the characters don't use common sense. For one episode only (The Hungry Sea), the planet has an unusual orbit causing severe cold then burning heat. How would the giant from the previous episode survice such conditions. Why, when the Robinsons enter cave ruins filled with wall paintings of its inhabitants, do the Robinsons show absolutely no interest (or even the slightest curiousity) in those paintings. It would have taught them a lot about the planet's previous inhabitants. Questions like this show up, episode after episode. Irwin Allen was definately no Gene Roddenberry. Was he only interested in action and special effects?

Treklon - In those days, NOTHING was as well thought out as Star Trek (the original series). If you don't believe it, just read "The Making of Star Trek", by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry (if you can FIND a copy of it!) and notice the comments regarding the differences between Gene R.'s way of doing things, and everyone else's way of doing things. Having said that, "Lost in Space" will always be one of my favorite shows, ANYWAY.
The giants might have entered a dormant phase. MAYBE. In any case, the planet had to be habitable in order to have a breathable atmosphere, and it had to have dangerous life-forms in order to be dramatically interesting.
We have no idea what John and Maureen were looking at when Will and Penny were getting trapped; alternately, John may have been looking for some specific other thing, figuring on looking at the paintings later.
Irwin Allen was interested in short-term commercial success; NOBODY knew that ANY show would - or could - become the cultural phenomenon that Star Trek became. And Irwin Allen GOT short-term commercial success. In those days, there were only 3 networks - ABC, NBC and CBS. CBS had "Lost in Space" for 3 years; during most of that time, ABC had "Batman" (the Adam West version) during the same time slot; and those 2 shows together pulled in such a large percentage of all available viewers that NOTHING that NBC came up with could get good enough ratings to survive being in that same time slot.

That barren planet wouldn't provide enough food to support the giant. A quibble though, as a kid watching reruns, I thought the scenes with the giant were terrifically entertaining-which was probably the only goal of Allen; to entertain.

OK, how about a new version of Lost In Space, where (A) the Jupiter 2 is actually large enough to contain everything that's supposed to be in it, but NOT as HUGE as in the 1998 film; where (B) the producers, writers and directors have some really good scientific/technical consultants, and (C) as in the original, everyone else is serious, but this time Dr. Zachary Smith is played by Jim Carrey?

You had me until Jim Carrey.

Me (4 years ago) - Dell/Gold Key Space Family Robinson/Lost In Space comic
My mistake. Dell never published that book. Dell & Western Publishing had severed their publishing partnership in 1962 then Western created the Gold Key imprint and some point afterward created Space Family Robinson.

I was reading about a British serial from 1960 called Pathfinders To Mars. One thing that caught my eye was a description of an imposter who stowed away on the spaceship & sabotaged it. He's further described as starting off sinister, but becomes more whimsical, but selfish, as the story goes along.

Hmmm... why does that seem familiar?

Re:Last Comment
You mean that Dr.Smith is in reality a frustrated S.F author...?

Oh, that wretched, weird & wonky Word! A pox! A pox on that greedy, grungy, gadfly Gates!

Didnt Jonathan harris die last year of something? what was it?

Probably an approaching alien.

Danger Will Robinson! Aliens Approaching!

According to this page at J&R.com,, Lost In Space was cancelled not because of low ratings, but due to money troubles at 20th Century-Fox. I know that despite the success of The Sound Of Music a few years earlier, Fox was in trouble due to the film flops Dr. Doolittle and Star.

Re: ADAM...

Yeah, it also hurt "The Planet of the Apes" series as well.

In the "Special DVD" that came with the "Apes" DVDs, Roddy McDowell pointed out that it was "Dr. Doolittle" & "Hello, Dolly!" that "helped" Twentieth Century Fox to cut back on the "Apes" movies budgets

Jonathan Harris passed away on November 3, 2002 of a blood clot in the heart, just 3 days before his 88th birthday.

Other Lost In Space facts, such as Marta Kristin being born in Norway, and Guy Madison and June Lockhart both being born in New York a year apart can be found at;

www.imdb.com

Guy Madison? Did you mean the late, great Guy Williams? I don't know of anyone whose last name was "Madison" being involved with "Lost in Space",
but then again, I don't claim to know everything. Care to enlighten us?

Uh, yeah, Madison, the uh...the caterer that, uh, everyday,um, bought Jonathan Harris his coffee, and um....AUGH! You're right. WILLIAMS, WILL, **NOT** MADISON!!! Where did I get Madison from??? Oscar Madison, maybe?? Naw. My apologies to the great Guy Williams.

By Royal Decree, I declare "Lost in Space" to be "awful".

By Royal Decree, I declare that I don't care.

Where's Fay Wray?

>Oscar Madison, maybe?

Can two divorced men share a spaceship lost in the interstellar wastes together without driving each other crazy? Dum dum dum dum dah dum . . .

TRIVIA: John Williams composed both themes from "Lost in Space"

Go to this site for more information on 'Lost in Space'. Click on 'Exclusives'; you'll find a most informative history of the show (in 2 parts). Also, under 'Who Are You?' (NOT under 'Exclusives'), is an on-line test to find out which of the characters you are most like.

"Danger! Danger!" I'm the Robot. (Somehow, I'm not surprised.)

"Oh the pain. The pain."

I turned out to be Prof. Robinson.

In the first season episode "Invaders From the Fifth Dimension", the robot is able to read John Robinson's thoughts. The robot mentions that brains emit waves which can be captured and computed. I don't recall this ability of the robot ever being used again. It seems that the robot would also have to be far more advanced to be able to interpret such waves.

Who did the voice of the Robot? Also Robby the robot in War of the Robots?

Dick Tufield was the name of the vocalist for the LIS robot.

If you have the "American Life" channel on your cable system (I don't think it's available on Dish or DirecTV), Thursday is "Irwin Allen Night" (my words, not theirs). Lost In Space, Time Tunnel, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Land Of The Giants all run in a block (with some replays) from 8 p.m. through 2 a.m. ET. More here.

Bob May, the man inside the Robot B9 suit, has passed away today at the age of 69 due to congestive heart failure.

Off and on, I've been rewatching eps of Lost In Space on the American Life Network. And I've gotta say, I cannot for the life of me understand why the Robinsons are so kind and concerned for Dr. Smith. They are entirely too kind and patient with Smith. Far more so than I'd be. Even if I didn't kill Smith, or abandon him on the nearest planet, I'd have him confined to his quarters forbidding him from going anywhere unattended by John or Major West. I mean, come on, Smith endangered their lives far too many times to be allowed to run free. I'd be concerned (legitimately, I think) that at some point, Dr. Smith would end up getting someone killed.

The episode "Prisoners of Space" is on right now. And there's a couple of nits in it. For one thing, a Galaxy Tribunal has imprisoned the Robinson Family, claiming they have violated space laws. They contain the crew with a force field around the camp. We're told there's no way to get through it. Uh, what about crawling under it? Looks to me there's a good two feet from the bottom of the field and the ground.

Smith escapes by digging a path under the field. (Again, there's no need for that. There's plenty of space to crawl under it.) The Tribunal are of course, angry that Smith has escaped. They threaten to send the Robinsons to a prison planet. Will offers to go find Smith for them. The judge in the Tribunal asks what guarantee they have Will will return. Will Robinson replies, "I promise." The judge accepts this. Awful trusting, ain't he?

But, it's Will!

I have the entire series on DVD and am only on Episode 4. I can see now where they gutted the original pilot to extend it out to several episodes (usually the coolest scenes). Still, a good way to pass some time.

Even if I didn't kill Smith, or abandon him on the nearest planet, I'd have him confined to his quarters forbidding him from going anywhere unattended by John or Major West. I mean, come on, Smith endangered their lives far too many times to be allowed to run free

You could ask the same thing as to why the castways always let Gilligan run around on the island.

Oh, yeah. I remember a comedian, can't remember who it was, who once said something like, "Seriously, how long would you let you Gilligan live on the island? Two, three weeks?"

I always wondered why the alien beings on the show "The Invaders" didn't just kill Roy Thinnes. They didn't have any problems with killing any other humans who learned of their existence, but they always left the series star alone.

From what I understand, no one believe David Vincent (the character played by Roy Thinnes). If the aliens killed him, people might start to wonder why. If he was a nut, why would someone kill him? That might get people thinking that perhaps Vincent was right all along, not a good thing for the aliens, who worked in secret.

Well, it depends on the episode. Vincent was chased and fired on many times, but like Kirk or Maxwell Smart, always evaded being killed. Other episodes the aliens capture him or talk to him, lulled into a false sense of security that they could kill him later or brainwash him.
I forget the episode title, but Vincent did die in one episode, only to be revived using alien technology inside a truck. It may have been a second season episode.

That was the second season's "The Ransom", with guest star Alfred Ryder playing the alien leader

Return From Outer Space

Why the heck does 1998 look so much like the 1940s?
Watching the episode I was convinced Will had ended up back in time, at least up till the aunt started mentioning remembering the Robinison's blasting off the previous year.
Not only did the makers fail to make anything approaching an accurate prediction of the future, they couldn't even get an accurate representation of the 1960s. They seemed to think small towns in America's "flyover country" was trapped in a time warp where everything was 20 years out of date. Yeesh!

Gee, Will frequently hangs around Dr. Smith & in The Sky Pirate he becomes friends with a space pirate.
Anyone get the feeling that Will is heading for a career as a mad scientist? He certainly seems attracted to the criminal element.

Rocket To Earth

Alto the magician makes a reference to the 3 rings of Neptune, which is just 2 off, but interesting, since we only knew for sure there were rings around Neptune in 1989 (although apparently a ring was detected in 1968 it's significance wasn't realized until 1977.)

Oh, what exactly was the point of destroying the planet at the beginning of the second season, indicating that the series might be moving from world to world, & then basically stranding them on another planet for most of the second season?

Well, if they had a functional ship, sooner or later they would have come to reason and decided to go back to Earth, which would have ended the series.

Ah, but they already passed by Earth in the 2nd or 3rd episode of the second season. Dr. Smith wanted to go there, but the Robinsons felt they had a mission to go to Alpha Centauri.

Frankly dropping off Smith & letting Earth know about all the various aliens they encountered would have made more sense, then they could try again to go to Alpha Centauri.

Oh, what exactly was the point of destroying the planet at the beginning of the second season, indicating that the series might be moving from world to world, & then basically stranding them on another planet for most of the second season?

And that planet was destroyed at the start of the third season. However, noticed that whenever they landed on a planet, it was more or less the same one? Guess Irwin Allen was too cheap to spring for a new set. Mind you, the man was notorious for cutting corners. Legend has it that when he heard that an alien's spaceship was budgeted at $10,000, he turned red in the face and screamed: "Let him walk!"

Ya seen one planet ya seen em all. ;-)

His cheapness does not surprise me. It's amazing how many aliens wear Earth-style clothes.

Revolt Of The Androids

I wonder what DC thought about the Superman style costume worn by the Super-Android IDAK?

Oddly enough with the blue trunks it resembles the NewDC52 Supes costume even more.

Revolt Of The Androids

I wonder what DC thought about the Superman style costume worn by the Super-Android IDAK?

One wonders if they got a call from the DC Legal Department.


I remember another episode in which Doctor Smith's cousin shows up! How did he know where they were? How did he get there? How did he leave? If he could find his way to the planet the Robinson's were on (this was in S2), they why couldn't they find their way back to Earth?

Curse Of Cousin Smith was the episode.

Course for that matter they kept running into all these travelers, some from Earth, IIRC Wild Adventure revealed that Earth had set up refueling stations for a trip to another galaxy & yet the Robinsons mission was to go to Alpha Centauri, the closest star to Earth's solar system.
Clearly the writers didn't have a clue about space & the distances to stars & galaxies therein.

BTW Hulu.com has Lost In Space & the other Irwin Allen shows if you were interested in watching them, but don't have the DVDs.

Cable station, ME-TV has also been running Lost In Space (and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) on Saturdays. If you happen to get that channel.

What? This board has been active since 2001 and there still hasn't been any mention yet of the series' wackiest episode "The Great Vegetable Rebellion"?!

Co-starring Stanley "Cyrano Jones" Adams, the crew encountered a planet with intelligent plant-based lifeforms, and Adams had to don a big carrot suit (!!) in order to play the mouthpiece for the vegetable-esque aliens. Very surreal if you ask me!

I know about this as it was listed in the "100 Dumbest Events In TV History" book I have referenced before on here, and there was a photo of Adams in the carrot suit with the caption "Tybo the Angry Carrot prepares to turn the Jupiter 2 crew into cole slaw." When I first read that, I laughed out loud. And then I read about the making of the episode itself, where the actors playing Judy Robinson and Don West had trouble keeping a straight face and staying in character when they were exploring the surface of this world, where all the plant life was apparently sentient and would make noises when stepped on and cry out in pain if cut. As for what happens to Tybo, I dont think the author of the book ever revealed his fate.

Anyway, I never did see the series, not even one episode. But the 1998 movie, well it was considered to be so bad that Michael Nelson of "MST3K" fame dedicated his "Movie Megacheese" book of bad movie reviews to "everyone who suffered through the abomination of the Lost In Space movie", and then added "You will heal."

One other LIS-related thing I do like is Bill Mumy's "The Ballad Of William Robinson" song which came out just before the stinker of a movie, and is included on the Dr. Demento compilation "Hits From Outer Space". It's cool!

I tend to view this show as a sitcom. Maybe that's not what it was intended to be, but that is what it became. It's fun to watch, just don't take it too seriously.

AMR - This board has been active since 2001 and there still hasn't been any mention yet of the series' wackiest episode "The Great Vegetable Rebellion"?!
Actually there were a few refs to it, although no actual discussion of it.

Here's a direct link to the infamous episode if you want to see it.

Here's some trivia from IMDB about "The Great Vegetable Rebellion:"

Due to their uncontrollable laughter during filming of this episode, Guy Williams and June Lockhart were written out of the next two episodes. Also, since this was the next to last episode of the series this, in essence, was the final appearance for both Williams and Lockhart as John and Maureen Robinson.
Since this episode aired in the same season as "The Trouble With Tribbles", I'd bet both episodes were shot within a fairly short time frame.

And here's a little factoid from IMDB about the series in general:

CBS Chairman William Paley, who prided himself on the fact that CBS produced quality, thoughtful programming, hated the show and couldn't understand why it was so popular. He instructed his executives to cancel it the minute its ratings dipped.
Paley was the CBS executive who ordered the cancellation of the still-popular Gilligan's Island in 1967, to make room for Gunsmoke. Never mind that westerns were on their last breath in 1967; Gunsmoke was Paley's (or his wife's; I've heard both) favorite show. Gunsmoke did continue for eight more years. Some of the more "thoughtful" programming aired by CBS under Paley included Hee Haw and The Beverly Hillbillies.

Paley was a moron, a dinosaur who's time had long since passed. Of course, it was a different world back in those days when it was the Big Three Networks and nothing but. Paley was cut from the same mold as the idiot that cancelled Star Trek.

LIS was much like Gilligan's Island in that people, like Cousin Smith, could find the Robinsons, but the Robinsons couldn't find Earth. No one they met (again Cousin Smith) bothered informing Earth where they were.

As far as The Great Vegetable Rebellion is concerned, I consider it the Spock's Brain of LIS

Adam - Paley was the CBS executive who ordered the cancellation of the still-popular Gilligan's Island in 1967, to make room for Gunsmoke.
As I heard the story Paley had either stepped down from the day to day running of CBS, or had actually retired, but was so respected that when he asked where Gunsmoke was on the schedule they felt the need to get it back on the schedule. He didn't cancel Gilligan's Island, whoever was in charge of the schedule did.

Never mind that westerns were on their last breath in 1967
And how long did Gunsmoke run after that? Didn't Bonanza run into the '70s? Technically Kung Fu is a Western...
Yes, like the buffalo we no longer saw great herds of westerns filling the TV schedule, but they did last for a while afterwards. (And still pop up from time to time.)

Tim - but the Robinsons couldn't find Earth.
Rewatch Wild Adventure. Once they got back into space they were able to figure out where they were (another galaxy) & they were passing by Earth, where Smith wanted to go, but the Robinsons wanted to get to Alpha Centauri.

Technically I think they were lost in the sense that there was no hope of recovery rather than not knowing where they were.

Not only Bonanza and Gunsmoke, but there were other late Sixties Westerns: The Big Valley ('65), Here Comes the Brides ('68), The Wild Wild West ('65), The Iron Horse ('66), Laredo ('65), Lancer ('68), among others. The '70s saw The Barbary Coast and Alias Smith and Jones, among others. It was in the '70s, that the Western genre died out, not the '60s. The Western movies were also enjoying their last gasp renaissance with such films as The Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid during this time period. In the late '60s, the Western genre was not as ubiquitous as it was in the Fifties, but hadn't quite died out yet. Again, that happened in the 1970s.

Getting back to Lost In Space, apparently, it was supposed to be a serious show. However, LIS had the misfortune to be opposite the campy Batman show. Batman proceeded to kick LIS's a** in the ratings.

So, Irwin Allen, in a decision that is controversial to LIS fans to this day, decided to make LIS campy like Batman. Episodes like The Great Vegetable Rebellion was the result.

I stand corrected, Keith and Benn. I went back to a site that showed the network TV schedules from the late 1960's after I posted that, and there were still a lot of Westerns on the schedule that I had forgotten about. Series like The Virginian, which ended its run (as The Men From Shiloh) in 1971, The Legend of Custer (a series that some ABC suit fought for, which forced the cancellation of The Time Tunnel) and Dundee and the Culhane. That show ran just half a season; from September through December 1967. If you want to get nostalgic, you can view the Fall, 1967 TV schedule (and I'm sure other seasons) at the aforementioned website here.
NBC tried a Western revival in 1981, with James Garner reprising his role of Bret Maverick. That series lasted just half a season as well.

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quote:

As far as "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" is concerned, I consider it the "Spock's Brain" of LIS.

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Thanks for the link, Keith, now I just *have* to see that episode for myself!

I felt sorry for Stan Adams for having to lumber around in that fugly carrot suit and have his face painted orange for that lame role. He also, as we are aware, portrayed the Tribble-providing nuisance Cyrano Jones on TOS, and again later on TAS. Sadly, he comitted suicide in 1977.

Anyway, LIS was cancelled shortly after the Vegetable Rebellion show aired. Somehow, I am not surprised by that. The show itself though, even though I have never watched it all the way through, didnt really seem *that* bad, especially in comparison to numerous other series that have aired. You know what I mean?

Oh well. I'm glad I brought it up in the first place, it seems to have sparked some intersting discussion. That's cool, I think!

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quote:

Cable station, ME-TV has also been running "Lost In Space" (and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") on Saturdays.

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Looked to me like Voyage was on last night (late night, after "Svengoolie"). But then, ME-TV's schedule seems a bit hinky. Weeknights at 10:30 (Central time), Perry Mason is supposed to be on air. Weekdays, at 11 in the morning, it might be 10 a.m., Hawaii Five-O (the original series) is supposed to be on. In both cases, it's Mission: Impossible that's on instead. It could be a local variation. Or the online schedule is simply not trustworthy. (Most likely the former, since the station has ads for Perry Mason and Hawaii Five-O. On the other hand, those ads could be outdated. But then, they just added That Girl to the schedule and are running ads for it. Something's not right.)

Incidentally, the eps of STAR TREK they air are the remastered versions. Which is curious given the nostalgic bent of the network. You'd think they'd air the original versions of the eps. But then, Paramount may no longer be making those available.

Me - Rewatch Wild Adventure. Once they got back into space they were able to figure out where they were (another galaxy) & they were passing by Earth, where Smith wanted to go, but the Robinsons wanted to get to Alpha Centauri
And yet just a year later in Visit To A Hostile Planet suddenly the Robinsons want to get back to Earth. Guess they finally decided to cut their losses and skip going to Alpha Centauri.

They also said America would land a man on the moon in 1970.

Would a cannon really hurt the Jupiter 2? This thing is designed to travel through space surviving things that travel a lot faster. Not to mention the force field.

Two Weeks In Space

Dr. Smith tells Will that the legal voting age is 21.
Well, it was when the episode was made, but since they left Earth in the 1990s... he should have said 18.

In the very first episode it was a meteor shower that pounded the Jupiter's hull and sent it off course (with Smith's help, of course), but I doubt a canonnon could do more than dent the hull.
The windoes are another story...

You can tell I was in a hurry;
'canonnon' and 'windoes'! In-deed!

Speaking of the first episode, or specifically the pilot that doesn't have Smith or the Robot in it, I saw it a couple days ago and I consider it the weakest pilot of Irwin Allen, compared to his pilots for Voyage, Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.

The beginning has too much time wasted on filming no-name technicians at control panels as they prepare to launch the Gemini-12 (it wasn't called the Jupiter 2, yet, nor did it sound like the Jupiter 2).
And they encountered so many dangers that they should have been killed so many ways.
1. Meteor storm- ship is pounded and should have been destroyed.
2. Ship crash lands on alien planet via automatic controls without a pilot and should have been destroyed.
3. There's a cold front approaching 6 months later, with temperatures dipping to -150 degrees F. Crew would have froze to death if they'd stayed.
4. Giant cyclops corners John and Don, but Will shoots it with a ray gun. They almost get killed.
5. They use the Chariot to escape the cold front, and encounter the giant cyclops again, this time it's throwing boulders at them (and missing). They should have been killed.
6. They cross a turbulent sea in the Chariot, and should have died since it ran out of power.
7. They enter caves and find signs of a dead civilization, only to encounter an earthquake. Should have been buried alive.
8. The last scene has two bald aliens spying on the Robinsons as they kneel down and pray.
Guess they might need to ask for His help if they're to survive that problem!

Honestly, it was sorely missing Smith and the Robot, and with too much happening to the Robinsons in one show, and less characterization.

The opening theme was completely different in graphics and music (since John Williams didn't do this one), but I give credit to a mysterious, haunting, sci-fi theme, but it's not nearly as hummable as the two LIS themes we all know.

They even abandon the spaceship, soooo...are they still 'lost in space', so much as 'marooned on a planet'?

They abandon the ship because it's going to drop below 150 degrees F, and John says they'd freeze to death. Um, like the way the ship protected you from the absolute zero temperature in space? I think space will always be colder than any planet, but it was the right choice, since they went south to live in the tropical zones with food and water in abundance.

I can't believe that crazy monkey/bloop, 'Debbie', dates back to this pilot!

They abandon the ship because it's going to drop below 150 degrees F, and John says they'd freeze to death. Um, like the way the ship protected you from the absolute zero temperature in space? I think space will always be colder than any planet

Actually, there are two good reasons for this to make sense. First, when in flight, the ship can draw power from its engines and can easily keep its interior at a comfortable temperature. The ship stranded on a planet does not have access to that power supply.

Second, space is a vacuum, which means the ship in flight can only loose heat by radiating it as microwave and infrared radiation, a process that is very slow and innefficient. On a planet with an atmosphere, heat can be carried away by conduction and convection, processes hundreds of times more efficient. Any significant wind would also greatly accelerate heat loss. The ship's life support systems might not be able to cope under those conditions.

"Scott McClenny; One nit:Just how OLD was Major West?He had to be at least in his early thirties to have made the rank of Major."

If we go by the actor's actual age at the time of filming, West (Mark Goddard) was 29. Kinda creepy having him flirt with Judy, who was supposed to be 19 at the time, and in full view of John and Maureen who approved! 10 years difference for their still-teen daughter? Ugh.
If the actors play the same ages as their characters, this is how old everyone was at the beginning of the series;
Guy Williams - 41
June Lockhart - 40
Mark Goddard - 29
Marta Kristen - 20
Angela Cartwright - 13
Billy Mumy - 11
Jonathan Harris - 51


"Mike Brill Why didn't they jail (or kill) Dr. Smith?"

Maybe in the Star Trek - Mirror Universe they would have done that, but the Robinsons were very spiritual, kind space travellers, willing to trust almost everyone until their true colors were shown. How could John kill Smith knowing how Will and Penny felt about him? The Robinsons weren't killers. During the first half of the first season, however, Smith was roughed up by West a number of times (in order to get information or the whereabouts of one of the Robinson kids), and was twice exiled from the ship, so they didn't put up with his shenanigans as easily as one remembers.

"Treklon; In The Hungry Sea why, when the Robinsons enter cave ruins filled with wall paintings of its inhabitants, do the Robinsons show absolutely no interest (or even the slightest curiosity) in those paintings. It would have taught them a lot about the planet's previous inhabitants."

And not only that, they find a humanoid skeleton, and only react in fear. Not a word about, hey, people were here before! Were they inhabitants or visitors? But, no. It's just a scary skeleton.

One of my biggest nits/pet peeves about the show is the incorrect shape of the full-size Jupiter 2. The edge of the saucer is seen protruding just above ground, but it's not the right shape. It curves in slightly, then drops straight down a couple inches vertically. Every model shot clearly shows the ship is completely smooth on the bottom as it curves towards the central flashy disc at the bottom. I don't know why this was never fixed, other than Irwin Allen seeing it, being told how much it would cost to fix, and shrugging his shoulders at the cost and likelihood that some guy in 2012 would point it out as a mistake.

Watching the Robinsons travel across the planet in their winter gear in the Chariot in 'The Hungry Sea' made me think of a present-day family travelling in their SUV.

The Robinsons gain a cute Earth dog in 'One of our Dogs is Missing', since it was from an early suspended animation capsule mission. Who knows what happened to the doggie after that, since it was never seen before.

Does that Bloop really look like a 'Debbie' to you? What made Penny choose 'Debbie'? Was Debbie a mean girl back home that teased Penny? Was Debbie an ex-girlfriend of Irwin Allen?

In 'The Oasis', the planet is suffering from extreme heat again, forcing the crew to wear little more than t-shirts up top. However, Smith still wore his black velour long sleeve shirt. Was he impervious to extreme heat? Was he modest?

In 'The Sky is Falling' (a title that only makes sense for the beginning of the episode), the Robinsons meet an alien husband and wife and their young son-- also space explorers, but they're mute and barely understand the Robinsons. The boy befriends Will, catches some human germs and gets ill. Will decides to help the boy by letting him rest in a nearby cave-- for about 24 hours! Both families can't find their sons, blame the other, and get into a laser gun fight. Why would Will keep the kid in a cave for a day? What did they eat? Why didn't he contact his family? Maureen was worried, but a day without seeing Will should have made her much more panicky. The alien father was played by Don Matheson, who would later star in Irwin Allen's other spaceship-stranded series, 'Land of the Giants'. Kevin Hagen played an alien in 'His Majesty Smith', and he, too, would find himself on 'Land of the Giants' as Inspector Kobick.

'The Sky Pirate' seems to me to be the point in the first season that would lay the ground work for the remainder of the shop. Will meets a space pirate, decides he wants to be one, too, despite loving devoted parents and two nice sisters and a friendship with Don and Smith and the Robot. It's explained later that the Pirate is actually a human pirate from Earth, captured by aliens 150 years ago, frozen and unfrozen until he escaped with one of their ships.
The tony capsule must also be dimensionally-transcendental like a TARDIS, because the inside is rather larger inside than outside. There were close-ups of the lone hatch and a couple control panels inside, which were clearly the rear exit of the Flying Sub from 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'.

The first season consisted of 29 episodes, just as Star Trek's first season did-- you just don't get that many episodes during any season of any present-day series these days.

The little ship of the Trader in 'The Space Trader' sure looks a lot like the ship Tucker flew in 'The Sky Pirate'. Must have been several made of that design (nudge nudge wink wink).

Everyone gets new clothing in 'Ghost In Space' courtesy of Maureen, including smith. For a few episodes Smith where's a light-colored sweater, giving him a friendly uncle look. The dark colored version comes back several episodes later, and suits him much better.

In 'The Keeper' a 2-part episode has a space traveller with a zoo of alien animals that he's collected across the galaxy, and now he wants humans in his zoo. Sound somewhat familiar? Parts are similar to Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek pilot with Captain Pike and The Keeper, an alien with a zoo of alien animals collected from across the galaxy, who now wants humans in the collection. I think CBS took some ideas from Roddenberry during their discussions.

During the first half of the first season, however, Smith was roughed up by West a number of times (in order to get information or the whereabouts of one of the Robinson kids), and was twice exiled from the ship, so they didn't put up with his shenanigans as easily as one remembers.

West even put him in one of the hibernation tubes so he wouldn't be any more trouble, But Smith had previously programmed the robot to check on his condition at regular intervals, and was thus freed shortly after. Why West didn't put him right back in there afterward is a mistery to me.

Also in 'One of our Dogs is Missing', Smith disassembles every weapon they have and leaves the pieces in a big heap. Maureen lamely tries to put at least one gun together, but fails. Once Will and the others return from an off-site expedition, he not only places all of the parts in neat, logical groups of the same part, not only does he reassemble several laser guns, but he also says that it wasn't hard or a big deal. I'm a guy from 2012, and I'm no feminist, but even I felt that remark is so sexist and belittling of Maureen's skills. An 11 year old boy was successful whereas she was inept and unable to even begin to know what to do. She's an astronaut, not June Cleaver in space, so she should have been at least partially successful. And there didn't seem to be any kind of instruction manual to put the parts back together.

In 'All That Glitters', Smith gains an alien device that allows him to turn everything into platinum-- rocks, flowers, and food, so he's going to die if he retains this power. Meanwhile, the women and he encounter a fugitive on the run, and an intergalactic policeman that's on the trail of the fugitive. The cop is Werner Klepperer, who barely looks like his Colonel Klink character, as he wears a helmet and moustache, and lacks his trademark monicle. With his power to turn anything into platinum, Smith displays a rare bravery (and a little of his original malevolence) as he threatens the policeman, who wants to take Maureen, Judy, and Penny into custody.

In 'the Lost Civilization, John, Don, Will, and the Robot discover an advanced underground civilization. So advanced, that sections of their control rooms look like the Seaview's missile room, the section of the Seaview's forward observation room with a spiral staircase and steel separation doors, and a circular floor hatch leading to a lower level. Can't fault Irwin Allen from saving money by using permanent sets from another show, but even back than a viewer of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would spot sets from the Seaview very easily. And don't tell me how the heck the Robot made it down that spiral staircase!

In 'Blast Of Into Space', the Jupiter 2 is forced to leave the planet, as a crazy space miner is tearing it up from the inside out. The planet is completely destroyed-- which means that every living thing we saw on the planet during the first season, including the little girl/sleeping princess, any other giant cyclops, and all other lifeforms that were still on the planet have gone to meet their maker.

'Wild Adventure' sees a weird green-skinned space siren make space passes at Doctor Smith. Originally, only he sees her, as she keeps ducking beneath the forward view ports. Problem; the ship is supposedly in flight, and we never see her anywhere near the ship during the model shots.
Smith also describes her as green skinned with green hair. That's a nit, since she doesn't display her hair! She's into a leotard costume that exposes just her face and it's attached to a...um...a salad bowl of some kind. Hm. Green skinned, sexy, a man can't resist...sounds like the CBS execs stole another concept from Roddenberry, after viewing his first pilot.

That Chariot is an amazing prop/vehicle. It seems like it actually works, like it actually can be driven. Does anyone know what ever happened to it?

I've noticed that Irwin Allen usually didn't give any screen credit to the actors in the monster suits, and sometiems even humanoid characters. The little boy of the alien family in 'The Sky Is Falling' is uncredited, despite having alot of screen time (albeit silent, as he and his parents are mutes).

In 'the Lost Civilization, John, Don, Will, and the Robot discover an advanced underground civilization. So advanced, that sections of their control rooms look like the Seaview's missile room, the section of the Seaview's forward observation room with a spiral staircase and steel separation doors, and a circular floor hatch leading to a lower level. Can't fault Irwin Allen from saving money by using permanent sets from another show, but even back than a viewer of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would spot sets from the Seaview very easily

Admiral Nelson called, says he wants his submarine back

Also in 'Blast Off Into Space", the Robinsons need to off-load as much excess baggage as they can manage to escape. This includes several recreational items like balls and tennis rackets, but one of the girls actually dumps fishing reels! Not only do reels weigh very little, I think fishing, to find find, would be a good idea to keep the equipment on board!

I meant 'fishing to find food'.

Some trivia;
Lost In Space was shown on CBS from 1965 to 1968 on Wednesdays from 7:30 to 8:30, and was followed by the 4th to 6th seasons of 'The Beverly Hillbillies', and the 1st to 3rd seasons of 'Green Acres'.
Against it on the other networks, NBC showed the 4th to 6th seasons of 'The Virginian'. ABC had the 14th and final season of 'Ozzie And Harriet' and the third and final season of 'The Patty Duke Show' in 1965, in 1966 it had season 2 of 'Batman' and the first season of a soon-to-be cancelled show called 'The Monroes', while the last season went up against the single season of 'Custer'.

'West Of Mars' was really bad. I mean, really, reeeeally bad. Smith is identical to a famous gunslinging bad guy called 'Zeno', who forces Smith to trade places with him. He's captured by a lazy sheriff played by Allan Melvin with his flying space jail, and Smith and Will ride stuffed animals on wheels to escape an old west planet.
Yeah.
And Zeno speaks with a sinister, teeth-grinding monotone and doesn't 'act' like Smith, but somehow everyone still assumes that Zeno might still be Smith, suffering from the effects of a concussion. It would have been Short Show Syndrome, had the writer simply had Smith refer to events that only he could know about to Will and Professor Robinson (things that happened aboard the Jupiter, what he wore or ate, etc), but he only managed lame examples.
It's the kind of episode I think people that don't like LIS think about as an example. If you thought the Great Vegetable Rebelion was bad, this is very close to its badness.

I noticed that during the first two seasons, every episode started with, "As you recall when last we saw Will/The Robot/Doctor Smith/the Robinsons..., which recapped how the previous episode ended.
This wouldn't happen in the third season, as the third season didn't offer a teaser at the end leading into the next episode.
And it occurred to me that whoever guest-starred in an episode would only get credit in the episode he or she appeared in, and not the teaser of the preceeding episode.

One of my longest memories of Lost In Space is the Jupiter 2 flying through the space warp in 'Visit To A Hostile Planet' from the third season. Seeing the ship slowly tilt side to side was awesome and frightening to me as a kid and I actually remember telling my friends about it.
The full-size mock up of the Jupiter 2 used for this episode is spectacular and must have cost a huge amount of money. I wonder where it is now? Or did the powers that be tear it apart?

'The Galaxy Gift' was the final episode of season 2 and featured what amounted to a cameo for Guy Williams and Mark Goddard. Don't know if it was the last one filmed, but as the supposed 'star' of the show and top co-star, it's a shame they didn't get a better season ender send-off.

In 'Condemned of Space', the Robinsons find criminals that have been frozen for over 200 years. I've always questioned such 'rehabiliation' or sentence, because if the person isn't aware of their surroundings or the passage of time, they're simply woken up, just as violent and still the same criminal that they were when they were frozen.
Luckily for the Jupiter 2 they can reason with the criminals who are released and take over the prison ship.

'West Of Mars' was really bad. I mean, really, reeeeally bad. Smith is identical to a famous gunslinging bad guy called 'Zeno', who forces Smith to trade places with him. He's captured by a lazy sheriff played by Allan Melvin with his flying space jail, and Smith and Will ride stuffed animals on wheels to escape an old west planet.
Yeah.
And Zeno speaks with a sinister, teeth-grinding monotone and doesn't 'act' like Smith, but somehow everyone still assumes that Zeno might still be Smith, suffering from the effects of a concussion. It would have been Short Show Syndrome, had the writer simply had Smith refer to events that only he could know about to Will and Professor Robinson (things that happened aboard the Jupiter, what he wore or ate, etc), but he only managed lame examples.
It's the kind of episode I think people that don't like LIS think about as an example. If you thought the Great Vegetable Rebelion was bad, this is very close to its badness.

Yeah, the camp silliness really got out of control as the seasons progressed. Someone should have told Irwin Allen to amp it down.

"A Day at the Zoo" used to have me laughing about Farnum and his multiple "control boxes". Well, one day in the late 80s or early 90s, I noticed that I had four control boxes around me.

The TV remote
The cable box remote
The VCR remote
The other VCR remote

It wasn't so funny any more. It was real life.

Now, the Las Vegas electronics show should have Farnum B. drooling with envy - no more control boxes, just following his hands or his eyes.

Steve McKinnon - re “The Sky Is Falling”, the Robinson party leaves important equipment behind more often than anyone can count. Logically, Will carries a laser and a communicator on each outing, but that shortens the story. (“Will to Jupiter II. I found the aliens’ boy. He’s not feeling well. Can you come out to a cave in sector 4C and help me get him home?”) They also seem to be able to replace lost/destroyed equipment, like all the time they surrendered their weapons or an alien made it disintegrate, or Smith throws one in a bog or something!


The set of the Jupiter II on a planet was built for the pilot, when there was no lower deck. Indeed, if you watch four of the first five episodes, you can tell the difference between pilot footage and later supplementary footage that was filmed to enlarge it into five episodes. Like the disappearing-reappearing airlock, the disappearing-reappearing control console chairs and astrogator enhancements. The in-flight model (maybe an arm’s length wide) was built to represent a single-deck ship, but by the third season (see “Ghost in Space”), the Jupiter II had two or three decks underneath the only one the model could possibly have!

I’ve conceptualized my own version of the Jupiter II, making the saucer some 30 percent larger in diameter, putting the “power core” on the lower deck and surrounded by a radiation-proof bulkhead from a doughnut-shaped lower deck area. The upper deck has the cockpit separated from the inner area, with freezing tubes (or whatever you want to call them) in that inner area. Transparent doors, which open like the doors on Koenig’s office on Moonbase Alpha (Space 1999) separate the cockpit from the inner area; adjacent rooms port of the cockpit include auxiliary consoles, an “engine room” and access to the power core. Don West’s quarters are right under the cockpit with a separate ladder nearby.

In one episode, Will hides from an evil duplicate of Smith by climbing onto the closet shelf in his quarters... clearly it was Mumy climbing up into an open area of the set above the closet!

In “The Sky Pirate”, Tucker explains he was the town bum in Punxutawney, PA.

Lost In Space might have only had 28 episodes, but I guess they might have had an extra one because of the work done to expand “No Place to Hide” into what became most of episodes 1, 3, 4 and 5. Episode 2 has the most original material of the five.

Yes, the Chariot was a drivable vehicle adapted from some tractors or something. What amazes me is that in “Blast Off Into Space”, they’re running out of time but obviously still drive it home and quickly break it down to get onto the ship. My redesign of the ship provides a garage near the aft end of the ship so it can be stored quickly, though “disassembly is recommended for flight”. And they may have gotten rid of a lot of equipment in that episode, but it didn’t take long to come up with replacements for the episode “Two Weeks in Space”. Even a “cash register”, vital colonization equipment, surely.

“Visit to a Hostile Planet” is not the only episode to feature the mockup of the Jupiter II with its landing gear down. It also was used in #2 “The Derelict”, #32 “Ghost Planet”, “The Great Vegetable Rebellion”. I assume it was little more than a shell with one landing strut fitted with steps, and the mockup of the ship with its top probably a trick distant shot of a small model. It might have been forced perspective of the Robinsons disembarking with a miniature far behind them and a careful camera position.

The many examples of the crew, Smith in particular, coming up with costumes, tools, toys, and other things, and the many examples of consumables that have to be replaced (carbon tetrachloride, new filters, new windows, etc.), as well as animal products for food (eggs, milk, bacon, etc.) convinces me that, although not hinted at until the episode “The Space Vikings”, the Jupiter II has a matter replicator. It probably wasn’t functional for the first few weeks after a crash landing, but when restored was of limited output and meant for essentials and some other supplementaries needed for health reasons.

However, the Robinsons frequently are unable to use the device for necessities because Smith keeps using it for his own larks and notions, thus depleting its reserves. This would explain how Smith comes up with so many things that obviously weren’t in the ship’s original cargo at liftoff at Cape Kennedy in Florida, including Smith’s sleepwear, his home brew barrels and equipment (“The Prisoners of Space”), and new windows for the chariot (like in “The Keeper, Part 2" and “Blast Off Into Space” when Smith’s statue busts a window as it demands the cosmonium).

If Smith simply cooperated, the Robinsons could probably fully supply their needs, repair the ship, and get on their way without so many problems!

I would be most interested in knowing if, had the show run a fifth season, Irwin would have a concluding episode with the Jupiter II reaching Earth or Alpha Centauri. Three years earlier from when that would be (1970), “The Fugitive” had its concluding episode. I also wonder what Irwin would have done with “Land of the Giants” if it had gone past two seasons. I’d have hoped that the show would better explains the orbital dynamics or dimensional physics of the relationship between Earth and whatever planet - seemingly hidden from Earth - the Giants live on.

They also seem to be able to replace lost/destroyed equipment, like all the time they surrendered their weapons or an alien made it disintegrate, or Smith throws one in a bog or something!

They must contract out to the same company that replaces Voyager's shuttles.

Voyager HAS replicators, and engineers that can use them to build new shuttles. They have to have SOMETHING to do on that long journey home.

I came across this information about the Chariot by accident on a website called carlustblog.com....

"The Chariot" was a real, full-sized, fully operational vehicle, both in real-life and in the 1960s' fictional future. It was used to transport the Robinson family, pilot Don West, the robot, and the conniving Dr. Smith to virtually anywhere on whatever planet they would happen to be crash-landed on that week.
The Chariot was filmed on both the studio soundstage and at remote outdoor locations, which gave the show one of its few points of technical credibility. We never saw how the Robinsons stored the vehicle; I always assumed it folded neatly into the belly of the Jupiter II.
This futuristic "Family Truckster" began life as a Thiokol Snowcat Spryte, powered by a Ford 170-cubic-inch inline-6 with 101 horsepower. It had a 4-speed automatic transmission, plus reverse. I hope there were some alien gas stations along their way, as the stock vehicle got 4-8 miles per gallon and came with a 15-gallon fuel tank. That's a 120-mile range at best.
Weighing in at 3,200 pounds, the Spryte could carry another 1,000 pounds of personnel, cargo, laser guns, and model B-9 robots. The track is a 4-ply rubber-covered nylon belting with tubular steel grousers. I hope the Robinsons had a few spare grousers around when they needed one.
The Chariot's factory running gear was kept intact, but all of the bodywork was designed to look like what a space family of the future would drive in 1997, when the show takes (... uh, took?) place. A bulbous plexiglas enclosure, climate control, a safari rack, extra seats, superfluous blinking lights, spinning antennae, and a roof-mounted glass bubble were fitted, as well as a never-seen platform for the cybernetic robot to perch on.
The last known owner of the Chariot is Chris Tietz, of San Fernando Valley, Calif. In the mid-1970s, Chris was skiing at Big Bear and noticed a vehicle remarkably similar to the one from Lost In Space--of course, it turned out to be one and the same. When that skiing operation shortly thereafter went out of business, he bought the retired TV icon for restoration. But that's where the trail runs cold."

There's a fantastic website called;

www.scifiairshow.com

It has extremely realistic, life-size images of not just the Jupiter 2, but also the Flying Sub, Spindrift, Eagle 4, and other famous TV and movie spaceships, rendered as if they're outside on display at an airshow, complete with people checking them out.

I'd also highly recommend the short 7-minute movie on the website, detailing the Jupiter 2 and her vehicles.

Anonymous said on November 21, 2002:

"The Robinsons went back in time from 1999 to 1947 in the episode "Hostile Planet" (early third season - if first season is Sept 1997 to Aug 1998). They could easily have started subtle changes that ricocheted through time.
Already, there's been a change. Their launch date in "Reluctant Stowaway" was September something (20, I think), 1997, but in the episode about the "lighthouse" with Col. Fogey, the computer keeps saying a launch date in October. (Obviously, the producers didn't check back on the earlier episode, the same way that writers for I Love Lucy changed the Ricardos' phone number at least twice.)
So, something about their 1947 visit may have changed history at least once! Since the episode did not have them go through another time warp at the end to return to the 1990s, it is probable that the Robinsons are still in the 1940s, and may have set off other changes that eventually ricochet back to Earth."

He or she contradicts themselves when first Anon says the Lighthouse's launch date for the Jupiter 2 is in error, then later suggests that since we didn't see the Robinsons return to the future, they must still be in 1947.

Obviously, since 'The Haunted Lighthouse' was an episode about a half-dozen shows after 'Visit to a Hostile Planet', the Jupiter 2 flew back through a time warp to their proper time sometime betqeen episodes, which would be the year 2000, since the lighthouse's computer (in actuality, an American refueling space station), notes that the Jupiter 2 has been lost in space for 2 years, several months, and several days.

'The Space Creature' proves, indisputably, that the Jupiter 2 is dimensionally transcendental (bigger on the inside than the outside) like a TARDIS. As Will tries to search for his missing family members, he exits a door near the Space Pod door on the upper level, walks past about 15 feet of corridor where supply boxes are stored, and climbs down a ladder into the Power Core room. There just isn't enough room beyond the walls of the upper level, let alone the lower level, to account for all this extra space.
I know Irwin Allen had an anything-goes mentality about science and alien life forms, but even he must have thought to himself, "The Jupiter 2 can't be this big inside!"

In 'Two Weeks In Space', two aliens enter the Space Pod compartment, by passing through the bulkhead door. However, the door moves upwards into the ceiling. Where does it go? The Pod is on the upper level, and the ceiling has perhaps one foot of shielding, conduits and steel between the inner ceiling and the outer hull.
So where does the door go?

And 'Two Weeks In Space' makes absolutely no sense, since the story revolves around Smith turning the grounded Jupiter 2 into a vacation resort for aliens.
Nobody is out in space.

Not making sense never stopped Irwin Allen.

I've recently finished watching every episode of Lost In Space over the course of almost a year and after watching the third season, I noticed a distinct difference in the Will / Smith relationship.
Whereas in the first two seasons, Will's naivity was his own worst enemy, and pretty easily duped, in the third season Will displays frustration and irritation with Dr.Smith, when Smith is about to make a mistake.
It's no longer You're-an-adult-so-you-must-know-better-than-me from Will; it's more like don't-be-a-dummy-doctor-smith-and-if-something-bad-happens-you'll-look-like-a-fool.

And after watching all of them, I can state that The Great Vegetable Rebellion isn't the Number One stinker of LIS. That would go to West Of Mars, Princess of Space, The Questing Beast or perhaps The Promised Planet.
It's true, that Stanley Adams dressed as a carrot-man, and Smith turning green with a rejected Carmen Miranda celery hat make this episode the stinker that everyone remembers it as, but the concept still held merit, ie. intelligent plants that attack humans or animals, and take over their minds and bodies.

They just had to forego the carrot suit in favor of a different kind of plant man, and not call it The Great Vegetable Rebelion. Rebelion of the Plants would have sufficed. After all, Smith actually enjoys becoming more plant-like, his mind altered by the plant life, and loses his identity.
It could have been quite chilling, if played a little straighter.
And it could have been worse; thanks to Jonathan Harris refusing to act with a talking Llama, the purple-skinned character of Willoughby was inserted instead. But check out the end credits; it still mentions the Llama!

Despite his refusal to perform, Harris wasn't punished, but apparently Guy Williams and June Lockhart were. Two of the last episodes filmed were Space Beauty and Fugitives In Space, neither of which possesses so much as a cameo from the supposed two main stars of the show!

It's frequently surprised me how the script writers weren't able to fit in Penny or John or Maureen or Judy into many episodes, giving us just 4 or 5 of the cast.

Also in Space Beauty, Smith enters the Jupiter 2 to tell Don that a 'starship' had just landed nearby. Starship? Looks like the writer, Jackson Gillis, had watched an episode or two of Star Trek, since I can tell you now that that was the only time 'starship' was ever uttered by anyone.

I don't expect it to happen, but if they could remaster the episodes, I'd like a few changes made. In "Forbidden Planet" (fourth episode of second season - I think that's the title), their crash wasn't as bad as in "Island in the Sky", so I'd like to think that right before landing, Don fired all the fuel they had left, shunted as much power as he could to electric thrusters to try and cushion the landing.

In "Blast Off Into Space" (second season opener), the ship moseying around in one limited area looks very lame. I'd have the ship accelerating horizontally as the planet's crust blew out here and there. Far in the distance ahead is a wall of fiery lava erupting from a massive fracture, and to one side is an enormous cloud bank of steam from a boiling ocean (the Inland Sea). Jupiter needs to reach escape velocity before it hits the wall of lava and is seriously damaged. Don is working furiously to fix the thruster control circuit as occasionally fissures open in the surface they're flying over. The skin of the ship is pierced by falling debris, Don slams a patch in place. The atmosphere is getting extremely toxic and hot. Finally, in the nick of time, he gets the thrusters working and John arcs Jupiter into a steep climb, passing through the upper fringes of the lava fountain as sections of the planet's crust blow away nearby, John announces "there goes the planet!", then more major sections of crust blow away as Jupiter climbs into space, leaving a planet with only a few sections of crust and mostly the raw underflesh of the mantle.

The guy who used the fire extinguisher might think, "aw gee, after I came to the rescue of the prop?!", but it would be visually more exciting, and show that John at least was working at getting up speed and momentum.

On DVD saw Lost In Space 3.14 Castles in Space in Spanish.
However it wasn’t Spanish all the way through. It reverted briefly to English in a scene when the Robot was singing. It seems translating the English singing and therefore the English dialogue that took place during it was something of a non-starter.

I assume it wasn't some public domain song, in which case it was edited out for the Spanish broadcast to avoid paying the music royalties.

Despite repeated attempts as a child, I could never get into this show.

In The Derelict, as the Jupiter 2 goes around the large ship looking it over, two things are a bit weird. First, Jupiter 2 is clearly flying with the derelict on its left, yet views from inside the ship shows the derelict almost in front of it. Second, the derelict slowly spins clockwise while the Jupiter 2 goes around it the other way, so the stars should be drifting to the right across their view through the window, but they are completely motionless.

First, Jupiter 2 is clearly flying with the derelict on its left, yet views from inside the ship shows the derelict almost in front of it

This nit also occurs in almost every episode of Star Trek.

The Enterprise is shown orbiting with the planet on its left, yet the viewscreen shows the planet as if it were directly below the ship.

Of course with Star Trek you could argue that the port cameras are filming the planet & that is what's showing on screen.

I can't remember if the Jupiter 2 had a camera/viewscreen setup or if it actually had windows.

Of course with Star Trek you could argue that the port cameras are filming the planet & that is what's showing on screen.

Yeah, but that would complicate things for the helmsman, who appears to rely on what's on the viewscreen quite a lot.

I can't remember if the Jupiter 2 had a camera/viewscreen setup or if it actually had windows.

It's an actual window, no viewscreen.

Lost In Space 2018 trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXusHt8L2Zk

Full 2018 trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSih-z7ucxQ

The Sydney Sunday Telegraph tv guide of April 1-7 2018 has a piece on Parker Posey on playing the female Dr Smith in the new Lost In Space.

The article writer Holly Byrnes stated that Lost In Space fans have almost immediately embraced the gender change of Dr Smith and that unlike “the controversy which surrounded the gender switch made by producers of Doctor Who, Posey had a long pedigree for making the weird seem wonderful.”

Netflix series

Impact:
Series opener.
Read from the end credits that this is a remake of the original unaired pilot No Place To Hide.
No Place To Hide did not have the Robot and Dr Smith but Impact has a limited appearance from the former and the latter appears only at the end and I will come back to her later on.
Quite unexpected that this starts off with the Robinsons already in the Jupiter 2 which then crash lands.
Harrowing that Judy got trapped in ice.
This Lost In Space is the latest to incorporate flashbacks regularly in its narrative and interesting to see what went on before including how Will got on this mission.
Parker Posey makes her debut as Dr Smith in a flashback at the Resolute.
As it turned out the female Dr Smith wasn’t the real Dr Smith as she stole the real Dr Smith’s jacket to get access to a space pod.
Much has been made about Parker Posey being the female Dr Smith but this isn’t really a gender switch for a long established character but a woman taking on an identity that belonged to a man within the narrative.
One reviewer made a pun of Parker Posey’s surname as she was really a poser in taking Dr Smith’s identity.
The real Dr Smith was played in a cameo by Bill Mumy who was Will Robinson in the original series. One can only imagine what the late original Dr Smith, Jonathan Harris would have made of Mumy who he had worked mostly in the original series, taking on his character even for this one brief moment.
Mumy was definitely the right person to play the real Dr Smith due to how much of the original series was dominated by Will and Dr Smith.
The Resolute is a space station and Mumy had previously been in a space station Babylon 5.
Mumy had also guest starred in Babylon 5’s rival Deep Space Nine in The Siege of AR-558 although his character there was not on the said DS9.
I knew that the Netflix series was going to be different from its 1960s predecessor but it was sure quite an Impact in blowing me away in launching the series.

Netflix series

Pressurized:
Episode 7.
A lot of emotions here as Judy and Don lost one of their own.
John and Maureen sure had a moment alone and when they got out the latter spoke with a helium voice to amusing effect.
Good bonding here between Will and Penny.
What a decision Victor makes at the end perhaps much sooner than expected.

Netflix series

Trajectory:
Antepenultimate episode of the series/season.
Judy tells Maureen the truth about Dr Smith and Maureen locks Dr Smith in a storeroom.
Funny the number of times John gets killed in a simulation.
Also funny Don being yielded to go on the mission with John by Penny’s sad puppy dog eyes.
Smith breaks out of the storeroom and knocks Maureen out whilst the latter was overseeing the mission.
This leads to the shocking cliffhanger of the explosion of the ship with John and Don in it.

Two questions, Matthew.

1. Who is Victor?

2. And where did they find the Robot?

From Wikipedia:
“Victor Dhar, an educated and officious man with a sense of entitlement. Victor has been a career-builder and politician from a young age. His arrogance and impatience masks an underlying fear that it will be discovered that he is not quite good enough”

Will found the Robot on the planet that the Robinsons were on.

In the Doctor Who novel Sick Building by Paul Magrs, the Tenth Doctor says to Martha about what people in the 1950s thought the future was going to look like:
“It’s all a bit Lost-in-Space-y, isn’t it?”

Marta Kristen of "Lost in Space" said she was offered the main role of "Lolita" (1962), but that her parents turned it down. Hayley Mills was offered the part of Lolita as well, but her parents said "no".

Netflix series

Precipice:
Season 2, Episode 2.
A kelp was really pesky as it bit Don's leg.
Quite intense with Maureen and Penny being saved being in the water.
What an ending with Smith hiding some other kelp as the crew detect the Resolute.

Netflix series

Run:
Season 2 , Episode 5.
Moving that flashback of the Robinsons seeing Judy doing her presentation and how it reflects
on the present day as Judy doing a rescue on John.
Quite a jam that Penny was in before being saved by Vijay.
Quite the smugness that Smith displayed to Penny as Penny can't prove anything against her.

Netflix series

Evolution:
Season 2, Episode 7.
This is an episode of the second season Netflix Lost In Space and David Tennant's own second season had its own Evolution with Evolution of the Daleks.
Unlikely allies that John and Smith makes.
Hastings does not intend to take everyone leading the Robinsons to make the decision to rebel and that is quite an unexpected development.

Netflix series

Shell Game:
Penultimate episode of season 2
Fun when the Robinsons kids play the shell game as they borrowed a Jupiter.
Smith says where no man but was stop from finishing that sentence no doubt as a reminder that Lost In Space and Star Trek had started off as rivals in the 1960s and perhaps still are.
Harrowing for the Robot by what Hastings does to it.

Netflix series

Ninety-Seven:
Season 2 finale.
Within the episode, the episode title refers to a Jupiter having room for 97 children.
However it is obvious that Ninety-Seven is in reference to 1997, the year the original series was set at.
Quite a fight the robots have with each other.
Quite an ending to the second season with the discovery of the Fortuna, the ship that had vanished twenty years before and commanded by Grant Kelly, Judy's biological father!

A neat little short video with new CGI effects for a Jupiter 2 crash.

https://youtu.be/ae6Xq90DHT4

This reminded me of this video by someone who went into the desert and found the exact location where the crash scene was filmed, 40 years later.

The third season of the Netflix Lost In Space to be released next year 2021 will also be its last.
Its 1960s predecessor had also ended with its own third season.
However unlike its 1960s predecessor, the Netflix series will have its storylines wrapped up due to the knowledge of the final season something that the 1960s series did not have the benefit of.

However unlike its 1960s predecessor, the Netflix series will have its storylines wrapped up due to the knowledge of the final season something that the 1960s series did not have the benefit of.

Except that the 1960's series didn't have the continuing storylines that the modern series does. In those days, all the episodes were pretty much standalone.

It was not until the arrival of prime time soaps, like Dallas and Dynasty, in the 1980's, that the concept of continuing storylines in prime time shows began.

Syndication - where local stations would shuffle episodes like a UNO card deck - meant that continuing storylines were impractical.

Had continuity been a thing, it would not have killed them to present the episodes in their proper order.

Technically, stations do show series in order, at least as far as I've noticed with the original Star Trek and TNG. They seem to start with what was televised first ('The Man Trap'), then the next 77 episodes in the same order that were first televised in, and ending with the last episode ('Tunabout Intruder').
For all I know they've been doing the same for everything from 'Gilligan's Island', to 'Cheers' to 'Knight Rider' to 'Baywatch'.

Nitpick in "The Hungry Sea". The Robot was left out in the blistering heat, and surely should have suffered numerous melted components, rendering it forever inert.

On the other hand, defending that endurance, in "Junkyard in Space", the Robot survived the Junkman's melt-down furnace.

So, in 1996-97, Earth technology was capable of building a machine durable enough to survive those temperatures on the outside, and well-insulate its interior from extremes of temperature?

It IS an "environmental control robot", intended to determine the safety of environments, and Maureen suggested sending it out to check the planet in "Island in the Sky" while they were in orbit. But any simple instrument on board could determine if the temperature was too hot or cold.

Netflix series

Stuck:
Season 3, Episode 5.
The crew of the Jupiter 2 have survived crashed landing on the planet but are scattered around.

Interesting to see them struggle with this situation including Don being a father to a chicken and telling it what to do and not to do!

Intriguing end with information that got relayed back to SAR.

Netflix series

Contingencies on Contingencies:
Penultimate episode.
It has taken 56 years but the Robinsons have finally reached Alpha Centauri!
Hastings makes a return which I wasn't expecting but gets killed soon afterwards and signs points to the Robot as the perpetrator.
Intriguingly this set the stage for SAR's impending arrival on Alpha Centauri.

In the episode, Return From Outer Space, Will uses an alien device to send himself back to Earth. He arrives in a small New England town and has a heck of a time convincing the townsfolk of who he is.

Although this was supposed to be 1997, the town looks like it was in the 1940's! One could be forgiven for thinking that the device also sent Will back in time. However, the townsfolk do mention the Robinson expedition and Alpha Control, so that can't be it.

Guess Irwin Allen didn't want to spend the money to make the town look futuristic.

As much as I like reading about bloopers, actually seeing them on video is always better. A youtuber called Outsider 238 has created 3 very thorough half-hour videos for each season of Lost In Space and he's probably caught many of the same nits listed here, but I think he's got many more that we never noticed.
Here's the video for season 1;

https://youtu.be/uhWpw7Jq8ew

Yeah, I've seen these.