Seemed like a very low-budget space opera of a pilot. Major casting changes are: no Dr. Smith, Penney is a baby, Robot looks like something you'd make from a kit. Oldest child "David" is added to the family. John Robinson is no longer an Astrophysicist/Geologist. He's now a military commander/hero. Don is also in the military (and is in awe of war hero Robinson). Wiki calls Don a "Lone Wolf", but he comes across as a pro in the pilot. There is no mission to send a family to Alpha Centauri to find room for an overpopulated Earth. The Jupiter 2 is basically a residential pod attached to a large transport ship. When the ship is attacked, the Jupiter 2 is detached and escapes via a handy space vortex. Very violent for an episode of Lost in Space. Very adult and dark as well.
Upon meeting Don at a party, Judy is the aggressor and spends the night with him. (In the original TV series, Don didn't TOUCH Judy until mid-season (other than a supposed off screen kiss on the hand), when he picked her up to rescue her from an alien monster.) Added child David is seemingly killed after being captured by aliens as the Jupiter 2 escapes. So, the series would've started with the entire family in mourning over losing their oldest child. I don't know if the producers intended for David to return later in the series or not.
The casting was fairly impressive. Mom and dad are your usual attractive WB parents. Judy and Don aren't far off the mark. Will is played by Ryan Malgarini, the kid from Gary Unmarried. He grew into being a cool little actor, so I think he would've made for a decent Will Robinson.
I finished watching the first season. Here's my quickie review of the season:
No Place to Hide (Unaired Series Pilot) A great pilot with a 50's sci-fi feel. Very serious with a Twilight Zone air about it (without the twist ending). More Swiss Family Robinson than the actual series.
The Reluctant Stowaway Smith and Robot are added to the pilot. Still serious. Serves as a first chapter as Irwin Allen chops up his original pilot footage into a series of episodes.
The Derelict Space Family Robinson come in contact with their first aliens. The remainder of the first season takes place on one planet, so this episode sticks out as a unique space encounter. Some spooky memories from my childhood.
Island in the Sky The search for Prof. Robinson is on as he falls onto an alien planet. Bloop makes the scene! This is the first point where you wonder why Dr. Smith isn't put to death for repeatedly attempting to kill the crew of the Jupiter II.
There were Giants in the Earth Awesome footage of the Bell Jet Pack in use. The giants (guy in a suit) look pretty damn good considering the effects in use in that time. The Robinsons find out that their planet has huge shifts in temperature, causing them to drive south to avoid freezing, then north to avoid roasting. This is rarely mentioned again during the rest of the season, even though they're on this same planet! Some of the best footage from the pilot, including the jet pack flights and Will running around shooting aliens with his blaster.
The Hungry Sea This episode pretty much wraps up the process of creating episodes around the footage used in the unaired pilot. Not much going on, with the Robinson's roasting in the hot sun and crossing an ocean as they trek back to their ship.
Welcome Stranger Here's where things get good. All of the pilot footage is used up and we start with new, stand alone episodes. The Robinsons run into American astronaut James Hapgood, played by Warren Oates. How can you not like an astronaut in a cowboy hat? Giant child-eating plants, space cowboys... awesome. The footage of Hapgood's spacecraft blasting away from the planet will be used repeatedly throughout the series. It'll become the stock shot that will be shorthand for "departing spacecraft".
My Friend Mr. Nobody As stated above, one of the better episodes of the first season. No great effects, just a disembodied voice acting as friend and monster. Dr. Smith has his first exposure to space treasure (our first view of the greedy Smith).
Invaders from the Fifth Dimension The singing group The Fifth Dimension does not make an appearance. A decent episode, but nothing special. Our first view of humanoid aliens. Good acting on Mumy's part.
The Oasis This is where the camp begins. The already limited water rations are missing: cut to Dr. Smith singing in an outdoor shower as the Robot hoses him down. Alien fruit has weird effects on Smith and Debbie (Bloop), the hilarity ensues. This was serious sci-fi for me back in the 60's. I can see the cast wondering what the hell was going on as the series started to morph.
The Sky is Falling This is a creepy one. A family of alien mimes interacts with the Robinsons. No fun in this one.
Wish Upon a Star The first of the wish fulfillment episodes. Seems like the Robinsons are frequently finding alien devices that grant your every wish. Prof. Robinson is the first to see this going wrong. You'd think that the rest of the crew would learn their lesson after this episode. Some more camp silliness as the cast has to don a silly hat to get their wishes granted.
The Raft Will comes up with the idea of building a smaller ship with parts of the Jupiter II (since they can never seem to find enough fuel for the big ship). Not a ton of story here, but the plant monster du jour is stuck in my memory as one of the scarier plant monsters.
One of our Dogs is Missing Another boring little episode. Is there a monster and a dog? Is the dog really a monster? Is the dog a spy for the monster? And what happens to the dog? We never see him again in the series...
Attack of the Monster Plants Just three episodes later, we have another alien wish fulfillment episode. This time it makes copies of everything, including an evil Judy Robinson (evil versions are always hotter). A great little plot with intelligent plants and Dr. Smith evicted from the ship (once again).
Return from Outer Space Will is transported back to Earth, but everyone in the small town thinks he's crazy. Something that Irwin Allen did fairly well was to refrain from going crazy when it came to futuristic fashion. This 1960's show is set in the 90's, and yet the fashions stay fairly similar. He goes a step too far with this little town, where people use phones from the 30's and have to call an operator to connect them. A weird episode that was pretty tense for my little six year old brain.
The Keeper (Parts 1 and 2) Here's the real deal. The series kicks into high gear for the next chunk of episodes. Michael Rennie shows up as The Keeper, looking for occupants for his space zoo. He wants the kids and the Robinsons are powerless to stop him. Holy crap this was scary for little kids. Irwin Allen reuses every previous monster for the zoo (even the giants are shrunk down to fit). Best couple of episodes of the season.
The Sky Pirate Pure fun. Albert Salmi is Alonzo P. Tucker, Space Pirate. Robot parrot on his shoulder, ridiculous pirate accent... how can Will not fall in love with the idea of becoming a space pirate? Fun, fun, fun till Tucker blasts off (with his space ship looking suspiciously like that of James Hapgood).
Ghost in Space Okay episode helped by an invisible monster. Nothing creepier than watching invisible monster footprints being made. Nothing funner than watching Don West and John Robinson get their asses whipped by an invisible monster. (Bonus: Dr. Smith holds a seance to contact the monster.)
War of the Robots Here it is... the two most famous robots of all time pitted against each other. Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet is found by Will Robinson. THE BEST ROBOT FIGHT OF ALL TIME. This is 50's sci-fi at its finest.
The Magic Mirror Get this. You fall into a mirror and enter a mirror universe where you can see through every mirror in your old universe. MICHAEL J. POLLARD AS THE CREEPY ALIEN TEEN! Penny works her way through one of the creepier episodes. This one had little me frightened of mirrors. ...and Michael J. Pollard.
The Challenge Will competes in the feats of strength with little Kurt Russell! Complete with Festivus pole! Guy Williams fences with electric swords against Michael Ansara! Williams and Ansara pit their kids against each other... seriously... this is a ton of fun for a little kid.
The Space Trader You can write this one yourself. Space Trader arrives... Smith sells out... you can see where this is going.
His Majesty Dr. Smith Another evil twin episode... or is it? If Dr. Smith is evil, then his twin is good? Will the Robinsons even WANT the real Smith back? Jonathan Harris gets to chew the scenery in this one as Emperor Smith. Silly but fun. An evil alien laboratory that is right out of a local horror movie host's late night show.
The Space Croppers Hillbillies in space! And one of them might be a space werewolf! Not as great as it sounds. But space Ellie Mae Clampett is played by Sherry Jackson, the hottie android Andrea from Star Trek and Terri from Make Room for Daddy.
All that Glitters Don't laugh. Verner Klemperer (Colonel Klink) shows up as a space policeman, complete with silver army helmet. Strange but fun episode that includes Dr. Smith chasing treasure and the ladies fending for themselves as the men-folk search for water.
The Lost Civilization Will finds a very young sleeping princess, he gives her a smootch, things go crazy. This creepy episode was creepier for young boys who watched as Will got himself caught in a marriage proposal with a little girl. As a kid this episode really freaked me out. DANGER WILL ROBINSON!
A Change of Space Will takes a ride in an alien craft and returns as a genius. What is a genius in this universe? Someone who can see the plot and characters as the viewers at home do. Will sees right through Dr. Smith. It's as if a TV critic has been inserted into the episode in order to chastise the cast for their ridiculous behavior. A nice change as Smith has to fess up and give Will some straight answers. (Bonus appearance by Savage Dragon.) Follow the Leader I'm sure Guy Williams loved this episode. Prof. Robinson is possessed by an evil alien bent on commandeering the family and their ship. Not a great episode, but some nice acting on Williams' part. Eerily, the possessed Robinson walks around with a mask from Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Adds a level of creepiness. The cliffhanger at the end of this episode doesn't lead to the next season, but to a re-run of a previous episode. I didn't realize that they did this during the first run. The first episode of the second season actually begins by mentioning the most recently aired episode, which was a re-run taken from the middle of the previous season.
His Majesty Dr. Smith Another evil twin episode... or is it? If Dr. Smith is evil, then his twin is good? Will the Robinsons even WANT the real Smith back? Jonathan Harris gets to chew the scenery in this one as Emperor Smith. Silly but fun. An evil alien laboratory that is right out of a local horror movie host's late night show.
Is this the one where the alien factory mass-produces androids by heating and injection-molding lumps of plastic? I vaguely recall that one. I watched lots of reruns of this series when I was a kid.
Great capsule reviews!
_________________ The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
Bill Mumy and Mark Goddard interact with one of the Lost in Space Facebook groups that I follow. It's hilarious because they usually just step in to pull the reins back when people get out of hand.
Billy Mumy jumping in to tell people where the bathroom was located on the Jupiter II so people would get a life.
Goddard telling people to quit the "I heard one of the actors say something bad about the other actors at a convention!" stuff.
And then everyone giggles because the actors stopped by.
Bill Mumy shops at the same comic store I do. Last night we were talking about the Action #1 that sold on eBay and he mentioned that when he was on Lost in Space, his dad wouldn't let him buy an Action #1 for $200 in 1965. He said that once he was an adult, he bought a Detective #27 for $5000 in the 70s.
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