LOST IN SPACE
Aw man, you found me! I guess that makes me "It"! Well this is everybody's buddy Oddcube here saying "Hello! And welcome to the column!"
So, if you've been here before you all ready know how this goes. But if you never haven't not ever been here before, then you're in for a life-defining experience! So what's it all about, anyway? Well, I'll tell ya: the internet is an ever-ongoing institution where any uninformed idiot can invite any and all to observe his or her unwarranted opinions...and this is where I announce mine! Except, of course, as a courtesy to the fine folks over at Abandoned Towers Magazine (except NO substitutes!) I make the concerted effort to disguise my unqualified ramblings as a review column. ...In fact, you're reading it now!
So what sort of things do I review? That's the best part! I get to talk about almost anything that I want! Books, movies, TV shows, and other miscellaneous things and stuff. Although I do try to find the strange and obscure stuff that you might have missed or forgotten about and tell why it's still cool! Or, conversely, why it should be avoided like a rabid wolverine!
This time around, I'm gonna talk about Irwin Allen's classic sci-fi show "Lost In Space"! Boy was I excited when I found this childhood favorite at Netflix! I remember thinking that Dr. Smith and the Robot were just the FUNNIEST thing, and decided right on the spot to do a review on it!
First, though, I have to give the behind-the-scenes scoop. Inspired by the book "Swiss Family Robinson", Irwin Allen (who also created the shows "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "The Time Tunnel", and "Land of the Giants") came up with a show he wanted to call "Space Family Robinson". Unbeknownst to him there was already a comic book published by Gold Key Comics using that name and concept, and a lawsuit ensued, which resulted in a change of the show's name and the addition of the characters of Dr. Smith and the Robot (you know, two of the three characters EVERYone remembers!).
The show ran on CBS from September 15, 1965 to March 6, 1968, encompassing 83 episodes over three seasons. The original pilot centered on the Robinson Family and Dr. Donald West (yes, he was a scientist in the original pilot!), who were shot into space with the intention of colonizing a habitable planet in the neighborhood of Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, the pilot was pretty dull. So between that and the lawsuit from Gold Key, Dr. Smith and the Robot were added to the show and Don West was changed to a pilot.
The cast included Guy Williams (who used to be Zorro!) as Dr. John Robinson; June Lockhart (who used to be on "Lassie" and "Petticoat Junction"!) as Dr. Maureen Robinson; Mark Goddard as Major Don West; Marta Kristen as older daughter Judy; Angela Cartwright (who was in "The Sound of Music"!) as younger daughter Penny; and Billy Mumy (who grew up to become half of novelty musical group Barnes & Barnes and then was Lennier on "Babylon 5"!) as child prodigy Will; and "special guest star" Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith. One cannot forget The Robot who was performed by Bob May in the suit, and Dick Tufeld provided the voice. By-the-by, the Robot was designed by Robert Kinoshita, who also designed Robby the Robot for "Forbidden Planet" (and appears in not one, but TWO episodes of "Lost In Space"!).
And the story changed a little, too. Some other government wants to be the first to colonize an alien planet, so they have promised Dr. Smith an obscene amount of money to sabotage the Jupiter 2. So he rigs the Robot to start breaking stuff after takeoff while the Robinsons are in suspended animation. Unfortunately for him, he does NOT get off the ship before takeoff. His added weight throws off all the calculations and the ship was thrown slightly off course...right into a meteor shower! As if that wasn't bad enough, the Robot's sabotage programming kicks in, and it destroys some consoles! The Jupiter 2 lands on an unidentified alien planet, which just HAPPENS to have a breathable Earth-like atmosphere.
From here out it becomes a sort of "Gilligan's Island" in space. They manage to meet all sorts of aliens, many of them capable of leaving the planet...but the Robinsons remain trapped. At first, Dr. Smith was intended to be killed off, his role of sabotaging the mission now complete, but for some reason, the character was kept through the remainder of the season.
Granted, he was the only character on the show that had any character at all. All the other characters of the main cast were pretty bland. However, upon re-watching Season One, I found him to be totally annoying! I mean, okay, I can get that he was shifty and sinister and sold out to a rival government. But once they get into space all he does is whine about how he wants to go back to Earth. ...Ok, I can dig that, too, but he doesn't seem to want to get back to Earth badly enough to help accomplish that! He lays around doing his best to do nothing at all, and refuses to conserve supplies when it means any sort of personal sacrifice or inconvenience. He lies, cheats, steals, and/or uses EVERY other character not once, but time and time again!
To make matters worse, the Robinsons forgive and forget his actions time and time again! I mean, come on! I agree we all should strive to be good people, but there's got to be a limit! Whether motivated by greed, cowardice, or slothfulness, Dr. Smith's actions constantly endangered the lives of innocent people, including women and children! He needs just one good butt-kicking, but Robinson refuses to do it, and won't even let Major West do it! The worst Smith gets is a "stern talking-to" (several times) and it never does any good. Obviously Dr. John Robinson is Lawful Stupid.
I only re-watched Season One because it was supposed to be the one that was "straight sci-fi adventure", as opposed to Seasons Two and Three which were more campy and comical, to the regret of various cast members. The first few episodes were the best, and I'm pretty sure of where they intended to kill off Smith. But somebody somewhere really liked him, because he not only lived through the entire run of the show, but actor Jonathan Harris was allowed to rewrite scenes of dialog to develop his character. I understand that with Season Two the show shifted to more prominently feature Dr. Smith, Will Robinson and the Robot, but I couldn't take any more.
It's not all bad; there is some cool stuff in the show. They had a flying saucer, a jet pack, and a robot so coolness has been achieved right there. Plus, they had an amphibious RV to go cruisin' over alien lands and seas. They had nutritional protein pills way before NASA and Pillsbury developed their Space Food Sticks. They also had those shiny silver reflective blankets, which were newly developed by NASA. In later seasons, they also had a space pod.
The stories of the first season weren't bad, either. They salvaged star charts from a derelict alien spacecraft, explored parts of an alien planet including an underground lost city, and fought to survive against extreme temperatures, indigenous alien animals, and visiting extra-terrestrial troublemakers.
Despite its good or bad points, the show only ran for three seasons. A fourth season was expected, but was abandoned. Why? Well, there seems to be some debate about that. The most often stated reasons include budget cuts, that it was disliked by a network exec, low ratings, or a lack of interest among the cast.
But even though the show ended, its legacy endured! There was an official comic book, scripted by Bill Mumy himself, not to be confused with the original "Space Family Robinson" comic published by Gold Key. There was a novel based on the series written by Dave Van Arnum and Ron Archer (who used the name Ted White). A Hannah-Barbara cartoon was featured on the cartoon anthology series "The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie". Then, of course, there was the big movie production with William Hurt, Gary Oldman, and Matt LeBlanc. And the WB commissioned a pilot for a remake back in 2003 that was directed by John Woo, but was not picked up as a series. Not to mention tons of merchandising, the coolest of which HAS to be the limited edition, completely authorized authentic reproductions of the Class M-3 Model B9, General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot which is mechanized, motorized and operated by remote control with all sorts of features including over 500 voice tracks by the Robot's original voice, Richard Tufeld. This is no joke, if you 25K lying around with nothing to use it for, you can go to http://www.blogger.com/www.lostinspacerobot.com and buy your own!
So what's it all come to? Well, I was glad to revisit the stories, because I couldn't remember a single one from my childhood. I still think that Will Robinson was about the coolest 9-year old on TV, and that the Robot was totally wicked! I am disappointed; however, that Dr. Smith annoyed me so much. Like I said, I recall him being very funny when I was in single-digits, but now I just wanted to sock him in the jaw. The Robinsons are a typical 60's TV family, and get along with one another far better than any real-life family I've ever met. But that makes sense to me; I mean you would need that sort of a family for this sort of mission. I don't think a family as dysfunctional as the Robinsons in the movie would be good for such a mission. And although I found Dr. John Robinson annoying that he wouldn't lash out at Smith, in a way I kinda respect that, too, I guess. I mean, he didn't condone violence, and utterly refused to fight against any intelligent being if it could be avoided, and no matter what Smith did, Robinson never faltered. West on the other hand was perfectly willing to smack him down, but Robinson wouldn't let him. Mostly, I think the show would have been better if they had killed off Smith as they originally intended.
So I guess that's another childhood memory mostly ruined. But at least this time it's not because some Hollywood director tried to "update and improve" it and ended up ruining it in the process. And yes I do mean "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe". No, this time it's only because I've changed as I grew up. I guess I can't blame any Hollywood director for that. Must be my family's fault then. Remember folks, psychology teaches us that everything wrong with us is our family's fault!
Anyway, I can't just say "this is my opinion" cuz that doesn't look formal to pass off as an official review column. So I've got to assign a rating, and to do that I'm going to roll my handy-dandy D&D percentage dice! In case you don't know it, percentage dice are two ten-sided dice. One is the tens place, and one is the ones place and they're used to determine a random number between 01 (Danger, Will Robinson!) and double 00, which actually means 100 (a pleasure folded into a rapture wrapped in a euphoria). So I'll just give them a good, un-biased roll just like that...
Aw man, you found me! I guess that makes me "It"! Well this is everybody's buddy Oddcube here saying "Hello! And welcome to the column!"
So, if you've been here before you all ready know how this goes. But if you never haven't not ever been here before, then you're in for a life-defining experience! So what's it all about, anyway? Well, I'll tell ya: the internet is an ever-ongoing institution where any uninformed idiot can invite any and all to observe his or her unwarranted opinions...and this is where I announce mine! Except, of course, as a courtesy to the fine folks over at Abandoned Towers Magazine (except NO substitutes!) I make the concerted effort to disguise my unqualified ramblings as a review column. ...In fact, you're reading it now!
So what sort of things do I review? That's the best part! I get to talk about almost anything that I want! Books, movies, TV shows, and other miscellaneous things and stuff. Although I do try to find the strange and obscure stuff that you might have missed or forgotten about and tell why it's still cool! Or, conversely, why it should be avoided like a rabid wolverine!
This time around, I'm gonna talk about Irwin Allen's classic sci-fi show "Lost In Space"! Boy was I excited when I found this childhood favorite at Netflix! I remember thinking that Dr. Smith and the Robot were just the FUNNIEST thing, and decided right on the spot to do a review on it!
First, though, I have to give the behind-the-scenes scoop. Inspired by the book "Swiss Family Robinson", Irwin Allen (who also created the shows "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "The Time Tunnel", and "Land of the Giants") came up with a show he wanted to call "Space Family Robinson". Unbeknownst to him there was already a comic book published by Gold Key Comics using that name and concept, and a lawsuit ensued, which resulted in a change of the show's name and the addition of the characters of Dr. Smith and the Robot (you know, two of the three characters EVERYone remembers!).
The show ran on CBS from September 15, 1965 to March 6, 1968, encompassing 83 episodes over three seasons. The original pilot centered on the Robinson Family and Dr. Donald West (yes, he was a scientist in the original pilot!), who were shot into space with the intention of colonizing a habitable planet in the neighborhood of Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, the pilot was pretty dull. So between that and the lawsuit from Gold Key, Dr. Smith and the Robot were added to the show and Don West was changed to a pilot.
The cast included Guy Williams (who used to be Zorro!) as Dr. John Robinson; June Lockhart (who used to be on "Lassie" and "Petticoat Junction"!) as Dr. Maureen Robinson; Mark Goddard as Major Don West; Marta Kristen as older daughter Judy; Angela Cartwright (who was in "The Sound of Music"!) as younger daughter Penny; and Billy Mumy (who grew up to become half of novelty musical group Barnes & Barnes and then was Lennier on "Babylon 5"!) as child prodigy Will; and "special guest star" Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith. One cannot forget The Robot who was performed by Bob May in the suit, and Dick Tufeld provided the voice. By-the-by, the Robot was designed by Robert Kinoshita, who also designed Robby the Robot for "Forbidden Planet" (and appears in not one, but TWO episodes of "Lost In Space"!).
And the story changed a little, too. Some other government wants to be the first to colonize an alien planet, so they have promised Dr. Smith an obscene amount of money to sabotage the Jupiter 2. So he rigs the Robot to start breaking stuff after takeoff while the Robinsons are in suspended animation. Unfortunately for him, he does NOT get off the ship before takeoff. His added weight throws off all the calculations and the ship was thrown slightly off course...right into a meteor shower! As if that wasn't bad enough, the Robot's sabotage programming kicks in, and it destroys some consoles! The Jupiter 2 lands on an unidentified alien planet, which just HAPPENS to have a breathable Earth-like atmosphere.
From here out it becomes a sort of "Gilligan's Island" in space. They manage to meet all sorts of aliens, many of them capable of leaving the planet...but the Robinsons remain trapped. At first, Dr. Smith was intended to be killed off, his role of sabotaging the mission now complete, but for some reason, the character was kept through the remainder of the season.
Granted, he was the only character on the show that had any character at all. All the other characters of the main cast were pretty bland. However, upon re-watching Season One, I found him to be totally annoying! I mean, okay, I can get that he was shifty and sinister and sold out to a rival government. But once they get into space all he does is whine about how he wants to go back to Earth. ...Ok, I can dig that, too, but he doesn't seem to want to get back to Earth badly enough to help accomplish that! He lays around doing his best to do nothing at all, and refuses to conserve supplies when it means any sort of personal sacrifice or inconvenience. He lies, cheats, steals, and/or uses EVERY other character not once, but time and time again!
To make matters worse, the Robinsons forgive and forget his actions time and time again! I mean, come on! I agree we all should strive to be good people, but there's got to be a limit! Whether motivated by greed, cowardice, or slothfulness, Dr. Smith's actions constantly endangered the lives of innocent people, including women and children! He needs just one good butt-kicking, but Robinson refuses to do it, and won't even let Major West do it! The worst Smith gets is a "stern talking-to" (several times) and it never does any good. Obviously Dr. John Robinson is Lawful Stupid.
I only re-watched Season One because it was supposed to be the one that was "straight sci-fi adventure", as opposed to Seasons Two and Three which were more campy and comical, to the regret of various cast members. The first few episodes were the best, and I'm pretty sure of where they intended to kill off Smith. But somebody somewhere really liked him, because he not only lived through the entire run of the show, but actor Jonathan Harris was allowed to rewrite scenes of dialog to develop his character. I understand that with Season Two the show shifted to more prominently feature Dr. Smith, Will Robinson and the Robot, but I couldn't take any more.
It's not all bad; there is some cool stuff in the show. They had a flying saucer, a jet pack, and a robot so coolness has been achieved right there. Plus, they had an amphibious RV to go cruisin' over alien lands and seas. They had nutritional protein pills way before NASA and Pillsbury developed their Space Food Sticks. They also had those shiny silver reflective blankets, which were newly developed by NASA. In later seasons, they also had a space pod.
The stories of the first season weren't bad, either. They salvaged star charts from a derelict alien spacecraft, explored parts of an alien planet including an underground lost city, and fought to survive against extreme temperatures, indigenous alien animals, and visiting extra-terrestrial troublemakers.
Despite its good or bad points, the show only ran for three seasons. A fourth season was expected, but was abandoned. Why? Well, there seems to be some debate about that. The most often stated reasons include budget cuts, that it was disliked by a network exec, low ratings, or a lack of interest among the cast.
But even though the show ended, its legacy endured! There was an official comic book, scripted by Bill Mumy himself, not to be confused with the original "Space Family Robinson" comic published by Gold Key. There was a novel based on the series written by Dave Van Arnum and Ron Archer (who used the name Ted White). A Hannah-Barbara cartoon was featured on the cartoon anthology series "The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie". Then, of course, there was the big movie production with William Hurt, Gary Oldman, and Matt LeBlanc. And the WB commissioned a pilot for a remake back in 2003 that was directed by John Woo, but was not picked up as a series. Not to mention tons of merchandising, the coolest of which HAS to be the limited edition, completely authorized authentic reproductions of the Class M-3 Model B9, General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot which is mechanized, motorized and operated by remote control with all sorts of features including over 500 voice tracks by the Robot's original voice, Richard Tufeld. This is no joke, if you 25K lying around with nothing to use it for, you can go to http://www.blogger.com/www.lostinspacerobot.com and buy your own!
So what's it all come to? Well, I was glad to revisit the stories, because I couldn't remember a single one from my childhood. I still think that Will Robinson was about the coolest 9-year old on TV, and that the Robot was totally wicked! I am disappointed; however, that Dr. Smith annoyed me so much. Like I said, I recall him being very funny when I was in single-digits, but now I just wanted to sock him in the jaw. The Robinsons are a typical 60's TV family, and get along with one another far better than any real-life family I've ever met. But that makes sense to me; I mean you would need that sort of a family for this sort of mission. I don't think a family as dysfunctional as the Robinsons in the movie would be good for such a mission. And although I found Dr. John Robinson annoying that he wouldn't lash out at Smith, in a way I kinda respect that, too, I guess. I mean, he didn't condone violence, and utterly refused to fight against any intelligent being if it could be avoided, and no matter what Smith did, Robinson never faltered. West on the other hand was perfectly willing to smack him down, but Robinson wouldn't let him. Mostly, I think the show would have been better if they had killed off Smith as they originally intended.
So I guess that's another childhood memory mostly ruined. But at least this time it's not because some Hollywood director tried to "update and improve" it and ended up ruining it in the process. And yes I do mean "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe". No, this time it's only because I've changed as I grew up. I guess I can't blame any Hollywood director for that. Must be my family's fault then. Remember folks, psychology teaches us that everything wrong with us is our family's fault!
Anyway, I can't just say "this is my opinion" cuz that doesn't look formal to pass off as an official review column. So I've got to assign a rating, and to do that I'm going to roll my handy-dandy D&D percentage dice! In case you don't know it, percentage dice are two ten-sided dice. One is the tens place, and one is the ones place and they're used to determine a random number between 01 (Danger, Will Robinson!) and double 00, which actually means 100 (a pleasure folded into a rapture wrapped in a euphoria). So I'll just give them a good, un-biased roll just like that...
...and end up with a 49! Gee, no wonder Guy Williams quit his acting career and retired to Argentina after the show.
But hey, you don't have to take my word for it! You can check it out yourself. You can rent the discs from Netflix (and I think you have to have the discs to watch the original unaired pilot!). Or you can stream every episode for free on IMDB.com or Hulu.
Well, I guess that's about all I have to say about that. So I'll wrap this up and tell you to come back and find out what I talk about next time! I know I will! So be there and be square!
-----Your Buddy, Oddcube
Buy books. Mention this post when ordering any book from a Cyberwizard Productions imprint, and receive 10% off your next order.
But hey, you don't have to take my word for it! You can check it out yourself. You can rent the discs from Netflix (and I think you have to have the discs to watch the original unaired pilot!). Or you can stream every episode for free on IMDB.com or Hulu.
Well, I guess that's about all I have to say about that. So I'll wrap this up and tell you to come back and find out what I talk about next time! I know I will! So be there and be square!
-----Your Buddy, Oddcube
Buy books. Mention this post when ordering any book from a Cyberwizard Productions imprint, and receive 10% off your next order.
