raysond
Interesting points here on the commemoration of the show's 50th anniversary. First off, it was creator-producer-director Irwin Allen's second television series after the phenomenal success of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea",and his first weekly television series for CBS. "Lost In Space" was the first big-budget, prime-time science fiction/fantasy action-adventure series for television that originally aired on its Wednesday night time slot in prime-time. "Lost In Space" ran for three seasons airing from September 15, 1965 until March 6, 1968 producing 83 episodes. Only the first season was in black and white producing 29 episodes that ran from September 15, 1965 until April 27,1966. The next two seasons of the series produced 54 episodes in color(Season 2 consisting of 30 episodes and the third and final season 24 episodes)that ran from September 14, 1966 until March 6, 1968 for Irwin Allen Productions/Twentieth Century-Fox Television and the CBS Television Network."Lost In Space" had a top-cast of well known and respected actors that included Guy Williams("The Legend of Zorro"), June Lockhart("Timmy and Lassie"),Jonathan Harris("The Third Man",and "The Bill Dana Show"), Mark Goddard("Robert Taylor's The Detectives",and "Johnny Ringo")and Marta Kristen("The Man From UNCLE"),and two of the best child actors of the era Billy Mumy("The Twilight Zone"),and Angela Cartwright("Make Room For Daddy").Throughout it's impressive three season run and 83 episodes(more episodes than Star Trek on NBC)it was usually the highest- rated show in its time slot(going up against NBC's The Virginian and usually coming in neck to neck with Batman on ABC,believe it or not). The series boasted top name writers for some of the episodes ranging from Peter Packer to Carey Wilbur, Barney Slater, William Welch, Allen Balter, Jack Turley, Robert and Wanda Duncan, Herman Groves, Irwin Allen, and William Read- Woodfield. Top name directors ranging from Don Richardson, Sobey Martin, Nathan Juran, Ezra Stone, Harry Harris, Sutton Roley, Jus Addiss, to Leo Penn, Irving J. Moore, Leonard Horn, Alvin Ganzer, Paul Stanley, and Alexander Singer.Big name guest stars ranging from Albert Salmi, Michael Rennie, Kurt Russell, Warren Oates, Michael J. Pollard, Gerald Mohr, Henry Jones, Malachi Throne, Liam Sullivan, Vitina Marcus, Strother Martin, along with Mercedes McCambridge, Francine York, Sherry Jackson, Kevin Hagen, Daniel J. Travanti, Arte Johnson, Alan Hewitt, Lyle Waggoner, Al Lewis, and Richard Basehart. Spectacular art direction by William Creber(of Fantastic Voyage and Planet of the Apes),make-up by John Chambers(Planet of the Apes),and an iconic Robot designed by Robert Kinoshita(Forbidden Planet and Fantastic Voyage),and ultra-cool theme songs and music by John Williams(of Star Wars and Jaws fame). It had alien chimps(Debbie the Bloop in Season 1),one-eyed cyclopeses,and even talking carrots. What made the series stand out was it's cliffhangers during the first 2 seasons with the family facing constant peril and danger where it left viewers in suspense("To Be Continue...NEXT WEEK...Same Time, Same Channel)until the next episode and so much more. The format cliffhangers from the first 2 seasons would change over by the show's third and final season.Getting to the episodes and let me say that the show's first season opens with five dramatic and suspenseful episodes that rival some of the best science fiction stories out there ranging from the pilot episode "The Reluctant Stowaway" to "The Derelict". Then there were the other three that also stood out from "Island In The Sky","There Were Giants In The Earth",to "My Friend, Mr. Nobody", the two-part episode "The Keeper",and "The Hungry Sea" where the first season hits a road bump with "Welcome Stranger" which was very dramatic in its impact. Then the show takes a lurching turn in "The Sky Pirate". Season 2 picks up where the Season 1 left off this time in color with several good episodes ranging from "The Prisoners of Space","Trip Through The Robot",and "The Ghost Planet". The third and final season of the series saw "The Anti- Matter Man", "Hunter's Moon", "Visit to a Hostile Planet",and "Condemned of Space" stood out as the best episodes of the series. The worst episodes that came out of Lost In Space's three-year run consisted of the worst of them all "The Great Vegetable Rebellion",and from there the episodes got even worst and some outrageously over the top and ridicious ranging from "The Thief of Outer Space", "The Space Croppers", "Princess of Space", "Castles of Space", "The Questing Beast", "The Girl From The Green Dimension", "Space Beauty", "West of Mars", "The Curse of Cousin Smith",and "Mutiny In Space".When "Lost In Space" was abruptly canceled in the Spring of 1968 after three seasons and 83 episodes the powers that be over at CBS didn't waste any time in finding a replacement on it's Wednesday night prime time schedule for the 1968-1969 season which was the another action/adventure series from creator-producer Ivan Tors called "Daktari" that eventually replaced "Lost In Space".
Ed Shifres
The Lost in Space (1965) TV series is my very favorite TV series of all time and always will be my favorite.When I first saw the CBS-TV promo spots in the Summer of 1965, I was immediately consumed by this concept of a Swiss Family Robinson in space. The concept was intriguing: Family (which represents warmth, love and survival) in the environment of Space (cold, vast, mysterious).All through my life, I have never been fascinated by any series or film more than the first five episodes and first season of glorious black & white. While the second and third seasons were in color, the story lines took a more campy route for better ratings competition with ABC's Batman - a higher rated series. Lost in Space's first season was nothing short of fabulous. In my opinion, the original concept was magnificent and unmatched by any science fiction concept...ever. From the fantastic and charismatic cast, to the beautifully haunting Bernard Herrmann incidental music within the episodes, to some wonderful guest stars such as Michael Rennie, this series has given me some of the greatest joy of my life...and always will. I had the privilege to have met June Lockhart, Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen, and Bob May...all were so gracious and appreciative of their fans. I so much loved this series and its history, I regarded the Robinsons as "my second family" and I had a need to write a book about it, so I authored Space Family Robinson: The True Story (Windsor House, 1996) and the success led to a republish as Lost in Space: The True Story (Windsor House, 1998).Ed Shifres
babyfir77
I'm so glad this show is available on DVD. It is a great, entertaining program. My teenage boys love it, my wife still does, too.We love it for the characters and stories. None of the lead characters are uninteresting. Of course, there are some clunker episodes. We find it hard sitting through The Questing Beast and Mutiny in Space. But fortunately the weak is far exceeded by the great and classic. The first season is considered the best, mainly because it keeps a more serious tone than the following seasons. It did get comedic but never as much as the colored seasons (case in point, West of Mars, ugh, another one I dislike).Many memorable characters appears, from Mr. Nobody to the Keeper, from Megazor to Kronos. I just wish more fans would rate more of the episodes. Invaders of the Fifth Dimension is rated way too high, whereas The Golden Man much too low. But everyone can enjoy the ones they like.The music is especially fantastic. Yes, I used to watch the show back in the Sixties. The good ol' days. No VCRs so you better catch the show in its initial run!!!!!
RNMorton
I don't think so.Essentially a Gilligan's Island on a foreign planet. The Robinsons and their posse (including unsolicited passenger Harris) endured weekly crisis from visiting aliens, indigenous threats, etc. At the time the scoop was that their network passed on Star Trek (a much better candidate for best TV sci-fi ever) because they already had signed this cartoon-level show. Lost In Space is now being shown on the American Life Channel (also known as the Combat! Channel). The episode just shown, "Wild Adventure" - which covers their space travel post-first-planet - was just about the most INANE piece of sci-fi in prime time history. It's too simple for my seven year old, my three year old thinks it's great, so that gives you some idea of the sophistication. On the negative side, there's the cheap sets, the stretched story lines (this could have been a half hour show in a snap) and the general credibility. I mean, if I was in charge Dr. Smith would have gone missing after an hour or so on the new planet. On the plus side, the robot was great (even if it appears to be walking half the time), Dr. Smith was one of the great characters in TV history, the casting was very good for all the other ensemble members (tho I'm not much of a June fan), and there was a certain special chemistry between Smith, the robot and Will.All this being said, I wish current prime time TV would try a simpler show like this or Gilligan's Island or I Dream of Jeannie, instead of the complicated, manipulative drivel or repetitive "reality" shows they thrive on now.
