Shark Bytes

I've had great fun over the past 2 hours reading the previous 15 pages of posts re Lost In Space. This is a show I have always loved, treasured, & admired. Comments: 1)Lost In Space & the original Star Trek should not be viewed as competitors. They are 2 different types of shows : Star Trek is main-line Science Fiction ; whereas, Lost In Space is science-fiction fantasy (or simply fantasy). Lost In Space is also more of a deliberate family-show. I much prefer Lost In Space. 2) Lost In Space is NOT a camp or cartoon show : it does have a camp or cartoon main-character in Dr Smith, &, certainly several of the guest-star aliens & visitors are camp or cartoon, but the Robinson family are not ; furthermore, the serious situations involving food, water, fuel are perfectly serious & credible. A quick but important question : if CBS head Bill Paley hated the show as much as I have read over the years, how in in Earth did the show reach us via CBS in the 1st place? Everything I've read points to Paley as being the 1 person most responsible for sabotaging L I S ' chance for a longer run. The show, according to all reliable sources I've read over the years, had been renewed for Year 4 when Paley deliberately threw a spanner into the proverbial works by demanding a drastic & unmeetable budget-cut for that year (the higher salaries of the returning main characters alone would force cancellation). Was it : 1) Paley was not immediately involved in the show's original acquisition, leaving it to subordinates to vet the show? or 2) Paley liked the pilot & didn't comprehend that the show by necessity would have to evolve beyond the original concept? This was the same Paley with the good taste to provide a stipend to Louise Brooks in her later years. How could he have such good taste in one aspect (Brooks), but not appreciate the delightfully-whimsical L I S ? But it's that other question which I really wish to pose : how did the show slip through to the screen via CBS if Paley was an opponent? Thanks in advance to anyone which can throw light on this mystery for which I have sought an answer for so long. P S, Penny & Judy should have been given much more screen-time : I really liked them! --signed Joe

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THIS SHOW WAS TERRIBLE THEY ALL DESERVED TO BY LOST IN SPACE

THIS SHOW WAS A BIG JOKE

Hey Debbie the Bloop,

I was always disappointed you were never cast on "Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp." You could have taken that show to a whole 'nother level.

Good thing I got that part on Planet of the Apes.

Hey Debbie the Bloop,

I heard you got greedy at contract time and made all sorts of unreasonable demands (top billing, your own trailer, unlimited bananas, etc.)

Also, according to Penny & the Robot, you tried to upstage everyone, kinda like Shatner....

How come I wasn't in season 3?

Jupiter3, yes they did. I just rented the 1998 movie and it was interesting to see some of the original cast.

I also heard that in 2004, they made a pilot with a new cast but the WB never picked it up. John Woo was the director.

Alan,

I didn't see the movie but they did make use of the original cast: Mark Goddard played the general who gives Major West his orders for the mission; June Lockhart played the principal of Will Robinson's school; and Angela Cartwright and Marta Kristen appeared as reporters.

Also, Dick Tufeld reprised his series role as the Robot's voice.

Oh yeah, and some more thoughts.

I was surprised to learn that Dr smith was not gay. He was actually married for 64 years and has a son.

The movie ten years ago sucked, but had some good special effects. What they should have done was use the original cast, the original robot and the original Jupiter 2 about their journey home. Guy williams died in 1989, but the rest of the cast was still alive then. Dr Smith died in 2002 at the age of 88.

I just watched all three season on DVD with my 4 year old daughter. She loved it and I remembered all of them as I watched it as a kid. What I realized now is how little scren time everyone else got, except for Dr Smith, will and the Robot. Judy almost never spoke and did very little, same with Maureen and Penny.

But overall, I really enjoyed watching it all over again.

I liked season one, but I have a couple of favorites from season three. Visit to a Hostile Planet was good and I liked time merchant. This story was interesting in that Dr Smith is back on earth, On Oct 16, 1997, launch date, happy as can be, when the Robot tells him that if he does not get back on the Jupiter 2, the Robinsions will be killed by an asteroid 6 months into the mission. When he sees the kids on his Tv screen going aboard the Jupiter2, he realized that he must get on board to save their lives. He of course got back on the ship with a second to spare.

What I didn't like was most of the stupid aliens during so many of the idioic shows that are almost unwatchable.

I guess Irwin Allen didn't care about good stories or anything that made sense. I heard that he said that they can leave logic to that other show (Star Trek)

Jonathan Harris should have gotten an emmy for keeping this clunker alive for 3 years. Irwin Allen would spend a gazillion dollars on special effects which left $1.87 for writers.

LIS Writers' Meeting: "Hey, I've got it. They land on a planet with talking carrots." "Brilliant!!"

And would it have killed anyone to put Judy in a bikini every now and again??

I remember watching Lost In Space as a kid, and looking forward to it every week. I think the first handful of black and white episodes were the best- they captured my imagination during a time when our nation was in a race to the moon and astronauts were heroes and accomplishing space firsts right and left. It was set in a time that I could see myself as an adult possibly going on a trip like that myself.

Then came the character change in Dr. Smith and the Robot... not to mention Maureen (the woman had a PhD and she and the girls were usually doing laundry or tending the garden..). It may have been considered 'camp', but I thought it became just plain stupid (even when I was a kid!). It's been years since I've seen it, but even in reruns, except for those first few episodes, it's even more stupid to me as an adult.

It started out great, but jumped early on.

I did enjoy "LIS" when I was a kid but now that I have 50 years behind me, the program just doesn't have the same appeal. The series, like all of Irwin Allen's shows, started out strong (the first 6 episodes were the best). The JTS moment happened when "LIS" jumped on the "Batman" bandwagon as the Caped Crusader was scheduled opposite and depleted is ratings. Moving the Dr. Smith character into the forefront and transforming him from a cold-blooded saboteur into a pompous comedy-spewing idiot would come back to hurt the show when the writers attempted to bring stronger dramatic elements back as the third season began. It was impossible to put the flamboyantly portrayed doctor into a serious situation.

Of course, "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" has been regarded the worst episode ever and led to its cancellation. Most likely not, though, as it was the penultimate story..and was totally ridiculous.

A fourth season was planned but was rapidly axed during the summer of 1968. It would have been interesting to see what course the show would have taken had it been granted another chance.