The following article was to have been printed in an issue of “Classic TV”. “Classic TV” went out of business one issue before this was to see print. The fates can be unkind!
CLASSIC TV SPOTLIGHT: LOST IN SPACE: 1965-1968
by Flint Mitchell
MAJOR CAST LIST:
Professor John Robinson: Guy WIlliams
Dr. Maureen Robinson: June Lockhart
Major Donald West: Mark Goddard
Judy Robinson: Marta Kristen.
Penny Robinson: Angela Cartwright
Will Robinson: Bill Mumy
Dr. Zachary Smith: Jonathan Harris
The robot: Bob May
The robot’s voice: Dick Tufeld
OTHER CREDITS:
Created and Produced by: Irwin Allen
Associate Producers: Jerry Briskin, Year 1, William Faralla,
Years 2 and 3
Story Editor: Anthony WIlson
Music Supervisor: Lionel Newman
Music: John Williams (“Star Wars”), Alexander Courage, Robert
Drasnin, Gerald Fried (“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”), Herman
Stein, Leith Stevens, Cyril Mockridge
Directors of Photography: Gene Polito, Year 1, Frank Carson,
Years 2 and 3
Art Directors: Walter M. Scott and Sven Wickman, Year 1, Jack
Martin Smith and Robert Kinoshita (“Forbidden Planet”), Year
2, Jack Martin Smith and Frank O. Barnett, Year 3
Executive in charge of Production for Van Bernard
Productions: Guy Della Cioppa
Special Photographic effects: L. B. Abbott and Howard
Lydecker
Sound Editor: Don Hall Jr.
Makeup Supervision: Ben Nye
Production Manager: Hal Herman
Asociate to the Producer (costumes): Paul Zastupnevich
THE SHOW:
LOST IN SPACE made its premiere on September 15, 1965 as a deadly serious science fiction show, filmed in black and white. Thirty months later, the show would end its run as a schizophrenic mix of camp comedy, intermixed with some good science fiction plots, all filmed in living color.
The standard histories of LOST IN SPACE blame the TV show Batman for its descent into campiness; the studio bosses coming up with the syllogism:
1. Batman is a hit.
2. Batman is camp comedy.
3. Therefore, if we make our show camp comedy, it will be a hit.
The above reasoning didn’t change just LOST IN SPACE; the producers of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. followed the same specious reasoning.
It isn’t really fair to dismiss LOST IN SPACE as merely camp comedy: every episode had something going for it.
One episode that a lot of fans hate was “The Questing Beast,” written by Carey Wilber. Yes, the show had a hokey dragon costume, enhanced by June Foray’s cartoony voice. But if you dug deeper, you could see what the episode was really about: Losing childhood innocence, keeping one’s word, honor, and standing up for what is right. Not a bad mix of messages for a camp TV show!
In fact, watching the old LOST IN SPACE episodes, I often get the desire to go back in time, to do one rewrite before the shows came onto the air, taking out the silly stuff. But, given the above, maybe that rewriting would have damaged the show’s appeal.
Too many science fiction fans think that science fiction should be consumed with a scowl on your face (naturally, for years LOST IN SPACE was attacked by SF fans, particularly Star Trek fans), and that’s a sad thing.
What’s wrong with a little silliness, I say! In the end, what made LOST IN SPACE popular, I think, was its very schizophrenia: each episode, at times, seemed to start from scratch: one week, the show was camp humor, the next, camp humor with profound insights, and after that, serious science fiction/adventure. The main rule was that there were no rules, and that makes the show all the more appealing.
Flint Mitchell is the president of the LOST IN SPACE Fannish AlliaNce (LISFAN). When not preoccupied with LOST IN SPACE, he runs a small mail order business, and writes books.
BROADCAST HISTORY:
FIRST RUN EPISODES:
Note: All first run episodes were broadcast on 7:30 PM ET Wednesdays
Year one: September 15, 1965 to April 27, 1966
Year two: September 14, 1966 to April 26, 1967
Year three: September 6, 1967 to March 6, 1968
RATINGS HISTORY:
Year one: 17.6%
Year two: 16.9%
Year three: 14.3%
EPISODE GUIDE:
0. “No Place to Hide” (unaired pilot)
The Gemini 12 space ship, carrying the Robinson family and Major Don West, encounters a meteor swarm and is redirected to an unknown planet.
Written by Shimon Wincelberg (“Naked City”),
Directed by Irwin Allen
Guest Cast: Don Forbes (“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”),
Brett Parker, Lamar Lundy
YEAR ONE
1. “The Reluctant Stowaway”
Through the efforts of villainous Dr. Zachary Smith, the Robinson family, on a pioneer trip to settle on another planet, becomes lost in space.
Written by Shimon Wincelberg
Directed by Anton (Tony) Leader (“Children of the Damned”)
Guest Cast: Don Forbes, Hal Torey, Brett Parker, Fred Crane (“Gone With the Wind”), Tom Allen
2. “The Derelict“
The lost space family is drawn into a cavernous space ship where there are wonders of a vastly advanced civilization and strange, bubble-like creatures who run it.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Alex Singer (“The Return of Marcus Welby, MD”)
Guest Cast: Don Forbes, Dawson Palmer
3. “Island in the Sky”
After Robinson has plummeted through space the space craft itself crash lands, the result of Smith having tampered with the controls.
Written by Norman Lessing
Directed by Anton (Tony) Leader
Guest Cast: None
4. “There Were Giants in the Earth”
As the Robinsons prepare their surroundings for living, they discover giants in the area before they are forced to head south because of severe drops in temperature.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Leo Penn (“Dark Secret of Harvest Home”)
Guest Cast: Lamar Lundy
5. “The Hungry Sea”
Barely escaping a fiery death as the unknown planet’s sun suddenly fills the sky, the Robinsons manage to guide the chariot through storms and earthquakes back across the inland sea to the temporary safety of their space ship.
Written by WIlliam Welch
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: none
6. “Welcome Stranger”
A long lost astronaut visits the Robinsons’ stranded space ship, wanting their help in returning to Earth.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Alvin Ganzer “Country Music Holiday”)
Guest Cast: Warren Oates (“The Wild Bunch”)
7. “My Friend, Mr. Nobody”
Penny makes friends with a cosmic force and is responsible for saving everyone from its stormy wrath, which Smith has caused.
Written by Jackson Gillis (“Cry Tough”)
Directed by Paul Stanley (“Cotter”)
Guest Cast: William Bramley (“West Side Story”)
8. “Invaders From the Fifth Dimension”
An alien space ship, run by luminous pilots, invades the Robinson space colony looking for a “humanoid” brain to replace a guidance control computer.
Written by Shimon Wincelberg
Directed by Leonard Horn (“The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart”)
Guest Cast: Ted Lehmann, Joe Ryan
9. “The Oasis”
Faced with dying of thirst, the Robinsons find a new source of water in fruit which causes violent growth when sampled by Dr. Zachary Smith.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sutton Roley (“Chosen Survivors”)
Guest Cast: none
10. “The Sky is Falling”
The Robinsons are unable to understand the electronic language of an alien family that drops from the sky on beams of light and they wonder if their visitors are friendly explorers or hostile invaders.
Written by Barney Slater and Herman Groves
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest cast: Don Matheson (“Land of the Giants”), Francoise Ruggieri, Eddie Rosson
11. “The Raft”
The Robinsons build a small space vehicle from parts of the Jupiter with the hope of sending Major West on a test flight, but Dr. Smith steals the ship and heads back to Earth.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: none
12. “Wish Upon a Star”
Smith;’s greediness causes a strange Rubberoid creature to reclaim a magic cerebral machine that Will found in an abandoned space ship, and which materialized wishes.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Sutton Roley
Guest Cast: none
13. “One of Our Dogs is Missing”
A twenty year old space dog lands on the unknown planet and becomes instrumental in leading Robinson and Don to save Judy from the clutches of a great hairy mutant.
Written by William Welch
Directed by Sutton Roley
Guest Cast: none
14. “The Attack of the Monster Plants”
Giant cyclamen plants that manufacture duplicates of whatever they are fed pose a new threat to the Robinson colony when they devour a vital fuel supply and cause Judy to disappear.
Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter (“Earth 2”– the movie, not the TV show)
Directed by Justis Addiss
Guest Cast: none
15. “Return From Outer Space”
Will Robinson makes a Christmastime trip back to Earth through a matter transfer machine, but no one will believe his fantastic story of interplanetary travel.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran (“Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”)
Guest Cast: Reta Shaw (“Mary Poppins”), Keithy Taylor, (“Born
Wild”)Walter Sands (“Johnny Tremain”), Donald Losby
16. “The Keeper (part 1 )”
An alien beast collector threatens to abscond with Will and Penny.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Harry Harris (“Eight is Enough: a Family Reunion”)
Guest Cast: Michael Rennie (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”),
Wilbur Evans (London cast, “South Pacific”)
17. “The Keeper (part 2)”
The Keeper threatens to allow his entire animal collection, let loose by Smith, overrun the planet unless Penny and Will are turned over to him as specimens.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest Cast: Michael Rennie
18. “The Sky Pirate”
A self-proclaimed pirate in a mystery space ship gives the Robinsons new hope of rescue.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Albert Salmi (“The Brothers Karazamov”)
19. “Ghost in Space”
A turbulent “ghost” threatens the Robinson colony and Dr. Smith insists it’s the troubled spirit of his Uncle Thaddeus.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: none
20. “The Magic Mirror”
Penny Robinson and Debbie, the bloop, disappear into a magic mirror where they find a dark, weird world inhabited by an alien boy.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Michael J. Pollard (“Bonnie and Clyde”)
21. “The War of the Robots”
Will Robinson repairs a rusty robot from an advanced civilization, causing trouble he can’t control when the revived mechanical man challenges the Robinson’s robot.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Robbie the robot (“Forbidden Planet”), Wilbur Evans
22. “The Challenge”
A ruler from another planet and his son try to prove their superiority over Earth people by challenging Professor John Robinson and his son will to a test of strength and courage.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Michael Ansara (“The Robe”), Kurt Russell (“Escape From New York”)
23. “The Space Trader”
An alien space trader tries to trick the Robinsons into trading him a human: namely, Smith.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Torin Thatcher (“Great Expectations”)
24. “His Majesty Smith”
Smith is nearly sacrificed in an alien race’s primitive religious rites.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest Cast: Liam Sullivan (“The Magic Sword”), Kevin Hagen (“Land of the Giants”)
25. “The Space Croppers”
Smith almost marries into an alien family whose space crop threatens to devour all life on the Robinsons’ planet.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Mercedes McCambridge (“The Exorcist”), Sherry Jackson (“The Breaking Point”), Dawson Palmer
26. “All That Glitters”
Smith discovers that all that glitters is not platinum when his greed turns a magical power he has acquired into a leper’s nightmare.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest cast: Werner Klemperer (“Hogan’s Heroes”), Larry Ward (“Deathbed Virgin”)
27. “Lost Civilization”
Will awakens the sleeping princess of an underground world planning to conquer the universe.
Written by William Welch
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Kym Karath (“The Sound of Music”), Royal Dano (“Killer Klowns From Outer Space”)
28. “A Change of Space”
Will and Smith penetrate the sixth dimension with diverging results.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Frank Graham
29. “Follow the Leader”
Professor John Robinson is trapped in a cave by an unseen alien spirit who attempts to possess his mind and body.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Gregory Morton (“Counterpoint”)
End of Year One.
YEAR TWO
30. Blast Off Into Space
Despite Smith’s rascally dealings with an intergalactic prospector, Robinson manages to get the Jupiter 2 into space before their planet disintegrates.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Strother Martin (“Cool Hand Luke”)
31. Wild Adventure
The Jupiter 2 almost returns to Earth, but Smith is lured out into space by a seductive space Lorelei and causes the space ship to change course while rescuing him.
Written by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Vitina Marcus (“The Lost World”)
32. The Ghost Planet
Hoping to land on Earth, Smith causes the Jupiter 2 to land on an alien planet run by cyborgs.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Sue England (“Clambake”), Michael Fox (1983 version of “Casablanca”)
33. The Forbidden World
When the Jupiter 2 is forced down on an alien planet, Smith is turned into a deadly secret weapon.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Wally Cox (“The Boatniks”), Janos Prohaska (“Planet of the Apes”)
34. Space Circus
Will nearly run away with an intergalactic circus.
Written by Bob and Wanda Duncan
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest cast: James Westerfield (“Hang ’em High”), Melinda Fee, Harry Varteresian (“The Ten Commandments”), Michael Greene (“Moon Over Parador”), Dawson Palmer
35. The Prisoners of Space
The Robinsons are tried by a mysterious tribunal for committing space crimes.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest cast: Dawson Palmer
36. The Android Machine
Through love the Robinsons cause a simple android to develop into a near human life form.
Written by Bob and Wanda Duncan
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Dee Hartford (“A Girl in Every Port”), Fritz Feld (stage production, “The Miracle Worker”)
37. The Deadly Games of Gamma Six
An invasion of the Earth becomes the issue at a series of intergalactic fighting matches.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest Cast: Mike Kellin (“Midnight Express”), Harry Monte (“The Wizard of Oz”), Ronald Weber, Peter Brocco (“Our Man Flint”), Chuck Roberson (“The Shootist”)
38. The Thief From Outer Space
Will helps the thief from outer space find his long lost princess.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Malachi Throne (“Beau Geste”), Ted Cassidy(“Butch Cassidy and the Sundanc Kid”), Maxine Gates (numerous “Three Stooges” shorts)
39. The Curse of Cousin Smith
Smith’s cousin tries to trick him out of an inheritance.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Justis Addiss
Guest Cast: Henry Jones (“Vertigo”)
40. The Dream Monster
An intergalactic space scientist tries to drain the Robinsons’ human qualities to bolster his android creation.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: John Abbott (“Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel”),Dawson Palmer, Harry Monte, Frank Delfino (“Laverne and Shirley”)
41. West of Mars
Smith is mistaken for an infamous intergalactic gunfighter.
Written by Michael Fessier
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Allan Melvin (“All in the Family”), Charles Arthur, Mickey Manners (“Many Happy Returns”), Lane Bradford, Eddie Quillan (“Julia”)
42. A Visit to Hades
Smith’s greed leads to a visit to a place very like Hades, which is actually an intergalactic prison for a devilish political offender.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest cast: Gerald Mohr (“Funny Girl”)
43. The Wreck of the Robot
The robot is taken apart and used as a blueprint for an alien machine.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Jim Mills (“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”)
44. The Golden Man
Penny becomes involved in a war between the leaders of two alien civilizations.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Dennis Patrick (“Joe”), Ronald Gans (“Tarzan and the Jungle Boy”), Bill Troy
45. The Girl From the Green Dimension
Will finds himself at the center of a color problem when Smith becomes involved with the Lorelei from “Wild Adventure.”
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Vitina Marcus, Harry Raybould (“The Amazing Colossal Man”)
46. The Questing Beast
Penny and Will become involved in a bumbling futuristic knight’s lifelong quest after a fire breathing dragon.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Hans Conried (“The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T”), Sue England, Jeff County, June Foray (“Rocky and Bullwinkle”)
47. The Toymaker
Will and Smith become prisoners in a fourth dimensional toyland.
Written by Bob and Wanda Duncan
Directed by Robert Douglas
Guest Cast: Fritz Feld, Walter Burke (“The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze”), Tiger Joe Marsh, Dawson Palmer, Larry Ward
48. Mutiny in Space
Will, Smith and the robot are shanghaied by a renegade space ship Admiral.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Ronald Long (“The Sand Pebbles”)
49. The Space Vikings
Smith is pitted against the mighty Thor of Valhalla.
Written by Margaret Brookman Hill
Directed by Ezra Stone (“The Daydreamer”)
Guest Cast: Sheila Mathews-Allen (“The Poseidon Adventure”), Bern Hoffman (“On the Town”)
50. Treasure of the Lost Planet
Smith becomes involved in a space pirate’s treasure hunt that turns up questionable booty.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Harry Harris
Guest Cast: Albert Salmi, Craig Duncan, Jim Boles (“The Trouble With Angels”)
51. Rocket to Earth
Smith blows a trip to Earth because of the bungling of a clumsy space magician.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Al Lewis (“The Munsters”)
52. The Mechanical Men
When tiny mechanical men (who look like miniature versions of the Robinsons’ robot) want the robot as their leader, they improve him by trading the voice and personality of Smith for his with surprising results.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Seymour Robbie (“C.C. and Company”)
Guest Cast: none
53. Revolt of the Androids
Smith is seized with vainglorious dreams when he meets an android he thinks he can make into the most powerful creature in the galaxy.
Written by Bob and Wanda Duncan
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest cast: Dee Hartford, Don Matheson, Dawson Palmer
54. The Cave of the Wizards
A chance to get to Alpha Centauri s scrubbed when Dr. Smith is seduced by a computer.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: none
55. The Colonists
With the Robinsons enslaved by a regal Amazon, Will and the Robot must find a way to defeat her.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest cast: Francine York (“Tickle Me”)
56. Trip Through the Robot
When the robot, with a failing power supply, stumbles into a misty valley, an ionic reversal enlarges him to the size of a house, and Will and Smith, have to crawl inside to fix him.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: none
57. The Phantom Family
An alien scientist makes android copies of Smith, Don and the girls, then forces Will and the robot to teach them to act like their human counterparts.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest Cast: Alan Hewitt (“That Touch of Mink”)
58. The Astral Traveler
Will stumbles through a space warp and finds himself in a haunted Scottish castle with a monster in the lagoon.
Written by Carey Wilber
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Sean McClory (“Botany Bay”), Dawson Palmer
59. The Galaxy Gift
A remarkable amulet is Penny’s until aliens enlist Smith’s help to make her give it up.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest cast: John Carradine (“The Grapes of Wrath”), Jim Mills
YEAR THREE
60. The Condemned of Space
The Robinsons encounter a space ship full of frozen alien prisoners.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Marcel Hillaire (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”), Robbie the robot
61. Visit to a Hostile Planet
The Robinson party are taken for dangerous aliens when they actually land on Earth 50 years before their time.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Pitt Herbert (“The Trouble With Girls”), Robert Foulk (“Last of the Badmen”), Robert Pine (CHiPs”), Norman Leavitt (“Jumbo”), Claire Wilcox (“Wives and Lovers”)
62. Kidnapped in Space
The robot turns surgeon when mechanical men kidnap the Robinson party to make him operate on the wheels and springs of their leader.
Written by Robert Hamner
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Grant Sullivan, Carol Williams, Joey Russo
63. Hunter’s Moon
On a strange planet, John, regarded as a prized quarry, flees the hot pursuit of a hunter.
Written by Jack Turley (“Empire of the Ants”)
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Vincent Beck (stage production, “Irma La Douce”)
64. The Space Primevals
The Robinsons are endangered by a race of primitives under the dictatorial control of a mammoth computer.
Wrtten by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: Arthur Batanides
65. The Space Destructors
Smith, discovering a cyborg manufacturing machine, dreams of conquering the universe with an army of them.
Written by Robert Hamner
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest cast: Tommy Farrell (“At War With the Army”)
66. The Haunted Lighthouse
The Robinsons, with a young passenger aboard, board a strange lighthouse in space.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Lou Wagner (“CHiPs”), Woodrow Parfrey (“Dirty Harry”), Kenya Coburn
67. Flight Into he Future
Landing on an unknown green planet, Dr. Smith, Will, and the robot experience strange adventures of illusion and time.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Don Eitner, Lou Gallo (“12 O’Clock High”)
68. Collision of the Planets
Aliens plan to destroy an off-course planet which theRobinsons are on, refusing to delay the blast until the Earth party can lift off.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Daniel J. Travanti (“Hill Street Blues”), Linda Gaye Scott (“Psych Out”), Joey Tata (“No Time For Sergeants”)
69. The Space Creature
After everyone vanishes from the space ship, Will faces a fearsome blue misty spectre.
Written by William Welch
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: none
70. Deadliest of the Species
The robot falls in love with an alien evil female super robot.
Written by Robert Hamner
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Ronald Gans, Lyle Waggoner (“The Carol Burnett Show”), Sue England, Ralph Lee
71. The Anti-Matter Man
John Robinson’s evil counterpart from an antimatter world tries to substitute for him in the Robinson’s family circle.
Written by Barney Slater and Robert Hamner, under the pseudonym of K. C. Alison
Directed by Sutton Roley
Guest Cast: none
72. Castles in Space
When a ferocious bandito threatens to abduct an ice princess in the Robinsons’ care, the robot fights like a bull to save her.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Sobey Martin
Guest Cast: Alberto Monte, Corinna Tsopei (“A Man called Horse”)
73. A Day at the Zoo
Most of the Robinson party are captured by a space showman for exhibition in a space zoo.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Directed by Irving Moore
Guest Cast: Leonard Stone (“Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”), Gary Tigerman (“Pretty Maids all in a Row”), Ronald Weber
74. Two Weeks in Space
A disguised quartet of monsters, on the run from Galactic Control, give Smith the idea to turn the Jupiter 2 into a resort hotel.
Written by Robert Hamner
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Fritz Feld, Richard Krisher, Eric Matthews, Edy Williams (“Beyond the Valley of the Dolls”), Carroll Roebke
75. Target Earth
Shapeless aliens make themselves into duplicates of the Robinson party, corrupt the robot, and plan to use the Jupiter 2 to conquer Earth.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Nathan Juran
Guest Cast: James Gosa, Brent Davis, Thant Brann
76. The Flaming Planet
A plant creature comes near to engulfing the Jupiter 2, which causes the Jupiter 2 to have to orbit a planet manned by a space warrior.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Abraham Sofaer (“Captain Sinbad”)
77. The Time Merchant
Smith tricks a time merchant into returning him to Earth at a time before the Jupiter 2’s flight, but in so doing imperils the others in the Robinson party.
Written by Bob and Wanda Duncan
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest Cast: John Crawford (“Exodus”), Byron Morrow, Hoke Howell (“Kingdom of the Spiders”)
78. Princess of Space
When an old space captain thinks that Penny is a princess of his planet, she nearly believes him.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Robert Foulk, Arte Johnson (“Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in”), Sheila Mathews-Allen
79. The Promised Planet
The Robinson’s party lands on a turned-on planet populated exclusively by youngsters.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest Cast: Gil Rogers (“Panic in Needle Park”), Keith Taylor
80. Fugitives in Space
Smith and Don are framed and jailed at a prison planet while Will and the robot try to rescue them.
Written by Robert Hamner
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest Cast: Michael Conrad (“Hill Street Blues”), Tol Avery (“It Came From Beneath the Sea”), Charles Horvath
81. Space Beauty
Judy wins a galactic space beauty contest, unaware of the dire and deadly consequences.
Written by Jackson Gillis
Direceted by Irving Moore
Guest Cast: Leonard Stone, Dee Hartford, Miriam Schiller
82. The Great Vegetable Rebellion
The space travelers land on a planet lush with vegetation and fall into the hands of a carrot-monster who proposes to turn them all into plants.
Written by Peter Packer
Directed by Don Richardson
Guest Cast: Stanley Adams (“Requiem For a Heavyweight”)
83. The Junkyard of Space
With Smith’s help, a mechanical junk man acquires the robot’s memory banks and makes off with the Jupiter 2.
Written by Barney Slater
Directed by Ezra Stone
Guest Cast: Marcel Hillaire
UNFILMED SCRIPTS:
Carnival in Space
An early draft for “The Great Vegetable Rebellion,” written by Peter Packer. I have no idea why this script wasn’t used, as it is actually superior to the final draft. The script revolves around an alien harnessing the Robinsons’ emotions.
It would have made better than average LOST IN SPACE episode.
The Great Space Race
This was supposed to be a parody of the film “The Great Race.” This script is rumored to have been written for the fourth season, but I have seen no proof that it still exists, or for that matter that it ever existed.
Malice in Wonderspace
A rather nicely done script by Carey Wilber. A new character was to be inserted on the show in the fourth season: Willoughby, a talking, telekinetic purple kangaroo. The story is an adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” set to LOST IN SPACE’s style. What’s sad is that the script actually worked, and would have made a good, if not great, LOST IN SPACE episode.
SPIN-OFFS:
LOST IN SPACE: the cartoon
A Saturday Superstar ABC one-shot; supposedly a pilot for an animated LIS series. Network air date: 9/8/73. Plot: The Robinsons become lost in space and land on a planet inhabited
by two races: the good, frog like Throgs, and the evil robot race, the Tyrannos. A Hanna-Barbera Production
Cast: Jonathan Harris, Don Messick, Sid Miller, Sherry
Alberoni, Vincent van Patten
LOST IN SPACE: The Motion Picture
A retelling of the first five LOST IN SPACE episodes. To be released sometime in 1997. No cast as of this writing. This film will be shot at Shepperton Studios, London, England. A New Line Cinema Production.
Written by Akiva Goldsman (“Batman Forever”)
Directed by Stephen Hopkins (“Predator 2”)
MAJOR TELEVISION AWARDS:
LOST IN SPACE was nominated once for an Emmy for special effects (for the Dr. Smith masks in the episode “The Space Destructors”), but it did not win.
BOOKS:
LOST IN SPACE by Dave van Arnam and Ron Archer (Ted White), Pyramid, 1967
The Alpha Control Reference Manual by William Anchors and Gary Stork, Alpha Control Press, 1986
The LOST IN SPACE Technical Manual by Richard Messmann and James van Hise, New Media, 1986
The Jupiter 2 Operator’s Manual by Robert Rowe, Alpha Control Documentation, 1986
The LOST IN SPACE Files, Volumes 1-6, New Media, 1986-1987
The LOST IN SPACE Anniversary Tribute Book by James van Hise and Hal Shuster, New Media, 1987
The LOST IN SPACE Handbook by Paul Monroe, Alpha Control Press, 1989
The Complete LOST IN SPACE Book by John Peel, New Media, 1989
The LOST IN SPACE 25th Anniversary Celebration by Flint Mitchell, Alpha Control Press, 1991
The Complete LISFAN 10th Anniversary Celebration by Flint Mitchell, Alpha Control Press, 1991
The LOST IN SPACE Scrapbooks, Volumes 1-3, Edited by Bill Anchors and Flint Mitchell, Alpha Control Press, 1991
LOST IN SPACE Guest Star Biographies by Ed Shifres, LISFAN Press, 1992
LOST IN SPACE Forever by Joel Eisner and Barry Megan, Sheisskopf Press, 1992
The Irwin Allen Scrapbook, Volume 2, edited by Bill Anchors, Alpha Control Press, 1992
You Can Build… the LOST IN SPACE Robot by Flint Mitchell, LISFAN Press, 1996
Space Family Robinson: the True Story by Ed Shifres, Windsor House Publishing Group , 1996
LIST IN SPACE: The Ultimate Unauthorized Trivia Challenge by James Hatfield and George Burt, Kensington Press, 1998
The LOST IN SPACE Encyclopedia by Flint Mitchell, LISFAN Press, 1998
RECORDS/CDs:
The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen by Kevin Burns, 1995, Crescendo Records
The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen by Kevin Burns, Crescendo Records, 1996
VIDEOTAPES:
The Reluctant Stowaway, released through Video Yesteryear, year unknown
Columbia House Video is now selling LOST IN SPACE episodes on videotape, two episodes per tape. They are using the standard Columbia House subscription service; they have gotten to the end of the second season as of this writing.
FAN CLUBS AND PERIODICALS:
The LOST IN SPACE Fannish Alliance (LISFAN) Flint Mitchell
7331 Terri Robyn Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63129-5233 USA
email: Lisfanedtr@aol.com
Club/several publications, including LISFAN and LISFAN
Monthly. Free membership. The oldest and largest LOST IN SPACE fan club in existence.
Alpha Control
PO Box 311
Malverne, NY 11565 USA
Club/publication. $18.00/year
LOST IN SPACE Australia
PO Box N9
Petersham North
NSW 2049 AUSTRALIA
Club/publication $45.00 (Australian dollars)/year
The Astral Traveler
55 Woodland View
Wyesham, Monmouth, Gwent
NP5 3JN ENGLAND
Club/publication 15 British pounds/year
The Irwin Allen News Network
% Jeanette Geaorgala
11 Kimbolton Ct.
Kimbolton Rd., Bedford
MK40 2PH ENGLAND
Club/publication. Write for subscription info.
Perdidos no Espaco: Controle Alpha
% Fernando Ramos
Caixa Postal 12.170
Fortaleza -Cear-
CEP 60015-210 BRAZIL
Club/publication. Write for info.
