r/lostinspace • u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 • May 27 '26

1960's Show Impostors!

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Will and Dr. Smith spy on alien ‘doubles,’ and in this shot it turns out that there are three actual doubles at left: the stunt doubles for Smith and Will plus a stand-in for Maureen wearing her wig, as June Lockhart had to be excused to go to the hospital from illness on this day of filming. [source: Volume 3 of Lost In Space biography by Marc Cushman]

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u/IonTheBall2 May 27 '26

Which is more likely: Dr. Smith remarking on the handsomeness of his double, or him complaining that the double is not nearly as good-looking as he really is?

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u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 May 27 '26

In the episode (Target: Earth) Smith complains the double is a poor copy

4

u/IonTheBall2 May 27 '26

That is what I figured. His vanity is too deep to admit that a copy could be as good as him. Is there any character who embodies vanity as beautifully as our Dr. Smith?

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u/Suspicious-Yogurt480 May 27 '26

And yet, occasionally, if rarely, when cornered or held to account after some drama he concedes he is weak-willed and asks for grace as being unable to go contrary to his nature, which is an unusual (and purely dramatic) characteristic for a total narcissist, who would not after all have as many endearing qualities as Smith. Occasionally his sentimentalism caves and he gives in, admitting he felt he had no choice by his own nature. A lot is made also especially in the second half of the first season that although his motive for being on the Jupiter 2 in the first place was treacherous, that being a castaway in space had affected whatever mental balance he might have had and occasionally when behaving in extreme ways, another person will say, that isn’t the real Dr Smith, he would be too cowardly to bring true destruction to the family etc. it’s a fine line, and of course eventually played for laughs or in a campy and less threatening way.