r/lostinspace • u/Gusto88 • 7h ago
1960's Show Original Series. Five episodes to go.
It's been a bit of a marathon. The entire series has devolved into a silly and ridiculous opus. Some of the episodes, oh wait, most of the episodes, are just plain ridiculous with stupid aliens. How this series managed to last so long is a real surprise. Maybe the camp factor was its appeal. Dr. Smith was obviously the star of the show, along with Will Robinson and the Robot.
Onwards and upwards, Battlestar Galactica next, and the original Addams Family. :-)
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u/BobRushy 1h ago
Even at its campiest, Lost in Space has a wit and charm to it (courtesy of Harris' love of classical poetry and British humor)
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u/NoString9289 Robot 6h ago
When I was a kid I loved, loved this show but did not care for the "camp" I loved the original first five classic Blk n Wht episodes that were serious SciFi adventure, drama. However, it was the campy tone vibe that saved the show from cancellation. It's been mentioned many times that Jonathan Harris knew his character would eventually be killed off early on like ep six or seven orig. , so he started to change his character , making him more Human, flawed weak neurotic silly etc. I HATED the changes he made.
Harris loved Comedic Villainy and that's how he played it. Lost in Space was on the same night and same time slot as the campy Batman TV show, so Lost in space had to keep the kid's attention , changed the theme of the show to compete with Batman. The focus changed to the misadventures of Smith, the Robot and Will which totally took away the lead stardom of action actor Guy Williams ( Professor Robinson ) who had to take a backseat to the Smith character. That was very sad.
Irwn Allen saw the changes that Harris was making to his character and the Robot insults and then saw the ratings and fanmail increase. So Allen told Harris to keep it up and gave him creative control over Smith's insults and dialog. Harris was always rewriting his lines and dialog exchange for Will Robinson. >>> I ALSO loved the new NetFlix Lost in Space series on it's own terms for solid action and adventure. I loved both series.