When a friend recently updated his Lost in Space collection to Blu-ray, he kindly gave me his DVD set. Although I’ve watched several Lost in Space reruns on the telly over the years, it had been a long time since I watched the first episode. I was astonished at the difference between the series’ debut and the TV series that evolved from it.
But before reviewing it, I want to discuss producer Irwin Allen‘s original concept. He envisioned a space-age version of Johann Wyss’s Swiss Family Robinson about a family of explorers who survive a crash landing on a desert planet. This was not a new idea; indeed, Gold Key Comics published a comic book series called Space Family Robinson beginning in 1962.
In Allen’s original Lost in Space pilot, an episode called “No Place to Hide,” the Robinsons’ spacecraft Gemini XII is thrown off course when meteors crash into it. After landing on an uncharted planet, the Robinsons make a new home–and encounter a giant cyclops.Will Robinson even sings “Greensleeves,” accompanying himself on guitar. Speaking of music, the theme for the pilot episode was borrowed from Bernard Herrmann‘s score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
CBS liked the $600,000 pilot and ordered a series–but also wanted changes that resulted in the addition of a villain and a robot. According to Lost in Space historian Mark Phillips, Irwin Allen wanted a villain like Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon and story editor Anthony Wilson wanted a Long John Silver-type. Their compromise was Dr. Zachary Smith.
“The Reluctant Stowaway,” the first official Lost in Space episode, takes place on October 16, 1997. It initially unfolds in semi-documentary fashion, describing how the Robinsons were chosen from more than two million volunteers to navigate the Jupiter 2 to the planet Alpha Centauri. The five-year journey will require the family and pilot Major Don West to remain in suspended animation. Amid all the preparations for the spaceship’s launch, Dr. Smith sneaks aboard the Jupiter 2. A spy for an unnamed nation, Smith reprograms the robot to destroy the spaceship eight hours into its maiden voyage. Unfortunately, Smith gets trapped aboard, hence becoming the “reluctant stowaway.”
As in the pilot episode, a meteor storm throws the spacecraft off course and its passengers are rudely awakened from their suspended animation. Needless to say, they’re surprised to find Dr. Smith aboard. He’s absorbed with trying to stop the robot from destroying the cabin pressure system and radio–thus killing all the passengers.
This Dr. Smith is slightly different from the one who would become–with Will and the robot–the eventual stars of Lost in Space. Smith is a villain, though a none-too-bright one, although we’re led to believe that he was the grand master of the Oxford chess club. One enduring trait is clearly established: Dr. Smith is a big liar!
John and Maureen Robinson (Guy Williams and June Lockhart) play a much larger role. They have the episode’s juiciest scene when they engage in a heated disagreement over whether to continue with the mission or try to return to Earth. The episode ends with John floating helplessly into space after his safety cord breaks while repairing the Jupiter 2’s exterior systems. It’s quite a cliffhanger, leading to the now familiar:
The first half-dozen episodes provide ample screen time for all the characters (and includes Angela Cartwright‘s favorite episode “My Friend, Mr. Nobody”). However, starting with “Invaders from the Fifth Dimension,” Smith, Will, and the robot began to player larger roles–at the insistence of CBS executives. By midway through the first season, it’s clear that the aforementioned trio have become the show’s focal point. The other characters would occasionally get meaningful screen time, but Lost in Space had become the show we know today.
Incidentally, most of the footage from the original pilot was included in the series’ first five episodes. That pilot eventually aired on the SyFy network and was included in a video release of Lost in Space from Columbia House. By the way, the now-familiar Lost in Space theme was written by a young composer named Johnny Williams–yes, that’s John Williams, the man that went on to become the most nominated composer in the history of the Academy Awards.
Rick29 is a film reference book author and a regular contributor at the Classic Film & TV Café , on Facebook and Twitter. He’s a big fan of MovieFanFare, too, of course!