Between 1965-1968 our airwaves were graced with a show unlike any other, Lost in Space. It was the story of the Robinson family on a mission to find a new planet for humans to settle since it was 1997, and we had nearly depleted all our natural resources. So they set off in the Jupiter 2 (their spaceship) and go into cyrogenic sleep for their journey. Unfortunately for them Dr. Smith sneaks on board the ship to sabotage it and ends up throwing all of them off course and into the depths of space where they are lost. It was a campy dated show, first in B&W and then in color, well technicolor. The storyline always revolved around their attempts to get home.
After it's three year run, which was way too long, it ended. It was originally supposed to be a serious story about a family surviving alone, but when it was placed next to Batman on the show schedule, campy became the order of the day. A few interesting facts about the show include:
1. It was an Irwin Allen Production who at the time made a small group of SciFi TV shows, however Lost in Space was considered the absolute example of the how TV should not do SciFi.
2. The theme song was composed by John Williams, who later when on to create the theme for Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Superman, and many more.
3. CBS passed up Star Trek to take Lost in Space instead.
4. In 1997 is was made into a parody musical called Danger, Will Robinson!
So why am I writing about this? Well today, courtesy my loving wife, I was reminded of a horrible episode where the Robinsons were confronted with talking vegetables. I highly recommend this episode to anyone who loves campy shows.
Check it out on HULU at http://www.hulu.com/watch/23808/lost-in-space-the-great-vegetable-rebellion
Oh, and don't bother with the 1998 movie version of Lost in Space, it lacks all the charm and magic of the original.
Lost in Space was a fantastic show! They just don't make 'em like that anymore unfortunately. If they did, I would watch more television.
I didn't know it was the evil Dr. Smith's fault that they were lost to begin with. No wonder they were always so mean to him!
Posted by: Laura | May 10, 2009 at 08:46 PM
Sheesh -- no wonder you don't watch TV. You have awful taste!
Posted by: The Queen of the Blog | May 10, 2009 at 10:32 PM
I'm glad they never ran this show in Uruguay... Talking carrots from outer space... ugh!
Posted by: Gissel | May 11, 2009 at 12:57 PM