The Greatest Sci Fi/Fantasy TV Shows: Ongoing series looking at sci fi and fantasy entries that can be considered among of the biggest misfires and losers of the genre.
What Is It?
In the year 1997, the Robinson family departs from an overpopulated Earth in the Jupiter 2 on a mission to colonize Alpha Centauri. But the sinister Dr. Smith has stowed away and sabotages the ship, which sends it far off course. This results in all those onboard, including Smith—who finds himself trapped on the ship—being sent on a wild journey through the cosmos as they find themselves lost in space.
Aired: CBS, 1965-68, 3 Seasons Totaling 83 Episodes
Starring: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Jonathan Harris, Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Dick Tufeld
Created By: Irwin Allen
Where Did It Go Wrong?
This one started out as a rather straightforward action/adventure show with a family-friendly focus, and it counted as a decent genre entry, though it focused more on the dangers of traveling through a hostile cosmos and less on trying to tell a good sci-fi story. But it shifted about halfway through its first season, focusing more heavily on camp and practically turning into a comedy series from that point forward. And while Lost in Space started out more as an ensemble show, the antics of Dr. Smith moved to the forefront, with Will Robinson and the Robot tagging along, and the stories grew ever more bombastic, especially in the second and third seasons. Viewers were assaulted by increasingly ridiculous characters for a sci-fi series, including space ghosts, space werewolves, space Vikings, dragons, cosmic hillbillies, and, of course, the infamous giant talking carrot. To make matters worse, the majority of the cast played all this straight. Jonathan Harris was hamming it up as Smith while Bill Mumy played Will Robinson as the straight man and the Robot hung around to make snarky comments. But the rest of the cast did not seem to be in on the joke. There was no winking to the camera from them to acknowledge the campfest the show had become, and they acted like things such as a menacing talking carrot and Smith turning into a poetry-spewing stalk of celery (no, really) were normal, everyday challenges you expected to face while traveling through the galaxy.
To its credit, Lost in Space did manage to draw families together to watch a genre TV show, and it was somewhat popular during its three-year run, even if it never ended a season in the Top 30. It also set some notable precedents (though not all of them good), such as high production values (for the time) for a sci-fi TV series, the alien-of-the-week format, the memorable and humorous non-human companion, and the comic-relief takeover. And despite all of its flaws, the show can still be entertaining. An argument could be made that this counts as one of the greatest genre entries of all time (and you can find that here), but more often than not, it gets relegated to the lower rungs of sci-fi TV.
Buy Lost in Space on VOD from Amazon.com.
A Closer Look:
When Lost in Space arrived on the CBS fall schedule in 1965, there were no space-based shows in prime time, and those had been mostly absent since the 1950s. This series also differed from the kiddie space operas of the prior decade like Captain Video and His Video Rangers and Space Patrol in that it had broader appeal than just younger viewers, and it had much higher production values. And while it never turned into a ratings hit, it drew a decent audience and became a well-liked and established entry on the schedule during its run. But the sci-fi/adventure approach of the early episodes did not last long as the show altered the Dr. Smith character from the more villainous persona originally established to the cowardly buffoon that dominated the show from the second half of the first season forward.
Some claim that the arrival of Batman prompted this change, but that is not completely accurate. That campy take on the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder premiered mid-season in January 1966 and quickly turned into a pop-culture hit. But Lost in Space was already making its move away from its more serious approach by that time, so Batman could not have been the driving influence. Instead, this was actually the typical pattern of Irwin Allen shows. The first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea delivered mostly action/adventure and espionage stories influenced by the Cold War (more on that one at this link). But by the second season, that one moved to increasingly absurd antagonist-of-the-week episodes featuring such dubious baddies as werewolves, mummies, evil leprechauns, Fossil Man, killer robots, and the infamous Lobster Man (and watch for that one to show up in a future post in this series). The first season of Land of the Giants focused more on the dangers the Earth people faced in a world where they were the size of rodents, and it even leaned into the totalitarian nature of the Giant world at times. But by the second year, the show became ever more ridiculous, also verging into high-camp territory (more on that one at this link). The Time Tunnel lasted only one season and delivered a decent sci-fi entry, but the camp elements were creeping in by the final episodes, and if that one had continued to a second season, it likely would have followed the same pattern as the other Irwin Allen shows (more on that one at this link).
The fact is that CBS executives were not happy with the more villainous version of Dr. Smith because the show aired in a family-friendly hour, and they pushed Irwin Allen to make the changes to the character and to the tone of the show (as Dan Monroe discusses at more length at this link). And once that shift happened, there was no turning back. Lost in Space became yet another camp entry on television at a time when that had become a trend on the small screen (even the spy fi entry The Man from U.N.C.L.E. took a turn in that direction), and it established its legacy on that. Still, the show did have some good episodes throughout its run, even when it was at its camp high point, and it is certainly still worth a look. But Lost in Space also embodied much of what would be parodied about the genre for many years afterward, and ultimately it is typically counted as a bad example of sci-fi TV.
Cast your vote for the Greatest Sci Fi TV Shows of all time at this link.
Would a Reboot Help?
This show has been rebooted several times to mixed results. In 1998, there was an attempt to revive the franchise on the big screen, obviously hoping to follow the Star Trek path to success in theaters. But it proved somewhat of a muddled mess, delivering neither a good reworking of the concept in a more serious tone nor the campy fun of the original, and it turned into a disappointment at the Box Office. Then in 2004, The WB ordered a pilot for a reboot series that was directed by John Woo and delivered something of a Ronald D. Moore Battlestar Galactica-style dark take on the property. That had its flaws, as do many pilots, but it had the potential to turn into a decent series. Sadly, though, The WB passed on it, and the show never happened (more on that one at this link).
In 2018, Netflix debuted yet another reboot of the series, going back to the family-friendly, high-adventure tone of the first half of the original show’s first season. This version ran for three seasons on the streaming service, wrapping up its storylines in its final year. It is generally regarded as a good reworking of the concept, and it is still available for streaming on that service. I should also mention the Lost in Space comics that were put out by Innovation in the 1990s and were written by Bill Mumy. Those delivered a more serious take on the show, though still with a spirit of fun, and were really quite enjoyable. A little over twenty issues were produced, along with annuals and miniseries, though to my knowledge they have never been collected in a trade paperback.
Where Can You Watch It?
For the longest time, this series was a staple on Hulu, but it has since disappeared from the streaming service, probably relating to rights issues once Netflix kicked off their reboot in 2018. But that streamer does not have the original series either, nor is it on any of the services at the moment. It has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, though those are selling at a pretty high price. You can also purchase it VOD from sellers like Amazon.com.
Do you consider Lost in Space to be one of the worst sci fi TV shows of all time? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
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