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Rating:  -
Season 1 of "Lost in Space" was presented as a single collection of eight DVDs. Season 2 was split into two volumes. Season 2 was originally shown in 1966-67, and though I no longer recall the contrast between "Star Trek," which I watched contemporaneously with "Lost in Space," and this show, the contrast had to be significant. Though some of the first sixteen episodes of season 2 attempted serious subjects, as the first sixteen episodes progressed the series became increasingly campy, with "The Girl from the Green Dimension" being the silliest of the bunch. I have to believe that Harry Raybould, who played Urso, looked back on his role in this episode and groans.
On the other hand there are the episodes such as "The Golden Man." This episode attempts to show that beauty is only skin deep. While the acting is more than a little over the top, with veteran actor Dennis Patrick barely visible behind his golden makeup, the show does an excellent job of making its point.
I found the episode "A Visit to Hades" to be very interesting. Veteran actor Gerald Mohr does a nice job of playing a character with more than a passing resemblance to Satan, though we learn he is not. Wally Cox takes a turn as a character with more bluff than bite in "The Forbidden World." Peter Brocco, a veteran of more than 200 film and television appearances, makes his mark in "The Deadly Games of Gamma 6."
You can count the number of science fiction television shows that left a lasting impression on viewers on your fingers. As campy as "Lost in Space" sometimes was, it left an impression that is nearly as strong for many people as the impression that "Star Trek" left. Of course "Star Trek" was a much bolder show, and tried to present some of the infinite possibilities that exist in the universe. "Lost in Space" reached only a brief distance into the future and was the first non-animated television show that focused on a family of space pioneers. There are plot holes galore. Dr. Smith has to be one of the most obnoxious central characters in a television show ever. And yet, I retain my fondness for this show.
I think it is easy in this age of sophisticated digital effects and a chain of quality and classic science fiction television that extends back to at least the original "Outer Limits" to look down on "Lost in Space" as unworthy of appreciation. However, the series was influential and it was memorable. Had Irwin Allen been allowed to maintain the serious nature of the show, it is possible that "Lost in Space" would have been the landmark television show that "Star Trek" became. I know I watched both, and I know I enjoyed "Star Trek" when it came out the year following the debut of "Lost in Space." I considered myself lucky that two such wonderful shows were on at the same time.
I look back on "Lost in Space" with fondness, and I absolutely enjoyed watching every single episode in this collection as well as those in season 1. I know I will enjoy the remaining episodes in season 2 and those of season 3. Perhaps my fondness is all nostalgia. If so, I will revel in my nostalgia and just maybe I will watch all the episodes one more time.
As a side note, after being a little boy and watching "Lost in Space," I admired Will Robinson a lot. I credit Will being a role model for my later years when I studied electronics and physics in college. This show may have been campy, but I am glad that I was encouraged by a show like this one. Perhaps we should all wish for more campy science fiction shows to encourage children to become scientists and engineers.
Rating:  -
This is just one GREAT SHOW!!!! A lot of people are just to overly critical of older shows, today's generation is just to spoiled, if everything does'nt have multi-million dollar sets or is in 5.1 anamorphic widescreen they are just not interested. I love the older shows like this, just a pleasure to watch. Lost In Space will still stand the test of time 100 years from now. It is amazing how we want to watch these older T.V. shows over and over again while most of the new stuff on T.V. today once you have seen it that is enough, no desire to watch repeats. But of course with the OLD CLASSICS like LOST IN SPACE we just keep coming back for more and more!!!!!!! This is a great D.V.D set!!!!
Rating: -
Lost in space came out when I was 13 years old, and although overshadowed by the much more sophisticated Star Trek a few years later, for the time it was state of the art as a sci fi TV series and I hardly ever missed a show. Also, I had a little crush on Penelope (played by Angela Cartwright) as no doubt did many other young teenage boys across the U.S.
Lost in Space was the ultimate in sci-fi camp as it degenerated (or evolved, depending on your point of view) from the initial more serious episodes into a something that was sort of a combination of Swiss Family Robinson in space combined with the campiness of Gilligan's Island. Jonathan Harris's antics as he enlists the unwitting robot in various villainous but ultimately doomed schemes became an endless source of increasingly silly and cheesy plot ideas.
I can't say I have a favorite episode, but I did like the one featuring Robbie the Robot from the movie, Forbidden Planet, and one episode features a very young Kurt Russell for all you Russell fans out there.
I have to mention that I had the opportunity to meet the guy who was inside the robot at an event in Los Angeles last year, played by Bob May. Amazingly, 40 years later he still looked the same as in the original publicity photos. I wonder what the guy's secret was.
Bob was pleased that I remembered that he (as the robot) had the biggest fan club of anyone in the show and received more fan mail than everyone in the cast combined. In fact, hundreds of fan clubs sprouted up across the U.S. devoted to the robot. :-)
During the second season, the show got even campier and Dr. Smith even more dastardly and villainous and even more of a poltroon. Oddly enough, Jonathan Harris was a competent actor but his silly, unflattering role on LIS is probably how he will be remembered. I seem to remember he deliberately cultivated his semi-British sounding, villainous baritone that became his trademark, but I don't recall anymore how he got the idea.
In the second season, Strother Martin and Wally Cox offer some relief from the bland acting of the other members of the cast. Until this series came out I mostly remembered Guy Williams as the handsome, dashing Zorro in that series, but unfortunately he'll probably be remembered more for this one as will Jonathan Harris.
By the way, people to this day still make fun of the Billy Mumy character, but he has had a successful career as a composer, especially for commercials, but his band also has a few hit singles, I have read. He also plays half a dozen different instruments. And oddly enough, he wrote the song made famous by Dr. Demento on his show, "Dead Puppies," which is supposedly the top-rated Dr. Demento song. And he is the house composer for I think it's Allstate Insurance's commercials. Anyway, it's one of the big insurance companies.
In the 1970s and 1980s, I recall seeing bumper stickers that said, "Bring the Lost in Space Crew Back." How many of you saw those at the time? Well, eventually they did bring sort of bring them back when they did the Lost in Space movie in the late 90s. :-)
If you're an old Lost In Space fan like me yearning for some classic nostalgia from a simpler, more innocent time in our history, you'll probably enjoy having all the old LIS episodes on these DVDs.
Rating:  -
I bought this series because I remembered it from my childhood and thought it would be a fresh alternative to the repulsive programming currently on broacast TV. I've NOT been dissappointed. Both my 12 girl and 10 year old boy are crazy about it. The first episode actually has the family praying in the face of great danger, as in the original movie and book: "The Smith Family Robinson". They really enjoy the zany Dr. Smith and the Robot. Dr. Smith's many foibles give us plenty of fodder for family discussions on character. One downside is that the monsters are somewhat "cheezy" and low budget but the plots are creative and entertaining. A good alternative to modern TV. We won'tlet cable TV in our house. There's no need and the downside has become frightening.
Rating: -
When I was a child I just loved this outer space adventure of an all American family trying to survive in a hostile world(s). As a teenager watching these shows in reruns my pleasure came from the cheap looking sets and often re-used props and stock footage of alien space ships arriving and leaving. Jonathan Harris' Dr Smith was no longer an annoyance (as I thought as a child) but the best reason to watch the show. As an adult I can only think of Dr Smith's character which due to the "special guest star" status credit as the best series long guest star in the history of TV. Jonathan Harris is just brilliant at pulling the hood over the white toast Robinson family episode after episode. This lovable villain is filled with as many witty barbs, excuses and verbal flourishes as he is saddled with just about every imaginable human fault. This show belongs to Harris and the producers seemed to realize that midway through the first season much to the dismay of the lead actor Guy Williams. Lost in Space all these years later is a blast unless you are some kind of bubble headed booby!
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