I would suggest that "My Friend Mr. Nobody" (for which John Williams wrote a complete suite of truly evocative music) should be in your list. I watched it as a six year old when the series first aired. What tv show of that period would be able to make a youngster such as myself contemplate the nature of life and the cosmos? Well this episode did and it was underscored by probably the finest music ever written for a tv show.
I think all things considered," Mr. Nobody" is probably the finest episode of the series. And yes, the music on that one was epic. The spooky "Invaders From The Fifth Dimension" is a favourite of mine.
That episode also had a profound impact on me and a lot of my family and friends too: and shouting - "You're Mr Nobody!" became a huge thing amongst the kids on my street. I'm not sure, but I think we even invented a Mr Nobody game similar to hide-and-seek.
For all the accolades John Williams got for his later work, his LIS music is still my favorites! “The Reluctant Stowaway”, “Island in the Sky” “The Hungry Sea”, and “My Friend Mr Nobody”. All this music was reused in other episodes and NEVER got old or worn out! Also credit for Herman Stein, (The Derelict, new music in There Were Giants in the Earth, and Hello Stranger). He did more of the “family” music, comical music for Smith and the Robot, while Williams provided more of the tension filled “danger” music!
A very good show! I didn’t appreciate this episode that much as a young boy, (a Penny episode! COOTIES”!! As an adult, I now see it as excellent!! As good as a Star Trek episode!
I have to say the first five episodes were great, they really set up the first season very well great story great science fiction and the Robinsons struggle to survive on a hostile environment and Dr Smith was so sinister not to be trusted always plotting against the family using the robot as a heavy to do his bidding. 🎬📽🎬📽🎬🎬🎬
Yeah, it was kinda ironic that they made it back to Earth finally, but in the wrong time! This would have been the perfect “series finale”, but they had no concept of that then, and had no idea when the series would end! (At the time this even aired, they thought there would be a season 4)! It also left a huge plot hole that it never showed them going through the warp again to get back to their correct timeline! The later shows in S3 alluded to them being back in their proper timeline. (The Promised Planet, Target Earth, etc..)!
I used to watch the reruns of this on my local UHF station when I was a kid in the 80s. I loved it back then. Haven't seen it since, not counting the crappy film from the late 90s. I might have to revisit it in the near future. Thanks for reminding me about this classic show!
Used to watch the syndicated reruns everyday in the early ‘70s when I got home from school! I have rewatched them recently on Hulu, (very cheap, but I recommend paying extra to watch commercial free! Many more good old shows on there)!
Funny that the older black and white episodes were the best. Later when the color episodes aired, the network pulled most of the budget from the show (for whatever reason) and the show took a left turn into campy town. The shows writing suffered and the sets and aliens were props stolen or "borrowed" from other past movies or shows that were on the same lot the show was filmed on since they were on a show string budget. Instead survival Sci-fi suspense, it became campy, silly, and absurd. Mr Smith started out the first season as a pretty scary villain that you didn't want to mess with and his character was VERY serious. Later seasons Smith becomes a bumbling, easily scared, fool. Still fun show to watch though. Great childhood memories watching that show.
+mokthemagicman yeah, all the interviews with Mr. Harris explain that he knew he'd have to be killed off because he was so evil non dimensional so he himself changed the character into comedic villainy which bought on the camp and then when Batman TV show aired against them, then LIS went into more camp to compete. Their budget wasn't cut but they spent too much time on the planets in SE 2 with the aliens just too many dumb alien rubber costumes that yes recycled back no forth to VTBOTS and TT even afew in LODG all recycled props and stuff in Irwin Allen's shows and City Beneath the Sea TV movie The show's budget would be cut in half with the offer of a 4th season but the ratings were low and the cast was unhappy in their parts and Allen wanted to go onto the movies
+The Dark Angel- With all due respect I need to correct you. Actually the ratings weren't that low nor was the cast 'unhappy'--especially not Jonathan Harris! They all thought they were coming back for a 4th Season and Bill Mumy was devastated when the show was suddenly cancelled. The budget was not going to be 'cut in half'. Cancellation (according to June Lockhart) was due to a variety of factors - mainly a conflict Irwin Allen had with the CBS West Coast executives due to getting the story outlines for Season Four in by the deadline. Allen was not 'going onto movies'. He had a brand new show Land Of The Giants debuting in Fall 1968 and was working getting City Beneath The Sea underway as a TV movie and potential series.
MrPeterbs I did see that interview with June Lockhart among others I dont know the date time wise of the other interviews that I saw posted but yes you are correct about what she remembered and then in different interviews and from facebook comments that YES Mr. Harris loved it all as did the kids. Marta was unhappy with the lack of character and relationship development and Allen's not paying attention to her interest in her and Don's relationship. Mark Goddard complained that he and Williams were at odds from time to time over screen time and lines that sometimes Mr. Williams out of frustration would take Goddard's lines One day, Goddard said, he got angry and walked off the set and took a long break. Williams was angry and would spend his time in his dressing room relaxing to ?? classical music I think it was. June Lockhart said in a different interview that happy or not she would never cancel a contract or walk off from a show as that would haunt the rest of your career. Mumy remembered things differently and in some other interview said that while Allen was offered a 4th season that CBS would be cutting the budget and that the ratings were down and that the stories were lacking and running out of ideas and that Mr. Allen also wanted to do other projects, maybe a movie which he did. mumy alo said that he tried desperately to get Mr. Allen to read his reunion script years later but Allen wouldnt and yahhhh, I have spent wayyy too much time looking at the interviews over the years and reunion clips, there's a new one as well under reunion of them on a talk show early morning and split screen with an older Harris and Mumy in LA and three other actors on the talk show set it was their ?? reunion from early 2,000s attending a fest. Theeee very best interview is of Mr. Harris on the Conan O'Brien show I have seen that one a dozen times, it's excellent and hysterical Classic fun with Mr. Harris There's a reunion where they are all on a talk show set in the 80's, robot suit in background and Marta Kristen's husband is in the audience, that is a good interview too That's my take also as the actors mellow out in their older age some of the views about working the show become more sentimental over time that any differences Goddard said in a different interview that he was only coregal sp? with Harris while doing the show and Harris appreciated Goddard's humor and pranks but that they really didnt become better acquainted or friends until the reunion conventions happened. Wish I could afford the Blu Ray set so that I could see their Epilogue show wrap up and reunion :(
+The Dark Angel I heard on an old interview with Bill Mumy on Howard Stern that the show budget DID get cut and they had to resort to grabbing "whatever" they could get their hands on the studio lot. It was also cheaper to do the show all on the same planet. Many of the episodes take place on the same planet over and over on the same cheap set. No budget for new space scenes with the space saucer unless it was reused footage.
+mokthemagicman The context was the motive behind cancellation. Of course on a scifi show budget is always a concern. That wasn't the main reason it was cancelled however.
“The Challenge” with Kurt Russell, was another classic... The “Volta-Blade” fight between John “Zorro” Robinson & Michael “The King” Ansara was exciting as Hell! I watched it recently, still gets the adrenaline pumping... “The Thought Machine”, another great one... “The Keeper”... So many others could be on this great list!
There was another great episode - The Hungry Sea. It was incredible how the Robinson family survived in the sub-zero cold and blazing hot temperatures. They ventured through the violently stormy sea with a whirlpool while they rode on the Space Chariot. They almost lost Don West in the stormy sea and survived. This episode was my favorite of all time in Lost In Space. There were Giants in the Earth was my second favorite. I love those actions in the lost ancient civilization with a trapped walled door and the colossal giant attacking John and Don trapped in the cave. Return from Outer Space was my third favorite. The Anti-Matter Man was my fourth favorite. Follow the Leader was my fifth favorite. Love is the most powerful emotional heart that killed the fiend. The first Season was the best because of the less campy and showed more seriousness. Also, they fought to keep the family together and their survival through various action adventures in unpredictable and hostile environments. The cliffhanger actions at the end of each episode were extraordinary. The classic Lost in Space is my third favorite TV series. 👍🤠👍
Thank you for keeping this amazing show alive I used to watch it all the time with my grandpa and always loved every minute, I still do and I'm so glad it was made
The early episodes certainly conveyed the sense that they really were on an alien planet. There were plenty of top notch episodes with some of the best music ever written for TV. A lot of the physics was way out of course but I didn't worry about this as a kid although - as my Dad trained to be a Scientist - he had introduced me to the concept of Relativity at an early age. There are enough good episodes to form a great two season adventure series. But episodes like 'The Questing Beast' are best forgotten
Your number four is one of my favorites, too!!!!! I remember seeing that episode when I was a boy before I even knew what the series was. It was a Saturday morning, and I was watching that episode while I was at the barber shop waiting for a haircut.
Fun fact: The interior of the alien ship in "The Derelict" was borrowed from the recently-completed movie "Fantastic Voyage" -- it's the set meant to represent the ganglia in Dr. Benes' brain. You can even spot the blood clot the FV team was miniaturized to destroy.
RE: Return From Outer Space: I think this episode also had Irwin Allen's actress wife Shelia Matthews in the episode as well, she appeared in a handful of LIS and LOTG episodes as well as Allen's movies It was frustrating that none of the adults would believe him on either planet :) My favorite scene was when Will did get his picture taken in the town's general store and one would hope that is picture wold wind up in a newspaper and find it's way to Alpha Control's base which would tell AC that the Robinson's are still alive. RE: Anti Matter Man: yes loved all the twisted shadowy scenery and purple lighting like a nightmare vision. Mark Goddard said once that this is his favorite episode because he got to play a total bad ass without holding back because as tough as Mjr. West was he was always holding himself back, keeping his temper with Smith in check Loved how near the end we see and Evil version of the Robot :) Mark Goddard said once that Guy Williams would clash with him sometimes over lines in a scene and screen time since they had to take a backseat to Dr. Smith's character and that one day Mr. Goddard walked off set for unscheduled break because Mr. Williams took his lines. RE: There Were Giants in the Earth: we all loved those two Cyclops scenes and how I wished that the early first five or six Blk n Wht episodes had been offered in colorized version as a bonus feature I read that there were two different actors that played the Cyclops on LIS at two different times and that the cyclops suit was made from coconut exterior and hair fuzz? I loved the nautical music used for the Chariot, gave the scenes such exciting sense of adventure. in real life an original fan grew up, became an engineer and re created the LIS Chariot from scratch and in 2015 he started taking the brand new identical Chariot to auto shows and to conventions and reunited the Char riot with Goddard and other cast members for the 50th anniversary of LIS there are videos of the Chariot being built on youtube in all stages fascinating Later on in the show in color maybe the 3rd season with the space pod, Will and Smith think they have traveled to the future of the planet where they have hallucinations or see things meant to be real and Smith sees the "color" clip of the Cyclops turning around and looking down That clip might have been one of the test shots or out takes but in color! which was sooo awesome to see albeit brief. RE: The Derelict: I Luv'd this one because we got to see the mock up of the ship's interior and the ship landing with the spinning core and landing gear and alll the great humming core engine sounds is awesome and the first we learn that the ship has an exterior force field. I too also love it because Colonel Dr. Zachery Smith is still more evil than cowardly and totes a laser gun and not afraid to use it I had these early episodes on vhs and i kept rewinding them to all the hardware scenes and watched them over n over like The J2 in flight and crashing and landing and the early movements of the Robot and of the chariot but none of these scenes would be half as awesome if it wasn't for all the great music scores and themes
These four episode were some of the least campy and most intriguing of the series. If only all of the stories had been that good! Also, the soundtrack music was far better than most of the series. Thanks so much for your great sampler video of the best of Lost in Space! :)
You did a great job on this Alex and Co.!!! Hard to pick four of their best episodes, but these are great choices. I'd give "Island in the Sky" the edge over "There Were Giants in the Earth" though - it has more action and the exciting Jupiter II descent and crash to the planet. Thanks again!
It's like you guys are reading my mind and choosing selections from my personal collection. The Black Hole, Condorman, Star Trek the Motion Picture and now Lost in Space. If this trend continues I wouldn't be surprised at all to see reviews on the original Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers or Space 1999 in the future. Keep up the good work!
My pers fav scene in LiS is where the Robot is attempting to reach a machine the Saticons have set up, to destroy it. They zap him with a terrific gust of wind, which greatly slows his progress. The head baddie tells him, "Your efforts are futile, mechanical man! You will be destroyed!" But Will's encouragement and B-9's own determination triumph; he reaches the machine and smashes it.
i suspect that Return From Outer Space is an homage to the movie High Noon. not only is the phrase "high noon" used, but there are smash cuts to clocks that were done in the same way. also, i'd trade out There Were Giants" for Island In The Sky, for the crash sequence alone.
I'd have to say my favourite episode is "The Promised Planet" where the aliens lure the Robinsons in by telling them they are an Earth Outpost for Alpha Centauri, but what they really want is Will and Penny's blood so they can live longer.. A Bit of Trivia: Channel 10 in Melbourne, Australia ran Lost In Space during Prime Time up until 1986.
It was funny that almost every TV show at this time had at least one episode that would include “hippie culture”, since it was a big thing at the time. LIS, the Addams Family, Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island, Batman, etc..!
I've always enjoyed this one myself.i like to think of it as these aliens have been watching Earth and based their whole culture on the hippie counter culture movement.Remembet the gangster culture in Star Treks A Piece of the Action all caused by a book left behind by a previous ship God tv was great back then!
I'm all about The Hungry Sea. What show has ever had stormy seas and giant maelstrom effects like that? Huge fan of Lydecker Bros and LK Abbott miniature effects!
My all-time top 10...(1) All that glitters (with a guest appearance by Werner Klemperer of Hogan's Heroes); (2) One of our dogs is missing (on the edge of your seat terror the entire episode); (3) Ghost in space (creepy looking invisible bog creature); (4) My friend, Mr. Nobody (The final scene with Penny pleading with Mr Nobody is heart-wrenching); (5) Blast off into space (Mr. Nerim and his Cosmonium); (6) Return from outer space (Don't forget the Carbon Tet, Will); (7) Space Creature ("All I want is to be left alone"-really, Will?); (8) Wish upon a star ("I'd like some coffee, please"); (9) Revolt of the Androids (something about a guy who's intials mean 'Instant Destoyer And Killer'); (10) Follow the leader (some of Guy Williams' best moments); Bonus episode(s)...The Keeper parts 1 and 2 (Michael Rennie brilliant as usual)...
I also liked the John-centered episode, "Hunter's Moon" and -- God help me -- "Visit to a Hostile Planet." The premise of the prison-in-space ep was also good, as was "Trip Through the Robot".
@@tripsadelica I was referring to the original *first run* here in the US. Yes- it has been constantly rerun here in the US as well. But here we call that 'syndication'.
Correct. The show was in summer reruns in its original run on CBS when it ended in September 1968. The final episode to be repeated was "A Visit to Hades" on Wednesday, September 11, 1968. This was a second season episode being repeated for a second time. Yes, I was watching back then. I wouldn't see LIS again until June 1974. WTAE Channel 4 scheduled it from 3:30 - 4:30 in the afternoon, M-F. It was fun seeing it again and I haven't stopped watching it since.
I remember seeing short ads for the show before it officially aired and I was so excited! The whole series was ruined by Dr. Smith though. The regular cast's parts were greatly diminished because of it and it became more of a comedy. Too bad because the show had a much greater potential.
The head man irwin Allen gave his blessing to Harris to do more of what he was doing. Harris thus saved his character from ending up frozen to death, as was scheduled.
I agree with the first two episodes but enjoyed "Trip Through The Robot" and "The Reluctant Stowaway" as faves. I watched the re-runs on WLVI each day, M-Sat. 3:00-4:00 p.m. all year-round.
Trip through the robot is about as silly as you can get but still one of my fav episodes, what type of malfunction could make any machine grow to that size???
The voice of Reed Richards in the 'Fantastic Four' Cartoon of the sixties, Hal Jordan in the early 'Green Lantern' and as the lead in 'Red Planet Mars', he had a unique voice.
For some reason, I always loved the episode where the robot become super huge and they have to go inside him to fix him. And one of the early episodes - with Michael J. Pollock (who Michael J. Fox derived his name from, out of tribute) - where Penny befriends this kid who lives inside a mirror. It really fired my imagination as a kid. Admittedly, the show does not hold up as well watching it as an adult, but it's still good fun.
Anti-Matter man is without a doubt the best episode, John Robinson meets his evil self in a parallel universe. The only thing bad about it is the Robot who behaves badly, i don't know what the writers were thinking, why they had to make the Robot so emotional. Anyway Will keeps his wits about him and he and Robot go rescue His father.
I'd drop The Derelict in favor of one of: Visit to a Hostile Planet, Hunter's Moon, the creepy and atmospheric Saticons ep with the fake San Francisco; the one where aliens trick Will, Smith and the Robot into thinking it's the far future (complete with "Cybernetic Hero" memorial), or -- if you're feeling funky -- the comic ep where Smith and Don have to break rocks in the Devil's Quadrant.
Antimatter Man, Follow the Leader, Cave of the Wizards and the Keeper, well that's technically five episodes. Still one of my favorite shows. You either love it or hate it!
@Studio Terrible Well it is actually! This will never be redone in the same way! These will survive in our memories only!! It’s still out there on Hulu, etc….But it will never impress young people like it did to us when we were young!!
Excellent analysis! Although of course I have my own favorites--Michael Rennie as "The Keeper" As with most Irwin Allen productions the first season is the best-Same with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In other words the all the black and white episodes!
I'm tired of the ones that put down Lost In Space as with anything in life theirs good and bad. With Lost In Space, a fan from day one. Some episodes may not be as good as others but if u like a show you take it with a grain of salt and move on. The show had heart Grabbed my imagination from the moment I saw the first episode. The characters, the magnificent scores by so many composers Johnny Williams, John Williams today Herman Stein, Mullendore, Leith Stevens, Star Treks Alexander Courage many more made it my favorite of all time. After 50 years its still on, no matter what any critic would say it beat so many others that don't play today. U like it great!!!! U don't U are nothing but a Bubble headed booby.
+Anthony Messina Dr. Smith: ""Well said my dear boy. I couldn't agree with you more. Our show does indeed capture the imagination and the hearts of many and with much appreciation to my mechanical friend as well, my B-9 Neanderthal Ninny. Hmmmm, where is that bungling bag of bolts! Just you wait !"'
Dr. Smith to the haters: "Bah humbug, you computerised clumps. Do you not recognise genius when you see it...especially genius such as mine? Away with you...you bore me!"
All the classic B&W Season One episodes (twenty-nine of them, in fact) are tops. Then, the rest follow in various suit. But, if you try to form any top list, they all have to be early B&W.. :-] And to get a bit more detailed, the first five episodes of the series are the five best..
The keeper and basically every episode leading up to it. After that it never took itself seriously again, not to that level again. The only two non-first season episodes I remember being good were the 1st episode of season 2 and another episode (no idea if it was season 2 or 3) where the robot became huge and the Robinson family were walking around inside him.
The ‘60’s was an amazing decade for television imagination, sparked in large part by JFK and his space challenge. Lost in Space, Star Trek, The Outer Limits (My fav), One Step Beyond, The Twilight Zone, all top notch creativity and astounding production design considering the primitive technologies available but the real art craft was the imaginative brilliance of that time which is lost forever. Except perhaps for the 2010 television series FRINGE which is the first mainstream series I’ve watched whose story development team and writing staff make FRINGE perhaps the most well thought out series since the 1960’s.
Will was much more courageous than children in other movies. I could just see Will time traveling to Jurassic Park with a ray gun and maintaining his cool while killing T-REX and any other dinosaurs that try to hurt him!!!!
The first 5 episodes were fantastic. Actually 75% Of the first season was good. After the first 5 - from the 1st season - Mr.Nobody/Invaders from the 5th dimension/Wish Upon a Star/Return from Outer Space/One of Our Dogs is Missing/ The Keeper/The Magic Mirror/Follow the Leader. 2nd season - HARD to pick any good episodes from this sorry ass season but I’ll go with The Ghost Planet/Prisoners Of Space/The Golden Man(mainly because of the morale of the story)/The Cave of the Wizards/Trip Through the Robot/The Galaxy Gift. I might add that NONE of these episodes are better then ANY that I listed in the 1st season. 3rd season - Condemned of Space/Visit to a Hostile Planet/Space Creature/The Ant-Matter Man/ Target Earth/The Time Merchant. Well - that’s just my dumb ass opinion. Couldn’t really make my top 4 - but these are the best - in MY opinion.
I would vote The Reluctant Stowaway as #1 of the 5. Like the saying goes, Every Story Has a Beginning, and also explained how Dr. Zachary Smith ended up aboard The Jupiter 2. One thing for sure, when the Spacecraft began to glow at liftoff, he apparently had a bad experience with the infamous scream, that wasn't his typical comedic screaming as the show went on. He wasn't looking too well after unstrapping from the launch couch, stood up sweating, and nearly collapsing to the floor.
Apparently, the G-force upon lift off was a shock to his system. I had to explain this to my kids when I tried to share the show to them in the early 2000s. It scared them too much! I’m think the first real comedic scream was at the beginning of “The Sky is Falling” when he got up close and personal with the “crab probe”!
@@Geezer-yf8hv You're right about Dr. Smith's 1st comedic scream. In an interview, Mr. Harris said that Irwin Allen knew what he was doing, and told him, DO MORE!!🤣🎥🎬⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ But in Wikipedia when it mentions about the the propulsion system of the Jupiter 2, the Anti-gravity drive is meantioned, that enables the Spacecraft to escape Earth's Gravitational Pull, producing 250 watts of power, also creating a magnet feild with each rotation of the power fusion core, that generated that glow at liftoff. Sounds like if Dr. Smith wasn't strapped in the launch couch, that kind of was an insulator for his body, it probably would have killed him. The funny thing though, the Anti-gravity drive was never mentioned on the show. On a Lost in Space website, the Anti-gravity drive is meantioned illustrating a picture of the Jupiter 2 lifting off with the glow around it.
@@ellexking9136 I wouldn’t consider it canon, if it wasn’t mentioned in the show. I just considered it the G-force of blastoff, since Smith was not a trained astronaut and never experienced it before! It’s like an elephant sitting on your chest!
@@Geezer-yf8hv The Gemini Space program was going on during the time when Lost in Space was televised. And when the Rocket lifted off, the astronauts would experience pretty close to 4 G's Max before weightlessness. There was a Rollercoaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio named Top Thrill Dragster, that used a cable t launch the Trains. On Exceleration, riders experience just shy of 5 G's. Top Thrill Dragster pulled more G's than the Space Shuttle when it cleared the tower, at 3.2 G's. A little fun fact. Top Thrill Dragster Trains hit on average 120mph in just 3.8sec. The Space Shuttle was going 100mph when it cleared the tower. Guess what I'm trying to explain. 3.2 G's wouldn't cause pain, and discomfort at liftoff. If it did, Astronauts would be screaming in pain everytime at liftoff. Top Thrill Dragster didn't cause riders to scream in pain everytime a Train was launched. If I'm not mistaken, the Space Shuttle Astronauts experienced almost 5 G's before weightlessness, and were able to function afterwards without any side affects. That 250 mega watts of power at liftoff definitely caused some great discomfort and pain for Dr. Smith. Not the effects of G forces at liftoff.
@@ellexking9136 I’ll take your word for it! My point was that it was never explained. I figured Smith was being his wimpy self!! It was just shocking that he screamed like that! I tried to get my 6 year olds into LIS years later, when I had the shows on VHS, and it scared the shit out of them!
HELP ME!! I saw this show in 1965 when I was 9 y/o. I love, Love, Loved it....haven't seen it since...so in a moment of weakness I bought the blu-ray box set. Was so excited but it's been a struggle to watch....I find it so absurd now that I find myself rolling my eyes and actually asking questions to the screen like: where did Dr. Smith get an easel, canvas, smock and beret? Oh yeah he must have packed that when he sabotaged the ship...sorry.... I want so much to love it...but I just can't...can anyone out there HELP ME??? I'm on the second season and as much as I love it in color, I find myself scanning through the episode to the end....any thoughts...PS Alex.... Loved your review of the CD set...I may have to sell the blu-rays and get the CDs...I still love the music from the show....well I guess I'll get back to scanning through the series...looking forward to the Vegetable Episode!
Suspension of reality takes care of the easel, canvas, smock and beret! It is like this with Gilligan's Island, which predates LIS by a year, as well. I have loved LIS since 1965 and will forever love it.
Sad that Iwin Allen chose to emulate Batman, (turning Lost in Space into a day-glo-camp prime-time cartoon). You're right, the first 5 episodes viewed as a set work beautifully as adventure science fiction. -OR- One can find the original pilot (no Robot, no Doctor Smith) which contains most of the adventure scenes from those 5 episodes. That must have been one helluva pilot to see for the first time in the mid 60's. But alas it was Irwin Allen, and as Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants & Lost in Space demonstrate, he was skilled at repeatedly repackaging the same sets of stories, under the guise of new scenarios, with diminishing budgets (script & money) as seasons progress. (he did it in the movies as well, with the disaster genre.) Thank you for using John William's original theme...always hated his second go at it.
Agree with your choices. But I think it should be expanded to include "Invaders from the Fifth Dimension" and "My Friend, Mr. Nobody". Both wonderfully creepy episodes, that almost veered into "Twilight Zone" territory.
“Invaders…” was extremely creepy! Smith trying to lure 1st Penny, then Will! Nobody in TV did anything close to pedophilia at this time, but today, it REEKS of it! Nothing sexual, but just the way he preys upon and manipulates the kids! This was the point they could have done away with Smith, it was too much to believe the Robinsons could keep forgiving Smith at this point. All they had to do was showing the aliens taking Smith, instead of Will! They knew Smith was the character who most interesting, so they decided to keep him, and turn him into a more comical villain!
That's a great list, but mine would have been rather different: My Friend Mr Nobody Follow the Leader (NARROWLY edging out Anti-Matter Man) The Derelict Invaders from the 5th Dimension
Return from oute rspace is strange because he goes back and lands in a town that looks like something from the old west, but its suppose to be modern day earth.
And while their launch into space was a recent historic event not a single person including the newspaper reporter had picture or article of Will or his family.
El mejor episodio de la serie es Sigan al Lider (Follow the leader), este espisodio no tiene nada de camp, es bastante terrorifico todo, la cueva, el comportamiento de John Robinson da miedo, las escenas de lucha tambien estan muy bien realizadas.
"Women Crying" references under emotional blackmail, psychological manipulation, and spoiled rotten female adult brats. Resolution, let them cry and carry on😈☠💀
The first season was atmospheric, serious and interesting. Unfortunately, the last two seasons were pretty much a total joke, and the kind of thing that gives SF a bad name. Giant Carrot Alien, anyone?
I would suggest that "My Friend Mr. Nobody" (for which John Williams wrote a complete suite of truly evocative music) should be in your list. I watched it as a six year old when the series first aired. What tv show of that period would be able to make a youngster such as myself contemplate the nature of life and the cosmos? Well this episode did and it was underscored by probably the finest music ever written for a tv show.
I think all things considered," Mr. Nobody" is probably the finest episode of the series. And yes, the music on that one was epic. The spooky "Invaders From The Fifth Dimension" is a favourite of mine.
Totally agree
That episode also had a profound impact on me and a lot of my family and friends too: and shouting - "You're Mr Nobody!" became a huge thing amongst the kids on my street. I'm not sure, but I think we even invented a Mr Nobody game similar to hide-and-seek.
For all the accolades John Williams got for his later work, his LIS music is still my favorites! “The Reluctant Stowaway”, “Island in the Sky” “The Hungry Sea”, and “My Friend Mr Nobody”. All this music was reused in other episodes and NEVER got old or worn out! Also credit for Herman Stein, (The Derelict, new music in There Were Giants in the Earth, and Hello Stranger). He did more of the “family” music, comical music for Smith and the Robot, while Williams provided more of the tension filled “danger” music!
A very good show! I didn’t appreciate this episode that much as a young boy, (a Penny episode! COOTIES”!! As an adult, I now see it as excellent!! As good as a Star Trek episode!
"Visit to a Hostile Planet," is one of my favorites. It's one way of seeing them land back on earth and keeping the premise of the show intact!
The Voltones laser weapons sure scared the hell out of those Yoopers
I have to say the first five episodes were great, they really set up the first season very well great story great science fiction and the Robinsons struggle to survive on a hostile environment and Dr Smith was so sinister not to be trusted always plotting against the family using the robot as a heavy to do his bidding. 🎬📽🎬📽🎬🎬🎬
Yeah, it was kinda ironic that they made it back to Earth finally, but in the wrong time! This would have been the perfect “series finale”, but they had no concept of that then, and had no idea when the series would end! (At the time this even aired, they thought there would be a season 4)!
It also left a huge plot hole that it never showed them going through the warp again to get back to their correct timeline! The later shows in S3 alluded to them being back in their proper timeline. (The Promised Planet, Target Earth, etc..)!
One of mine too.
That episode was one of my favorite too. It was great. 👍🤠👍
I used to watch the reruns of this on my local UHF station when I was a kid in the 80s. I loved it back then. Haven't seen it since, not counting the crappy film from the late 90s. I might have to revisit it in the near future. Thanks for reminding me about this classic show!
Used to watch the syndicated reruns everyday in the early ‘70s when I got home from school! I have rewatched them recently on Hulu, (very cheap, but I recommend paying extra to watch commercial free! Many more good old shows on there)!
Watching for the first time in years the jet/rocket pack flying combined with the music that I almost forgot about just left me in absolute awe.
Funny that the older black and white episodes were the best. Later when the color episodes aired, the network pulled most of the budget from the show (for whatever reason) and the show took a left turn into campy town. The shows writing suffered and the sets and aliens were props stolen or "borrowed" from other past movies or shows that were on the same lot the show was filmed on since they were on a show string budget. Instead survival Sci-fi suspense, it became campy, silly, and absurd. Mr Smith started out the first season as a pretty scary villain that you didn't want to mess with and his character was VERY serious. Later seasons Smith becomes a bumbling, easily scared, fool. Still fun show to watch though. Great childhood memories watching that show.
+mokthemagicman yeah, all the interviews with Mr. Harris explain that he knew he'd have to be killed off because he was so evil non dimensional so he himself changed the character into comedic villainy which bought on the camp and then when Batman TV show aired against them, then LIS went into more camp to compete. Their budget wasn't cut but they spent too much time on the planets in SE 2 with the aliens just too many dumb alien rubber costumes that yes recycled back no forth to VTBOTS and TT even afew in LODG all recycled props and stuff in Irwin Allen's shows and City Beneath the Sea TV movie The show's budget would be cut in half with the offer of a 4th season but the ratings were low and the cast was unhappy in their parts and Allen wanted to go onto the movies
+The Dark Angel- With all due respect I need to correct you. Actually the ratings weren't that low nor was the cast 'unhappy'--especially not Jonathan Harris! They all thought they were coming back for a 4th Season and Bill Mumy was devastated when the show was suddenly cancelled. The budget was not going to be 'cut in half'. Cancellation (according to June Lockhart) was due to a variety of factors - mainly a conflict Irwin Allen had with the CBS West Coast executives due to getting the story outlines for Season Four in by the deadline. Allen was not 'going onto movies'. He had a brand new show Land Of The Giants debuting in Fall 1968 and was working getting City Beneath The Sea underway as a TV movie and potential series.
MrPeterbs I did see that interview with June Lockhart among others I dont know the date time wise of the other interviews that I saw posted but yes you are correct about what she remembered and then in different interviews and from facebook comments that YES Mr. Harris loved it all as did the kids.
Marta was unhappy with the lack of character and relationship development and Allen's not paying attention to her interest in her and Don's relationship. Mark Goddard complained that he and Williams were at odds from time to time over screen time and lines that sometimes Mr. Williams out of frustration would take Goddard's lines One day, Goddard said, he got angry and walked off the set and took a long break. Williams was angry and would spend his time in his dressing room relaxing to ?? classical music I think it was.
June Lockhart said in a different interview that happy or not she would never cancel a contract or walk off from a show as that would haunt the rest of your career.
Mumy remembered things differently and in some other interview said that while Allen was offered a 4th season that CBS would be cutting the budget and that the ratings were down and that the stories were lacking and running out of ideas and that Mr. Allen also wanted to do other projects, maybe a movie which he did. mumy alo said that he tried desperately to get Mr. Allen to read his reunion script years later but Allen wouldnt
and yahhhh, I have spent wayyy too much time looking at the interviews over the years and reunion clips, there's a new one as well under reunion of them on a talk show early morning and split screen with an older Harris and Mumy in LA and three other actors on the talk show set it was their ?? reunion from early 2,000s attending a fest.
Theeee very best interview is of Mr. Harris on the Conan O'Brien show I have seen that one a dozen times, it's excellent and hysterical Classic fun with Mr. Harris
There's a reunion where they are all on a talk show set in the 80's, robot suit in background and Marta Kristen's husband is in the audience, that is a good interview too
That's my take also as the actors mellow out in their older age some of the views about working the show become more sentimental over time that any differences Goddard said in a different interview that he was only coregal sp? with Harris while doing the show and Harris appreciated Goddard's humor and pranks but that they really didnt become better acquainted or friends until the reunion conventions happened.
Wish I could afford the Blu Ray set so that I could see their Epilogue show wrap up and reunion :(
+The Dark Angel I heard on an old interview with Bill Mumy on Howard Stern that the show budget DID get cut and they had to resort to grabbing "whatever" they could get their hands on the studio lot. It was also cheaper to do the show all on the same planet. Many of the episodes take place on the same planet over and over on the same cheap set. No budget for new space scenes with the space saucer unless it was reused footage.
+mokthemagicman The context was the motive behind cancellation. Of course on a scifi show budget is always a concern. That wasn't the main reason it was cancelled however.
The Hungry Sea is my #1 followed by The Keeper.
@silverbird58 -I think you're referring to 'Wish Upon A Star'.
“The Challenge” with Kurt Russell, was another classic... The “Volta-Blade” fight between John “Zorro” Robinson & Michael “The King” Ansara was exciting as Hell! I watched it recently, still gets the adrenaline pumping... “The Thought Machine”, another great one...
“The Keeper”... So many others could be on this great list!
You do not have to capitalize "hell." It is undeserving, for one reason.. ;-]
There was another great episode - The Hungry Sea. It was incredible how the Robinson family survived in the sub-zero cold and blazing hot temperatures. They ventured through the violently stormy sea with a whirlpool while they rode on the Space Chariot. They almost lost Don West in the stormy sea and survived. This episode was my favorite of all time in Lost In Space. There were Giants in the Earth was my second favorite. I love those actions in the lost ancient civilization with a trapped walled door and the colossal giant attacking John and Don trapped in the cave. Return from Outer Space was my third favorite. The Anti-Matter Man was my fourth favorite. Follow the Leader was my fifth favorite. Love is the most powerful emotional heart that killed the fiend. The first Season was the best because of the less campy and showed more seriousness. Also, they fought to keep the family together and their survival through various action adventures in unpredictable and hostile environments. The cliffhanger actions at the end of each episode were extraordinary. The classic Lost in Space is my third favorite TV series. 👍🤠👍
My comment had not been thumbed up yet since I wrote the comment. Wow! I have no desire to return to Earth because humans are cruel and heartless.
Good stuff! Loved this as a kid.
Thank you for keeping this amazing show alive I used to watch it all the time with my grandpa and always loved every minute, I still do and I'm so glad it was made
Guy Williams vs Michael Ansara was pretty awesome!! Two ultra Alphas!
episode all that glitters taught me about greed... powerful message that never left me..
The early episodes certainly conveyed the sense that they really were on an alien planet.
There were plenty of top notch episodes with some of the best music ever written for TV.
A lot of the physics was way out of course but I didn't worry about this as a kid although - as my Dad trained to be a Scientist - he had introduced me to the concept of Relativity at an early age.
There are enough good episodes to form a great two season adventure series. But episodes like 'The Questing Beast' are best forgotten
Your number four is one of my favorites, too!!!!! I remember seeing that episode when I was a boy before I even knew what the series was. It was a Saturday morning, and I was watching that episode while I was at the barber shop waiting for a haircut.
Fun fact: The interior of the alien ship in "The Derelict" was borrowed from the recently-completed movie "Fantastic Voyage" -- it's the set meant to represent the ganglia in Dr. Benes' brain. You can even spot the blood clot the FV team was miniaturized to destroy.
RE: Return From Outer Space: I think this episode also had Irwin Allen's actress wife Shelia Matthews in the episode as well, she appeared in a handful of LIS and LOTG episodes as well as Allen's movies It was frustrating that none of the adults would believe him on either planet :) My favorite scene was when Will did get his picture taken in the town's general store and one would hope that is picture wold wind up in a newspaper and find it's way to Alpha Control's base which would tell AC that the Robinson's are still alive.
RE: Anti Matter Man: yes loved all the twisted shadowy scenery and purple lighting like a nightmare vision. Mark Goddard said once that this is his favorite episode because he got to play a total bad ass without holding back because as tough as Mjr. West was he was always holding himself back, keeping his temper with Smith in check Loved how near the end we see and Evil version of the Robot :) Mark Goddard said once that Guy Williams would clash with him sometimes over lines in a scene and screen time since they had to take a backseat to Dr. Smith's character and that one day Mr. Goddard walked off set for unscheduled break because Mr. Williams took his lines.
RE: There Were Giants in the Earth: we all loved those two Cyclops scenes and how I wished that the early first five or six Blk n Wht episodes had been offered in colorized version as a bonus feature I read that there were two different actors that played the Cyclops on LIS at two different times and that the cyclops suit was made from coconut exterior and hair fuzz?
I loved the nautical music used for the Chariot, gave the scenes such exciting sense of adventure. in real life an original fan grew up, became an engineer and re created the LIS Chariot from scratch and in 2015 he started taking the brand new identical Chariot to auto shows and to conventions and reunited the Char riot with Goddard and other cast members for the 50th anniversary of LIS there are videos of the Chariot being built on youtube in all stages fascinating
Later on in the show in color maybe the 3rd season with the space pod, Will and Smith think they have traveled to the future of the planet where they have hallucinations or see things meant to be real and Smith sees the "color" clip of the Cyclops turning around and looking down That clip might have been one of the test shots or out takes but in color! which was sooo awesome to see albeit brief.
RE: The Derelict: I Luv'd this one because we got to see the mock up of the ship's interior and the ship landing with the spinning core and landing gear and alll the great humming core engine sounds is awesome and the first we learn that the ship has an exterior force field. I too also love it because Colonel Dr. Zachery Smith is still more evil than cowardly and totes a laser gun and not afraid to use it I had these early episodes on vhs and i kept rewinding them to all the hardware scenes and watched them over n over like The J2 in flight and crashing and landing and the early movements of the Robot and of the chariot but none of these scenes would be half as awesome if it wasn't for all the great music scores and themes
These four episode were some of the least campy and most intriguing of the series. If only all of the stories had been that good! Also, the soundtrack music was far better than most of the series. Thanks so much for your great sampler video of the best of Lost in Space! :)
You did a great job on this Alex and Co.!!! Hard to pick four of their best episodes, but these are great choices. I'd give "Island in the Sky" the edge over "There Were Giants in the Earth" though - it has more action and the exciting Jupiter II descent and crash to the planet. Thanks again!
It's like you guys are reading my mind and choosing selections from my personal collection. The Black Hole, Condorman, Star Trek the Motion Picture and now Lost in Space. If this trend continues I wouldn't be surprised at all to see reviews on the original Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers or Space 1999 in the future. Keep up the good work!
My pers fav scene in LiS is where the Robot is attempting to reach a machine the Saticons have set up, to destroy it. They zap him with a terrific gust of wind, which greatly slows his progress. The head baddie tells him, "Your efforts are futile, mechanical man! You will be destroyed!" But Will's encouragement and B-9's own determination triumph; he reaches the machine and smashes it.
“Wreck of the Robot”. Yes, “resistance is futile”!! Years before the Borg!
Excellent channel.....glad I found it.
i suspect that Return From Outer Space is an homage to the movie High Noon. not only is the phrase "high noon" used, but there are smash cuts to clocks that were done in the same way. also, i'd trade out There Were Giants" for Island In The Sky, for the crash sequence alone.
I'd have to say my favourite episode is "The Promised Planet" where the aliens lure the Robinsons in by telling them they are an Earth Outpost for Alpha Centauri, but what they really want is Will and Penny's blood so they can live longer.. A Bit of Trivia: Channel 10 in Melbourne, Australia ran Lost In Space during Prime Time up until 1986.
It was funny that almost every TV show at this time had at least one episode that would include “hippie culture”, since it was a big thing at the time. LIS, the Addams Family, Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island, Batman, etc..!
I've always enjoyed this one myself.i like to think of it as these aliens have been watching Earth and based their whole culture on the hippie counter culture movement.Remembet the gangster culture in Star Treks A Piece of the Action all caused by a book left behind by a previous ship
God tv was great back then!
Well selected fellow fan!! I used that NO REFERENCE!! line every time I had to talk with my parents!!
Yes. those early episodes were probably the best. Back in the day my favourites were The Keeper 1 & 2 as a kid, and Follow the Leader.
I'm all about The Hungry Sea. What show has ever had stormy seas and giant maelstrom effects like that? Huge fan of Lydecker Bros and LK Abbott miniature effects!
L.B.Abbott. And ONLY Howard Lydecker as Theodore had passed.
In real life effects, the cast WAS in A giant water tank, and nearly drowned with all the water poured upon them!
Love Lost In Space…. A fan since 1965
My all-time top 10...(1) All that glitters (with a guest appearance by Werner Klemperer of Hogan's Heroes); (2) One of our dogs is missing (on the edge of your seat terror the entire episode); (3) Ghost in space (creepy looking invisible bog creature); (4) My friend, Mr. Nobody (The final scene with Penny pleading with Mr Nobody is heart-wrenching); (5) Blast off into space (Mr. Nerim and his Cosmonium); (6) Return from outer space (Don't forget the Carbon Tet, Will); (7) Space Creature ("All I want is to be left alone"-really, Will?); (8) Wish upon a star ("I'd like some coffee, please"); (9) Revolt of the Androids (something about a guy who's intials mean 'Instant Destoyer And Killer'); (10) Follow the leader (some of Guy Williams' best moments); Bonus episode(s)...The Keeper parts 1 and 2 (Michael Rennie brilliant as usual)...
I used to watch everyday after school in the mid 70's.
I also liked the John-centered episode, "Hunter's Moon" and -- God help me -- "Visit to a Hostile Planet." The premise of the prison-in-space ep was also good, as was "Trip Through the Robot".
One minor correction - the show ran on CBS until early September 1968.
It was in CONSTANT reruns on the 0-10 network in Australia in the four to five PM timeslot from 1968 to 1976. It was so popular here.
@@tripsadelica I was referring to the original *first run* here in the US. Yes- it has been constantly rerun here in the US as well. But here we call that 'syndication'.
Correct. The show was in summer reruns in its original run on CBS when it ended in September 1968. The final episode to be repeated was "A Visit to Hades" on Wednesday, September 11, 1968. This was a second season episode being repeated for a second time. Yes, I was watching back then. I wouldn't see LIS again until June 1974. WTAE Channel 4 scheduled it from 3:30 - 4:30 in the afternoon, M-F. It was fun seeing it again and I haven't stopped watching it since.
@@kevinschifino1064 Actually 'Hades' ran three times total on CBS given it was shown both as a repeat in both Summer 67 and 68.
I remember seeing short ads for the show before it officially aired and I was so excited! The whole series was ruined by Dr. Smith though. The regular cast's parts were greatly diminished because of it and it became more of a comedy. Too bad because the show had a much greater potential.
The head man irwin Allen gave his blessing to Harris to do more of what he was doing. Harris thus saved his character from ending up frozen to death, as was scheduled.
Fun Fact Music in Return to Earth was from Miracle on 34th street Lost in Space reused classic music from many Fox films
My head canon is that Dr. Smith was actually working for the aliens from "The Derelict" when he sabotaged the Jupiter 2 in the first episode.
I think they may have actually retconned something like that in thew Innovation comics series of LIS. Thanks for watching!
Good choices! I would agree with all of them. Yes, the show really captured me and my brothers imagination. The music is in my DNA.
I agree with the first two episodes but enjoyed "Trip Through The Robot" and "The Reluctant Stowaway" as faves. I watched the re-runs on WLVI each day, M-Sat. 3:00-4:00 p.m. all year-round.
Trip through the robot is about as silly as you can get but still one of my fav episodes, what type of malfunction could make any machine grow to that size???
Hard-working radio actor Gerald Mohr in that last scene. He played many, many roles, but might be best known on radio as Philip Marlowe.
The voice of Reed Richards in the 'Fantastic Four' Cartoon of the sixties, Hal Jordan in the early 'Green Lantern' and as the lead in 'Red Planet Mars', he had a unique voice.
For some reason, I always loved the episode where the robot become super huge and they have to go inside him to fix him. And one of the early episodes - with Michael J. Pollock (who Michael J. Fox derived his name from, out of tribute) - where Penny befriends this kid who lives inside a mirror. It really fired my imagination as a kid.
Admittedly, the show does not hold up as well watching it as an adult, but it's still good fun.
That story would have been a lot better with NO "monster," just a dark, spooky dimension going into infinity with no escape...
My favorite is the one with Michael Ansara & Kurt Russell.
Anti-Matter man is without a doubt the best episode, John Robinson meets his evil self in a parallel universe. The only thing bad about it is the Robot who behaves badly, i don't know what the writers were thinking, why they had to make the Robot so emotional. Anyway Will keeps his wits about him and he and Robot go rescue His father.
That is far from "the best" episode. All the best episodes are in classic B&W Season One. Those are on a plane above all the others..
"The Magic Mirror" was a good Penny episode. "The Hungry Sea" was amazing! And "The Girl from the Green Dimension" was campy but fun.
I would have put Anti Matter Man at #1 and the Derelict at #2 but yes, the Derelict was a powerful episode and I still think of it now and then.
I'd drop The Derelict in favor of one of: Visit to a Hostile Planet, Hunter's Moon, the creepy and atmospheric Saticons ep with the fake San Francisco; the one where aliens trick Will, Smith and the Robot into thinking it's the far future (complete with "Cybernetic Hero" memorial), or -- if you're feeling funky -- the comic ep where Smith and Don have to break rocks in the Devil's Quadrant.
Antimatter Man, Follow the Leader, Cave of the Wizards and the Keeper, well that's technically five episodes. Still one of my favorite shows. You either love it or hate it!
I love it!! All my favorites too!
@Studio Terrible Well it is actually! This will never be redone in the same way! These will survive in our memories only!! It’s still out there on Hulu, etc….But it will never impress young people like it did to us when we were young!!
Excellent analysis! Although of course I have my own favorites--Michael Rennie as "The Keeper" As with most Irwin Allen productions the first season is the best-Same with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In other words the all the black and white episodes!
I always wondered if Jonathan Harris had something to do with getting Rennie, since they both worked together on “The Third Man”!
I'm tired of the ones that put down Lost In Space as with anything in life theirs good and bad. With Lost In Space, a fan from day one. Some episodes may not be as good as others but if u like a show you take it with a grain of salt and move on. The show had heart Grabbed my imagination from the moment I saw the first episode. The characters, the magnificent scores by so many composers Johnny Williams, John Williams today Herman Stein, Mullendore, Leith Stevens, Star Treks Alexander Courage many more made it my favorite of all time. After 50 years its still on, no matter what any critic would say it beat so many others that don't play today. U like it great!!!! U don't U are nothing but a Bubble headed booby.
+Anthony Messina Dr. Smith: ""Well said my dear boy. I couldn't agree with you more. Our show does indeed capture the imagination and the hearts of many and with much appreciation to my mechanical friend as well, my B-9 Neanderthal Ninny. Hmmmm, where is that bungling bag of bolts! Just you wait !"'
Dr. Smith to the haters: "Bah humbug, you computerised clumps. Do you not recognise genius when you see it...especially genius such as mine? Away with you...you bore me!"
All the classic B&W Season One episodes (twenty-nine of them, in fact) are tops. Then, the rest follow in various suit. But, if you try to form any top list, they all have to be early B&W.. :-]
And to get a bit more detailed, the first five episodes of the series are the five best..
The keeper and basically every episode leading up to it. After that it never took itself seriously again, not to that level again. The only two non-first season episodes I remember being good were the 1st episode of season 2 and another episode (no idea if it was season 2 or 3) where the robot became huge and the Robinson family were walking around inside him.
I think it was called Journey through the Robot. Or something like that. It was from season 2. One of my favourites.
The ‘60’s was an amazing decade for television imagination, sparked in large part by JFK and his space challenge. Lost in Space, Star Trek, The Outer Limits (My fav), One Step Beyond, The Twilight Zone, all top notch creativity and astounding production design considering the primitive technologies available but the real art craft was the imaginative brilliance of that time which is lost forever. Except perhaps for the 2010 television series FRINGE which is the first mainstream series I’ve watched whose story development team and writing staff make FRINGE perhaps the most well thought out series since the 1960’s.
Loved the show and totally agree with this episode list!
I always liked the episode"The Space Destructors"! I put that on the #1 list in my opinion. "The Hungry Sea" was #2 on my list!
Will was much more courageous than children in other movies. I could just see Will time traveling to Jurassic Park with a ray gun and maintaining his cool while killing T-REX and any other dinosaurs that try to hurt him!!!!
Will never thought about the danger! His scientific curiosity overshadowed everything else!
visit to a hostile planet (S3-E2) was my favorite along with anti matter man...that and a young kurt russell that will battled in a comp
The first 5 episodes were fantastic. Actually 75% Of the first season was good. After the first 5 - from the 1st season - Mr.Nobody/Invaders from the 5th dimension/Wish Upon a Star/Return from Outer Space/One of Our Dogs is Missing/ The Keeper/The Magic Mirror/Follow the Leader.
2nd season - HARD to pick any good episodes from this sorry ass season but I’ll go with The Ghost Planet/Prisoners Of Space/The Golden Man(mainly because of the morale of the story)/The Cave of the Wizards/Trip Through the Robot/The Galaxy Gift. I might add that NONE of these episodes are better then ANY that I listed in the 1st season.
3rd season - Condemned of Space/Visit to a Hostile Planet/Space Creature/The Ant-Matter Man/ Target Earth/The Time Merchant.
Well - that’s just my dumb ass opinion. Couldn’t really make my top 4 - but these are the best - in MY opinion.
No, you are not dumb. I love your comment. I agree with you about your favorite episodes. They are awesome! 👍🤠👍
My favorite show of all time!
My favorite episode was the one with the hippy aliens pretending to be humans because it had Penny dancing and I had such a crush on her.
Grooooovy
A personal favorite of mine since it's original run, when i was 8 years old. How old were you Alex when you first saw the show?
+steve ninetyfeetpermin I was about 7 years old.
My top four would be Island In The Sky, My Friend Mr. Nobody, Invaders From The Fifth Dimension and Cave Of Wizards.
I would vote The Reluctant Stowaway as #1 of the 5. Like the saying goes, Every Story Has a Beginning, and also explained how Dr. Zachary Smith ended up aboard The Jupiter 2. One thing for sure, when the Spacecraft began to glow at liftoff, he apparently had a bad experience with the infamous scream, that wasn't his typical comedic screaming as the show went on. He wasn't looking too well after unstrapping from the launch couch, stood up sweating, and nearly collapsing to the floor.
Apparently, the G-force upon lift off was a shock to his system. I had to explain this to my kids when I tried to share the show to them in the early 2000s. It scared them too much! I’m think the first real comedic scream was at the beginning of “The Sky is Falling” when he got up close and personal with the “crab probe”!
@@Geezer-yf8hv You're right about Dr. Smith's 1st comedic scream. In an interview, Mr. Harris said that Irwin Allen knew what he was doing, and told him, DO MORE!!🤣🎥🎬⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ But in Wikipedia when it mentions about the the propulsion system of the Jupiter 2, the Anti-gravity drive is meantioned, that enables the Spacecraft to escape Earth's Gravitational Pull, producing 250 watts of power, also creating a magnet feild with each rotation of the power fusion core, that generated that glow at liftoff. Sounds like if Dr. Smith wasn't strapped in the launch couch, that kind of was an insulator for his body, it probably would have killed him. The funny thing though, the Anti-gravity drive was never mentioned on the show. On a Lost in Space website, the Anti-gravity drive is meantioned illustrating a picture of the Jupiter 2 lifting off with the glow around it.
@@ellexking9136 I wouldn’t consider it canon, if it wasn’t mentioned in the show. I just considered it the G-force of blastoff, since Smith was not a trained astronaut and never experienced it before! It’s like an elephant sitting on your chest!
@@Geezer-yf8hv The Gemini Space program was going on during the time when Lost in Space was televised. And when the Rocket lifted off, the astronauts would experience pretty close to 4 G's Max before weightlessness. There was a Rollercoaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio named Top Thrill Dragster, that used a cable t launch the Trains. On Exceleration, riders experience just shy of 5 G's. Top Thrill Dragster pulled more G's than the Space Shuttle when it cleared the tower, at 3.2 G's. A little fun fact. Top Thrill Dragster Trains hit on average 120mph in just 3.8sec. The Space Shuttle was going 100mph when it cleared the tower. Guess what I'm trying to explain. 3.2 G's wouldn't cause pain, and discomfort at liftoff. If it did, Astronauts would be screaming in pain everytime at liftoff. Top Thrill Dragster didn't cause riders to scream in pain everytime a Train was launched. If I'm not mistaken, the Space Shuttle Astronauts experienced almost 5 G's before weightlessness, and were able to function afterwards without any side affects. That 250 mega watts of power at liftoff definitely caused some great discomfort and pain for Dr. Smith. Not the effects of G forces at liftoff.
@@ellexking9136 I’ll take your word for it! My point was that it was never explained. I figured Smith was being his wimpy self!! It was just shocking that he screamed like that! I tried to get my 6 year olds into LIS years later, when I had the shows on VHS, and it scared the shit out of them!
I the derelict if you watch carefully when the alien is chasing them you can see there's a guy pushing a shopping cart.
50th anniversary blu ray box set of the complete seasons of lost in Space TV show 1960s
HELP ME!! I saw this show in 1965 when I was 9 y/o. I love, Love, Loved it....haven't seen it since...so in a moment of weakness I bought the blu-ray box set. Was so excited but it's been a struggle to watch....I find it so absurd now that I find myself rolling my eyes and actually asking questions to the screen like: where did Dr. Smith get an easel, canvas, smock and beret? Oh yeah he must have packed that when he sabotaged the ship...sorry.... I want so much to love it...but I just can't...can anyone out there HELP ME??? I'm on the second season and as much as I love it in color, I find myself scanning through the episode to the end....any thoughts...PS Alex.... Loved your review of the CD set...I may have to sell the blu-rays and get the CDs...I still love the music from the show....well I guess I'll get back to scanning through the series...looking forward to the Vegetable Episode!
Suspension of reality takes care of the easel, canvas, smock and beret! It is like this with Gilligan's Island, which predates LIS by a year, as well. I have loved LIS since 1965 and will forever love it.
Sad that Iwin Allen chose to emulate Batman, (turning Lost in Space into a day-glo-camp prime-time cartoon).
You're right, the first 5 episodes viewed as a set work beautifully as adventure science fiction.
-OR-
One can find the original pilot (no Robot, no Doctor Smith) which contains most of the adventure scenes from those 5 episodes. That must have been one helluva pilot to see for the first time in the mid 60's.
But alas it was Irwin Allen, and as Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants & Lost in Space demonstrate, he was skilled at repeatedly repackaging the same sets of stories, under the guise of new scenarios, with diminishing budgets (script & money) as seasons progress. (he did it in the movies as well, with the disaster genre.)
Thank you for using John William's original theme...always hated his second go at it.
Agree with your choices. But I think it should be expanded to include "Invaders from the Fifth Dimension" and "My Friend, Mr. Nobody". Both wonderfully creepy episodes, that almost veered into "Twilight Zone" territory.
“Invaders…” was extremely creepy! Smith trying to lure 1st Penny, then Will! Nobody in TV did anything close to pedophilia at this time, but today, it REEKS of it! Nothing sexual, but just the way he preys upon and manipulates the kids!
This was the point they could have done away with Smith, it was too much to believe the Robinsons could keep forgiving Smith at this point. All they had to do was showing the aliens taking Smith, instead of Will!
They knew Smith was the character who most interesting, so they decided to keep him, and turn him into a more comical villain!
"Invaders" is indeed great. A showcase for Mumy's acting.
That's a great list, but mine would have been rather different:
My Friend Mr Nobody
Follow the Leader (NARROWLY edging out Anti-Matter Man)
The Derelict
Invaders from the 5th Dimension
Totally agree.
I liked their Robot B-9 as he became more human.
Return from oute rspace is strange because he goes back and lands in a town that looks like something from the old west, but its suppose to be modern day earth.
And while their launch into space was a recent historic event not a single person including the newspaper reporter had picture or article of Will or his family.
El mejor episodio de la serie es Sigan al Lider (Follow the leader), este espisodio no tiene nada de camp, es bastante terrorifico todo, la cueva, el comportamiento de John Robinson da miedo, las escenas de lucha tambien estan muy bien realizadas.
my favorite were the ones with verda........and also when they went to the teen rocket ship and will and penny were dancing....
I Love lost in space.
Please do a top 10 episodes video. I'm curious to see what you would think.
There were 83 episodes total I don't have time to name my top 10 or 20 episodes most of series very adventurous.
I would include the first episode.
Your top 4 is pretty good, but Id drop the one colorized episode and stick with another one of the Black and White shows. Just my personal opinion.
"Women Crying" references under emotional blackmail, psychological manipulation, and spoiled rotten female adult brats.
Resolution, let them cry and carry on😈☠💀
Where is "Follow the Leader"?
I have all 3 seasons on DVD
the first season of Lost in space is my favorite season it's the only season in black-and-white and not as campy as season 2 and 3
I have to add the keeper episode to this list I don’t remember number 4
Mr. Nobody
Follow the leader is number 1
The first season was atmospheric, serious and interesting. Unfortunately, the last two seasons were pretty much a total joke, and the kind of thing that gives SF a bad name. Giant Carrot Alien, anyone?
WOMEN CRYING!🙍😭
Why is there a drawing of a woman in your videos?
The first season was great sci fi !! Then they totally screwed it up !!