Above: LOST IN SPACE series regular Marta Kristin strikes a "gazing into the future" look for this publicity photo nicked from Allposters.com.
From 1965, below is a description of the then-new LOST IN SPACE TV series. My guess is that this "Network Sales Presentation" was whipped up for nervous affiliate program directors who may have been wary of a science fiction show on prime time. The emphasis here is on explaining how the viewer can relate to the cast and "how it [LOST IN SPACE} can sell for you." The narrator sounds like he's right out of those Encyclopedia Britannica educational films, combining gee whiz facts with jokey remarks. For instance, TV's ZORRO, Guy Williams' "jet propelled rocket pack" is described with the comment, "wouldn't Dad like to use this beat that thruway traffic?" Marta Kristin is the pretty big sister "who has a problem every teenager can relate to: what is she going to do for a boyfriend?" The original unaired pilot, "No Place to Hide," had the Robinson family ONLY, without comic foil Dr. Smith or the Robot. This 6 minute film appears to only use footage from that source. The presentation also lacks dialogue and John Williams' music.
Thirty years after the original series was cancelled, there was, of course, a theatrical movie in 1998, as well as a 2003 pilot, for a new Warner Bros. TV series to be titled THE ROBINSONS: LOST IN SPACE. Despite it being directed by John Woo, the WB passed on it. The sets lived on, becoming part of the Pegasus Battlestar in the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA revamp.
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ReplyDeleteI recently realized that the first Star Trek pilot and the Lost In Space pilot were filming at roughly the same time...Dec 1964.
ReplyDeleteI hold the first 5 or 6 LIS episodes out in my mind as a seperate entity, a sort of plausable SF tale. While I loved the remainder as a kid, it makes me cringe to watch the last 2 seasons today.