This first aired episode of "Lost in Space" shows the wisdom of 20th Century Fox's decision to add an antagonist and a robot to its show based on a sci-fi comic book version of the classic Swiss Family Robinson novel entitled Space Family Robinson.
The Robinsons are to be the first family to head to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri in a colonization attempt. Sociologically, in the show's world, the impetus seems to at least partially be concerns over the population explosion. This reflects the actual world, of course, as does the plot development based on other political powers desiring that the United States not succeed in being the first country to send settlers out into space.
Enter the show's villain, Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris). We don't know who Smith is working for, but he surreptitiously gets on board the Robinson's ship, Jupiter 2, before take-off and reprograms the ship's robot to sabotage the mission. Karmic retribution enters at warp-speed, however, as Smith ends up stuck on board as the ship leaves for its one-way journey. Smith is the strongest character, aided by Harris' off-kilter, creepy performance. The rest of the cast is good, but they do not get to do much until far into the episode.
Watching this first episode of "Lost in Space" now, you'll be just as entertained by the retrospectively funny vision of future high-tech for 1997. Although some aspects of the show were funny or awkward in 1965, too. It's hardly understandable why the ship would be not adjustable to accommodate an extra 200 pounds, which is a major plot hinge. The director, Anton Leader, seems to forget whether artificial gravity is supposed to be switched on or not at one point, and too many of the suspense scenes are written and directed in a clunky manner.
However, the aim here is to establish the basic, very promising premise of the show and the core characters and their relationships. At that, Leader did a good job, and even despite the awkwardness, the cliffhanger at the end of the episode fulfilled its purpose of making me have to immediately watch episode 2.
The Robinsons are to be the first family to head to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri in a colonization attempt. Sociologically, in the show's world, the impetus seems to at least partially be concerns over the population explosion. This reflects the actual world, of course, as does the plot development based on other political powers desiring that the United States not succeed in being the first country to send settlers out into space.
Enter the show's villain, Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris). We don't know who Smith is working for, but he surreptitiously gets on board the Robinson's ship, Jupiter 2, before take-off and reprograms the ship's robot to sabotage the mission. Karmic retribution enters at warp-speed, however, as Smith ends up stuck on board as the ship leaves for its one-way journey. Smith is the strongest character, aided by Harris' off-kilter, creepy performance. The rest of the cast is good, but they do not get to do much until far into the episode.
Watching this first episode of "Lost in Space" now, you'll be just as entertained by the retrospectively funny vision of future high-tech for 1997. Although some aspects of the show were funny or awkward in 1965, too. It's hardly understandable why the ship would be not adjustable to accommodate an extra 200 pounds, which is a major plot hinge. The director, Anton Leader, seems to forget whether artificial gravity is supposed to be switched on or not at one point, and too many of the suspense scenes are written and directed in a clunky manner.
However, the aim here is to establish the basic, very promising premise of the show and the core characters and their relationships. At that, Leader did a good job, and even despite the awkwardness, the cliffhanger at the end of the episode fulfilled its purpose of making me have to immediately watch episode 2.
