"Lost in Space" (1965) TV series 1965-1968

Creator:

Irwin Allen
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

15 September 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A space colony family struggles to survive when a spy/accidental stowaway throws their ship hopelessly off course.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Sabotage | Science Fantasy | Spacecraft | Crash Landing

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

June Lockhart	...	Maureen Robinson (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Mark Goddard	...	Maj. Don West / ... (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Marta Kristen	...	Judy Robinson / ... (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Bill Mumy	...	Will Robinson (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Angela Cartwright	...	Penny Robinson (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Guy Williams	...	Prof. John Robinson / ... (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Jonathan Harris	...	Dr. Zachary Smith / ... (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Bob May	...	The Robot (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Dick Tufeld	...	The Robot / ... (83 episodes, 1965-1968)

Series Directed by
Don Richardson		(26 episodes, 1966-1968)
Sobey Martin		(14 episodes, 1965-1967)
Nathan Juran		(13 episodes, 1965-1968)
Ezra Stone		(8 episodes, 1967-1968)
Harry Harris		(5 episodes, 1966-1967)
Sutton Roley		(4 episodes, 1965-1967)
Jus Addiss		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)
Anton Leader		(2 episodes, 1965)
Irving J. Moore		(2 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Writing credits
Irwin Allen		(84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Peter Packer		(25 episodes, 1965-1968)
Barney Slater		(22 episodes, 1965-1968)
Jackson Gillis		(7 episodes, 1965-1968)
Carey Wilber		(7 episodes, 1965-1967)
Shimon Wincelberg		(7 episodes, 1965)
Robert Hamner		(6 episodes, 1967-1968)
Bob Duncan		(5 episodes, 1966-1968)
Wanda Duncan		(5 episodes, 1966-1968)
William Welch		(4 episodes, 1965-1967)
Allan Balter		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)
William Read Woodfield		(2 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Produced by
Irwin Allen	....	producer (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
William D. Faralla	....	associate producer (54 episodes, 1966-1968)
Jerry Briskin	....	associate producer (29 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Original Music by
Alexander Courage		(7 episodes, 1966-1968)
Herman Stein		(4 episodes, 1965-1966)
John Williams		(4 episodes, 1965)
Robert Drasnin		(4 episodes, 1966)
Joseph Mullendore		(3 episodes, 1967-1968)
Fred Steiner		(2 episodes, 1966-1967)
Gerald Fried		(2 episodes, 1967)
Cyril J. Mockridge		(2 episodes, 1967)

Series Cinematography by
Frank G. Carson		(54 episodes, 1966-1968)
Gene Polito		(24 episodes, 1965-1966)
Winton C. Hoch		(4 episodes, 1965-1966)
Charles G. Clarke		(2 episodes, 1966)

Series Film Editing by
Roland Gross		(28 episodes, 1965-1968)
Fred Baratta		(27 episodes, 1965-1968)
Clay Bartels		(14 episodes, 1966-1968)
Jack Gleason		(9 episodes, 1965-1966)
Axel Hubert Sr.		(4 episodes, 1967)

Series Art Direction by
Jack Martin Smith		(84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Robert Kinoshita		(50 episodes, 1965-1967)
Frank O. Barnette		(18 episodes, 1967-1968)
Carl Macauley		(9 episodes, 1965-1966)
Rodger Maus		(5 episodes, 1967)

Series Set Decoration by
Walter M. Scott		(84 episodes, 1965-1968)
James Hassinger		(70 episodes, 1965-1968)
Sven Wickman		(13 episodes, 1965)

Series Costume Design by
Paul Zastupnevich		(51 episodes, 1966-1968)

Series Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup supervisor / makeup artist (52 episodes, 1965-1967)
Margaret Donovan	....	hair styles supervisor (51 episodes, 1965-1967)
John Chambers	....	makeup designer (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Bob Mark	....	makeup artist (unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Guy Della-Cioppa	....	executive in charge of production: Van Bernard Productions (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
William Self	....	executive in charge of production / in charge of production / ... (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
George E. Swink	....	post-production supervisor (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Jack Sonntag	....	production supervisor (69 episodes, 1965-1968)
Hal Herman	....	unit production manager (30 episodes, 1965-1966)
Ted Butcher	....	unit production manager (23 episodes, 1967)
James M. Walters Jr.	....	unit production manager (16 episodes, 1967-1968)
Gaston Glass	....	production manager (15 episodes, 1965)
Norman Henry	....	unit production manager (15 episodes, 1966)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gilbert Mandelik	....	assistant director (39 episodes, 1965-1968)
James M. Walters Jr.	....	assistant director (20 episodes, 1966-1967)
William D. Faralla	....	assistant director (8 episodes, 1965-1966)
Steven Bernhardt	....	assistant director (8 episodes, 1967-1968)
Joseph Lenzi	....	assistant director (3 episodes, 1966)
Les Warner	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1965-1966)
David Silver	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1966)

Series Art Department
Don B. Greenwood	....	property master (10 episodes, 1966)

Series Sound Department
Don Hall	....	supervising sound effects editor / sound effects editor / ... (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Frank White	....	sound effects editor (29 episodes, 1966-1967)
Bob Cornett	....	sound effects editor (24 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Special Effects by
Johnny Borgese	....	special effects supervisor / special effects technician (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Larry L. Fuentes	....	special effects (2 episodes, 1968)
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects (unknown episodes)
Gerald Endler	....	mechanical effects (unknown episodes)
Greg C. Jensen	....	special effects (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Howard Lydecker	....	special photographic effects (29 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Stunts
Chuck Couch	....	stunt double: Guy Williams (3 episodes, 1965)
Jerry Catron	....	stunt double: Mark Goddard (2 episodes, 1965-1966)
Donna Garrett	....	stunt double: June Lockhart (2 episodes, 1965)
Harry Carter	....	stunt double: Antimatter John Robinson / stunt double: Guy Williams (2 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Clyde Taylor	....	lighting director (29 episodes, 1965-1966)

Series Editorial Department
Robert Mintz	....	post-production coordinator (83 episodes, 1965-1968)

Series Music Department
Leonard A. Engel	....	supervising music editor (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
Lionel Newman	....	music supervisor / music supervision / ... (84 episodes, 1965-1968)
John Williams	....	composer: theme music / composer: stock music / ... (79 episodes, 1965-1968)
Joe Ruby	....	music editor (58 episodes, 1965-1967)
Herman Stein	....	composer: stock music (32 episodes, 1965-1967)
George Probert	....	music editor (24 episodes, 1967-1968)
Bernard Herrmann	....	composer: stock music (8 episodes, 1965-1967)
Richard LaSalle	....	composer: additional music / composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1965-1967)
Cyril J. Mockridge	....	composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1965-1966)
Leith Stevens	....	composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1966-1967)
Alexander Courage	....	composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1966)
Leigh Harline	....	composer: stock music (2 episodes, 1966)

Series Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (20 episodes, 1965-1968)

Series Other crew
Anthony Wilson	....	story editor (83 episodes, 1965-1968)
Les Warner	....	production coordinator / unit production coordinator (70 episodes, 1965-1968)
Hal Herman	....	production associate (54 episodes, 1966-1968)
Paul Zastupnevich	....	assistant to producer (34 episodes, 1965-1967)
William D. Faralla	....	unit production coordinator (12 episodes, 1966)
Ann Urcon	....	stand-in: Sheila Allen / stand-in: Sheila Mathews (2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Charles Bidwell	....	stand-in: Bern Hoffman / stand-in: Ronald Long (2 episodes, 1967)
Robert Sonntag	....	alien effects (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Fox Television
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
• Irwin Allen Productions
• Jodi Productions Inc.
• Space Productions
• Van Bernard Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1965-1968) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Fox Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Video (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Television
• Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) (1966-1968) (Japan) (TV)
• Video Resources New York Inc. (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)  astronomical photographs
• Remco Toys Inc.  miniature robots (episodes 2.28, 3.5 and 3.23) (uncredited)
• Thiokol Chemical Corporation  "Chariot" chassis (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

60 min (83 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | UK:U (season 1) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

The pilot episode was budgeted at $400,000 and was largely filmed in the Mojave Desert.

Quotes:

Robot:Warning! Warning! Alien approaching!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Show No. 107 (#1.7)" (1998)

The best show from TV's greatest decade

I guess I'm alone in my views these days, but I've never agreed with the critics (or the vast audiences) that adore contemporary TV series like "Seinfeld" or "Friends."

For me, the best decade for TV (by a million miles) was the 1960s. It was truly a unique decade for television. Series produced then are totally unlike anything produced previously or since. I don't know what it was (perhaps someone spiked the water back then), but TV in the 1960s was unique. There was a certain sense of wonder, a certain sense of the fantastic---and a definite 60s vibe of surrealism that crept into every show from "Green Acres" to "Batman" to "Gilligan's Island."

And for my money, the best show in TV's greatest decade was "Lost in Space." It's impossible to describe what watching this show was like in the 1960s. It's an experience that simply can't be re-produced today. For a start, America was still an optimistic nation and we had an ambitious space program that would soon take us to the moon. For everyone who was young in the 60s, it seemed highly plausible that, we too, would get a chance to ride a rocket into space within our lifetimes. Little could we fathom that, after 1972, America wouldn't even land a person on the moon for 35 long years.

Today's TV shows are stiflingly dull and seem to be created by committees that cynically use focus groups to create their sterile product. "Lost in Space" is a million miles away from this creative process. In fact, it's the total opposite (and all the more brilliant for this).

The greatest science fiction always had a sense of wonder and mystery. "Lost in Space" captured the mystery of space---indeed, the show itself was actually quite bizarre. It's a far cry from the over-rated "Star Trek," which, instead of giving us a sense of mystery, followed an (increasingly stale) by-the-numbers formula.

And "formula" is precisely what one did NOT get in viewing "Lost in Space." Indeed, this show is so strange that, viewing it today, it seems like a relic from a lost civilization. It's hard, in fact, to really even fathom who the producers were targeting as their audience.

Naturally, there are cynics who hate this show, and fall over themselves pointing out the plot holes and the ignorance of "realism." To those folks, I say: Chill out. Even TV's "realistic" shows are NOT as realistic as they hyped to be. "Star Trek," for example, has plenty of flaws in its science. Even a highly-praised show like "ER," the medical drama, has plenty of inaccuracies (as any medical professional will tell you).

In many ways, "Lost in Space" does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of what made the 60s the greatest decade of the 20th century for TV, film, music, and culture in general. It's something we'll never re-capture in today's stale culture, dominated as it is by dull, overpaid celebrities. We've gone a long ways downhill from The Beatles to "American Idol."