The Space Croppers (30 Mar. 1966)

The Robinsons run into a group of space hillbillies whom Zachary believes might take him back to Earth.

Director:

Sobey Martin

Writers:

Irwin Allen (creator), Peter Packer

Stars:

Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Mark Goddard

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Guy Williams	...	Prof. John Robinson
June Lockhart	...	Maureen Robinson
Mark Goddard	...	Maj. Don West
Marta Kristen	...	Judy Robinson
Bill Mumy	...	Will Robinson (as Billy Mumy)
Angela Cartwright	...	Penny Robinson
Jonathan Harris	...	Dr. Zachary Smith
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Sybilla
Sherry Jackson	...	Effra

Storyline

When a howl has Dr. Smith crying werewolf, he, for once, isn't mistaken. An enchanted family has come to the planet to sow some crops and be on their way. The mother and daughter are enchantresses (witches, if you will) while their clumsy, tongueless lout of a son/brother is a werewolf. Smith suspects none of this. He sees them only a free ride back to Earth and begins wooing the hard-bitten, widowed mother for passage. What is not known about this family is that, once they leave, their ravenous plants left behind will consume all life on the planet.

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Plot Keywords:

werewolf | hillbilly | howl | wooing | laser | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1966 (USA)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Irwin Allen Productions, Jodi Productions Inc., Van Bernard Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The shot of the hillbilly family's blast off is the same shot used for Hapgood's ship in Welcome Stranger.

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Goofs

When the werewolf reverts back into Keel, its footprints revert from wolf tracks to shoe tracks instead of to footprints from the bare feet they should be.

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Quotes

Dr. Zachary Smith: It's not my fault if this fugitive from a scrap metal yard is incapable of assessing my virtues.

User Reviews

"He won't harm you if he knows you're going to be his daddy, Zachary ..."

For this series, which despite my childhood love I can realize was not exactly the zenith of television -- this episode was really a good one. In watching it on DVD recently, I was amused at how thoroughly Jonathan Harris and Mercedes McCambridge enjoyed their roles. Sherry Jackson too. All three of them should be congratulated -- Harris and McCambridge posthumously -- for a job well done.

This is the episode I remember best, and the one that scared me the most as a six-year-old. Penny, Will, and Dr. Smith are filling a time capsule with items from the Jupiter Two, intending to bury the capsule and leave it for future inhabitants of their adopted planet to find. Night falls and Dr. Smith starts blubbering about full moons and werewolves when they hear what sounds like a wolf howl. Sure enough, there's a werewolf on the loose -- although this one seems more inclined to gesture for people to stay away from him than to leap for their throats.

Turns out the werewolf isn't the only newcomer to the planet. A sort of Hillbillies-in-Space family has arrived, intent on "plantin' us a crop and garnerin' us a harvest" of mysterious plants that look sort of, well, hungry.

Mercedes McCambridge didn't land a job voicing a demon in "The Exorcist" for nothing. As the matriarch ("It's Mother; not Ma," she snarls) of the hillbilly clan, she keeps giant, mute son Keel (Dawson Palmer) and sexy daughter Effra (Sherry Jackson) on a short leash. Not quite short enough to keep Effra from flirting with Maj. Don West, however, which allows us to be amused by Judy Robinson's indignant response.

Dawson Palmer played many of the costumed monsters in the Lost in Space series. This is one of the few in which we actually see him OUT of costume.