How Did A Sci-Fi Robot Become TV's Highest-Paid Star of 1965

[@starclone4]

I'm 65 ... And I still love this crazy show.. I used to watch it with my whole family !!!!😊

[@geraldscott4302]

I'm also 65. But even as a kid it was easy to see that Dr. Smith ruined the entire series. I never saw it in color back then, all we had was a huge metal black and white Motorola TV with a fairly small screen.

[@android0045]

​@@geraldscott4302 Yes Dr Smith acted a bit too stupid and crazy. He didn't ruin every episode but quite a few. My dad hated him. He seemed a smart and competent doctor at first but later he couldn't even take his own pulse.

[@mikeadams8027]

I was too young to remember it when it aired originally but I remember watching reruns in the afternoons after school. What a great time. Even though we only had 3 (or 4 depending on the weather since PBS was very weak) channels, they ran LOST IN SPACE, THE WILD WILD WEST, etc., and even Scifi B-movies between 3 and 6 pm. Now we have hundreds on channels but not many with shows worth watching. Wow I sound old.

[@lads.7715]

@@geraldscott4302 Sorry, but it was Jonathan Harris who still makes that show still so memorable today. Without him, it'd be no more memorable as all the other Irwin sci-fi shows (voyage to the bottom of the sea, time tunnel, land of the giants, etc). (Irwin actually hastily dumped LIS with the more promising aspect of creating a new show -Land of the Giants tried a bit of the same formula with a cowardly villain - who was nothing compared to Harris).

[@geraldscott4302]

@@lads.7715 He may have made it memorable, but certainly not in a good way. I saw the original episode, without Jonathan Harris or the robot, and it was so much better. I loved the robot, but Dr. Smith was a disaster.

[@Aawsomeguy]

Lost In Space was one of my favorite TV shows as a kid.

[@BillBadMule123]

I am 70 years old and loved watching Lost In Space in 1965 and still love all today ❤💯💫👍👍👍

[@garyfrancis6193]

Well youngsters like you are an easy market. I’m 74.

[@Leo82655]

Same here. 70 years old and I still remember seeing the first episode on the night it originally aired. I watched every episode for all three seasons. Did the same with Star Trek. I even got the old Mattel "Switch and Go" Space Chariot set for Christmas.

[@archlich4489]

Respect from NC!

[@voyager202000]

Lost In Space was my first sci-fi love! I was hooked and I literally wanted to be like Will Robinson! What kid didn't, a spaceship as a home, a cool robot as a friend and cool vehicles like The Chariot and Space Pod! It led to my love of science fiction which includes Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Blazers, and many more! But this was my first love of sci-fi and like your real first love, you never forget it, and always holds a special place in your heart and life!

[@pdxcalibur]

I started watching Lost in Space in 1965. I was 8 years old and really identified with Will Robinson. I used to get Lost in Space bubble gum cards and my friend Randy had a Lost in Space toy set that included the Jupiter 2 and the Chariot. Thanks for the memories.

[@citizen_morgan7444]

I'm watching this 4am in the morning and when I discovered it, I just had to watch. I was born September 29, 1965 in Youngstown, Ohio and I remember as a lil' boy watching 'Lost in Space' (4 years old?) and ALWAYS wanting the ROBOT. I've seen a miniature sized Robot back then and it was probably too expensive, but long story short, just a few months ago in 2024, for my Christmas gift and at age 59, I bought one from Amazon here in LA, CA. A kid (a least us BOYS) will NEVER grow up and will ALWAYS remember them GOOD TIMES (for me watching 'Lost in Space' of the memories of yesteryear). 😍😍😍

[@PastAmerica]

You should watch this movie again

[@goodknight5783]

I got one for Christmas one year, early 70's. I had so much fun with it. Glad you got yours.

[@turbopokey]

I’m looking at the “comedy” duo of DrSmith and the Robot and their interactions as a direct inspiration for the duo dynamics of R2D2 and C3P0. Change my mind.

[@bentonmarcum8924]

no

[@jrrarglblarg9241]

Abbot and Costello.

[@BruceCarroll]

Laurel and Hardy. "This is another fine mess you've gotten us into." "Bee-boop. Bee-boop."

[@davidsmith5523]

Change your own mind. Attention seeker.

[@HLR4th]

I forget the name, but Lucas directly took from a Japanese film, in which an old Samurai was asked to escort a fleeing princess and her two retainers who were there for comic relief. Sound like a plot we all know and love?

[@davidtaylor5204]

Jun Lockhart played Ruth Martin, The Mom, on the television show Lassie before Lost In Space, so she had the Mom thing down pat.

[@bbbabrock]

@davidtaylor5204 My Lassie show was the series where his owner was a forrest ranger. I think, the ranger character was supposed to be June Lockhart's character's son grown up.

[@davidtaylor5204]

@@bbbabrock The forest ranger was after June Lockhart. Originally it was a classic Boy and His Dog story. I don't remember the kid's name, but they were a farm family. I don't know why they switched it up, but the Martin's suddenly decided to move to Australia, and they couldn't take Lassie with them. That's when they handed Lassie over to the forest ranger. I pretty much lost interest after that.

[@chrisbraswell8864]

She was in Sargent York as a hillbilly sister and went on to be Miss America.

[@bobjohnson1587]

@@davidtaylor5204 I believe his name was Timmy. As in; "Timmy has fallen in the well! Woof! Woof!" lol

[@riverrat3101]

'the mom thing' = hot milf

[@blackiehaines1]

The programming glitch that caught me as I grew into a teenager was the fact that although they didn't have a device that created things from a simple request (a la Star Trek) if the Robinsons needed something, they simply found it. Need an anvil? No problem! No starving: food on the Jupiter 2 was endless. Whatever weapon would defeat the alien was in their grasp. But I loved it despite that.

[@GullifordPhoyle]

I know! Remember the episode 'Two Weeks in Space?' Dr. Smith somehow scrounged up a CASH REGISTER! :-D

[@garyfrancis6193]

Like my place only Lost in Space.

[@davidstephens189]

I have a wired RC model of B9. It even talks. Mint condition, in the original box. Loved the series as a kid.... Robot was my favorite character.

[@scottgamble7767]

Color me jealous!! 😊

[@johnschuster1770]

I was in 5th grade when LIS began. I loved every episode. I still watch it every Saturday night from Chicago.

[@gorymarty56]

Loved this show. Have met most of the cast at conventions, except Guy , who had passed.

[@ronaldsmith6829]

One of my fave programs as a child.😁

[@bigfoottoo2841]

In 1965 I was 12 years old. I let my home work go and watched every episode

[@Dalekzilla]

The very first colour episode was the first episode of SEASON TWO. The entirety of Season One was in black and white. Lost in Space is, in fact, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, trailing behind only Doctor Who and Star Trek (and possibly The X Files).

[@IanM-id8or]

The reboot was surprisingly good, with quite a large number of actual cliffhangers with actual cliffs

[@immortalsofar5314]

I think doctor Zachary Smith introduced me, at a very early age, to the concept that in a survival situation, some people are a liability. I never understood why they didn't just leave him behind.

[@Capohanf1]

Some years ago I got to talk with Paul Carr, an actor that appeared in MANY Sci-Fi TV shows of the 60ies, He was the first "Red Shirt" killed on Star Trek and appeared in Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants. I had heard about how CHEAP Irwin Allen was and how the joke around Hollywood was the reason the monsters on Lost In Space were so shiny was because they were fresh out of the paint boot after being used on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He confirmed the rumor and told the story about how once Allen sneaked his actors and crew onto another producer's set to film a show so he did NOT have to pay to have his own set built!

[@brianhudgins990]

The BEST documentary I've ever watched. Perfect and dead on.

[@alancranford3398]

I was able to see first-run Lost In Space episodes from the first season--and lots of reruns! My favorite character was Robot B-9 and I attempted to build a full replica at age 10 out of junk I had salvaged from the dump, but my mother didn't appreciate the clutter and got rid of my project. Good thing, too; my replica was both large and inaccurate.

[@LordMondegrene]

One of the Space Hippies was credited as, "Danny Travanty," an early role for Daniel J. Travanti, of "Hill Street Blues."

[@scottgamble7767]

Who knew! Thanks for that "fun fact"!! 😁

[@brunozeigerts6379]

Started watching this as a kid. I had a model kit of the Robinson family dealing with a cyclops monster on a rock. Watching it later I thought how silly it was... though still entertaining. Also note that the other robot shown was Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet... he starred in an episode where he fights the robot.

[@TheKulu42]

I love this show as a kid and even had a Lost in Space robot. I'd love to have it back!

[@bbbabrock]

@TheKulu42 I wanted and asked for a Lost in Space robot. But (probably due to licensing fees on the LiS robot) I got a knock off robot instead. I think my mom said something about my robot being too expensive ,and I just couldn't understand how such things were a concern for Santa Clause. Like how in the world could it have been any harder for Santa to make a LiS robot than to have made the one I got? That was just a perplexing mystery for me, for sure.

[@lawr5764]

I re-aquired some of MY old kid stuff from eBay. Give it a shot.

[@TheKulu42]

@ Santa definitely owes you a robot@

[@TheKulu42]

@ You know, I think I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

[@scottgamble7767]

I bought one of those cardboard stand-ups of the robot as I didn't have the available cash for a full sized, Fred Barton made B-9 replical robot (look 'em up; they're beautiful). My "standee" has a little motion sensor activated voice box mounted on the back that plays Robot sound bites, so it makes me smile all the same! 😁

[@ronbooiman7906]

Thank you for sharing. 60 years later it’s still a favourite

[@billbucktube]

I really, really loved the beginning of LIS. Later it got silly but I still liked it. I nearly passed out when Star Trek came on‼️

[@deanevangelista6359]

"Oh, the pain, the campy campy pain!"

[@cimbakahn]

This was one of the shows i grew up with.

[@walt-spaz]

This was my favorite show at the time. I remember I used to make spaceships with kid's modeling clay and make them travel around the house, pretending they were actually traveling in space. I spent long hours in the kid's library, in the sci-fi area, looking at books and taking them home to read. I am still a space fan today and all of this thanks to "Lost in Space" ... I bought the whole series on DVD, but I must say that I definitely prefer the first episodes, the ones in B&W, where the stories were more serious and intriguing compared to Season 2 and 3. ☺

[@scottgamble7767]

Hear, hear! How many out there were like me and forever gluing two paper plates together like a hamburger bun, spray painting them with silver Rustoleum and flying them around attached to the line on a fishing pole! 😂

[@UrielShlomoGarcia-fi4yu]

I was just 4 years old when I say this program in television and to this day still my all-time favourite!

[@gwwayner]

As a kid way back then, this show was campy and fun. These days overuse of CGI seems to take the imagination out of the story.

[@ced1106]

Thanks for the look behind the scenes! Never liked the drama series, but loved the robot!

[@scottgamble7767]

I still think the redesigns of the Robot for the feature movie and the later Netflix series were too much. Too big and needlessly complex.

[@Merylstreep1949]

Excellent video I caught this show on rerun being a 70s kid but omg This show and The Prisoner in 1967 are the two best things CBS ever did ❤❤❤❤😊

[@PastAmerica]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@TryptychUK]

The Prisoner was a British ITC show.

[@leward7788]

I was 9 when it came out & I absolutely loved it - still a big sci-fi fan today. modern people will never understand what it was like to go from b&w to color. it was amazing!

[@michaelhviper]

For me I love the 1st season the best with the survival feel. I also love season 3 as they were moving from planet to planet not to mention the new theme song. Using the space pod and all. I wish it had a fourth season being like season 3 except with more serious episodes on level with Antimatter Man and Condemned Of Space.

[@robdrabkowski2708]

If you look at the Jupiter 2 from the outside, it appears as if the "bridge" takes up most of the ship. However, the show implies that there are three distinct levels: Bridge, crew quarters/galley/robot storage and maintenance, and lastly, the engine/reactor level. In this respect the ship was more like a TARDIS, since there was no way the 2nd and 3rd levels could have been crammed in there. This is especially apparent in planet-side scenes where you saw the actual scale of the people compared to the ship.

[@htgaines]

LIS is not alone in this scale "willing suspension of disbelief" budget issue. The Gallileo 7 in Star Trek was 3/4 the intended scale itself.

[@raychambers3646]

Plus the garage for the truck.

[@MrJohnnyseven]

Even as an 8 year old who could draw well I was never able to fit the people etc into the ship and have the bedrooms etc. I had to scale them so they would have been 2ft high

[@scottgamble7767]

Yeah, I don't think that they thought us former kids out here would give those facts much thought.

[@alanr4447a]

6:48 LIS did NOT switch to color in the middle of its first season. It switched starting with its second season, in the fall of 1966, the season ALL of prime time went color, so it could only be called "one of the first" to do so only in the broadest historical sense. Many other shows on all three networks went to color in fall 1965, a year before LIS.

[@scottgamble7767]

Yes, I recall that. Somewhere else someone claimed that this was the best documentary ever, but there ARE some glaring problems. The CLICKBATE title of this content, for one. Another is that the guy can't seem to make up his mind about how to pronounce Billy Mumy's name. It's correctly pronounced "moo-mee" folks, which he eventually gets right in the end. Proofing and fact checking people!

[@Lethgar_Smith]

The first season, shot in black and white, was dark and moody and often felt like a Twilight Zone episode. The second season was bright and colorful and was competing with Batman to see who could have the silliest villain each week. The third season attempted to be more of a sci-fi adventure series with the ship visiting different planets and more adventures in space but all in all it never lived up to the promise of those first 5 episodes. Warren Oates, as a cowboy hat wearing spaceman from Earth, pretty much killed any ability to take the show seriously after that.

[@garyfrancis6193]

Warren Oates as a space cowboy! I’d have watched that for its literary content.

[@Lethgar_Smith]

It was a great performance by a great actor but it set the show definitely in the realm of fantasy.

[@suebursztynski2530]

I agree about the silliness of the villains but I watched it to the end. And discovered Star Trek. And they had some impressive stuff anyway. Guest stars like Michael Rennie. The music was composed by a guy called “Johnny Williams” - yes, THAT John Williams. Also actors who did some Star Trek.

[@Lethgar_Smith]

I enjoyed the art design of the series. The sets, the props, while sometimes goofy often had a strange and avant-garde look to them . Especially the second season. West of Mars is a perfect example of how surreal the show had gotten while episodes like The Questing Beast were the height of silliness. Some of my favorite, of the later episodes are, The Space Destructors, The Promised Planet, Visit to a Hostile Planet, The Prisoners of Space and Flight into the Future. Incidentally the guest star in The Space Destructors and the guest star in The Prisoners of Space would both go on to star in the 80s TV cop show Hill Street Blues.

[@redjupiter2]

There sure is a lot of incorrect information about lost in space in this video but hey at least there are pictures.

[@evelbat3043]

Yea like he kept saying they switched to color in the middle of the first season. where on Earth did he come up with that? The entire first season is in B&W. And he also said twice that the carrot episode was from season 2, it was the last episode of season 3. I caught several things that were not correct.

[@scottgamble7767]

Someone else commented that this was the best documentary on the series _ever_. I agree with you folks that it has some glaring problems that are fairly inexcusable. Too much incorrect info being put out there... under researched facts on these KZbin content pieces. However, it did afford all of us the opportunity to congregate together here to sing praises of the show, to share our memories of it and how it impacted outer lives.

[@Max_Doubt]

Jonathan Harris is a great orator.

[@KeithJennings-gc1ch]

Oh, I love that show

[@jerrymartin3965]

Irwin Allen destroyed what started off as a very thoughtful show. The music was the best on TV.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

I agree about Mr. Allen.

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

...look up Robert Drasnin... ...he did some music for the show...

[@markdoldon8852]

The thoughtful show fell victim to the network's desire for ratings, and the public loved a silly Dr Smith and Robot interplay. Writing was thrown out the window in favor of what was largely Dr Smith improv.

[@Toodlefirky]

The timeless theme was by no less than jazz musician “Johnny” John Williams of eventual Star Wars fame. I wonder if ‘Lost In Space’ is why George Lucas picked him.

[@David_B_Dornburg]

@@Toodlefirky Lucas and Spielberg were friends, after John Williams did the music for JAWS, Lucas hired him for Star Wars.

[@fredwood1490]

Something some people noticed was, Lost in Space made so much more sense if you were stoned while watching it.

[@HeyRandal]

I remember my intense anticipation of the show's debut during the summer of 65. I was a science loving 4th grader so I wanted more of Will and the robot and none of Dr. Smith who represented all bullies. Dr. Smith's acting was so over-the-top vaudevillian camp that it broke the immersive feeling that good shows create. So even as a kid I was thinking about the show's writing and Dr. Smith's acting instead of the fascination and peril of the episode. I called the show, "The Dr. Smith whining hour." ...Did the Lost in Space robot appear in other shows like Robbie the robot from Forbidden Planet?

[@scottgamble7767]

Not as much as Robby did. Come to think of it, I can't think of one example where the B-9 showed up in another show. Is there anybody else out there who can?

[@TheGamerZapocalypse]

...I'll take practical effects over CGI any day... The "Follow The Leader" episode was no doubt a source of inspiration for George Lucas's scene in Return Of The Jedi when Vader throws the Emperor down the shaft...in the Lost In Space episode, John Robinson, possessed by a alien menace controlling him by the helmet he is wearing, overcomes this thanks to his son, Will, and he throws the helmet and the alien menace down the chasm...the series is a wonderful balance of campy and cheesy but also serious...and it looks great...it works well and is always fun to watch...

[@janibeg3247]

the first season was really good

[@hhvictor2462]

I'm surprised at the relative high cost of producing these episodes. Irwin Allen prided himself in reusing props to save money.

[@scottgamble7767]

Anything of this nature is still costly to produce... more so than say an ADAM12 or a PERRY MASON type of thing. Even saving money reusing sets, monster costumes and other such things, anything with a futuristic setting, such as LIS, is gonna cost a lot more than the "real world" placed shows.

[@josephcope7637]

The first season was good but after that it got sillier with each episode. I stopped watching it,

[@lancerevell5979]

It tanked when they focused on Dr. Smith. They got away from any semblance of science, and went for comedy. 😮

[@garyfrancis6193]

Me 2

[@coachhannah2403]

That was the corporate decision.

[@54blewis]

It was the chimpanzee and the chariot (the space van) that did it for me,of course by then Star Trek had taken over and it was a wrap!

[@markdoldon8852]

You were an anomaly, because ratings went UP as they went awsy from semi serious adventure to silly kids show.

[@lylek8933]

Remember the re-runs for sure (and enjoyed every one of them. lol). Huge fan of campy by the way. :)

[@williamgreenough]

there was also a show called 'it's about time' about two stranded astronauts caught on a planet of cave people and this show wasnt that far behind.....................

[@mightymegafant]

Hi Folks. I saw one or 2 comments blaming Irwin Allen for the shift from serious to silly or horrible show made for kids. Bill Mumy was a guest at a Comic/Sci-fi convention in the San Francisco area (San Mateo Fairgrounds) a few years ago. From what I can sorta remember, Bill, at his Q&A panel, said it was the network executives who complained that the show was too scary to show during prime time and instructed Irwin to lighten it up and tone down the serious tone. Bill corrected the misperception that Irwin Allen was responsible for the change. BTW I enjoy every episode,.... although my favorites involve stories around the ROBOT🤖👽❤

[@scottgamble7767]

Thanks for this convention recollection! That makes total sense. As it's creator, Irwin Allen probably had his preference, but as a show's producer it was his job to make it profitable. If the execs say "make it lighter", you make it lighter... or get canceled. 😬

[@ced1106]

Today: AI will take over entertainment. Yesterday: Our robots already did that. Lucas: Mine, too. 😄

[@bbbabrock]

I wanted to live Will Robinson's life so badly back then, that I lied to some neighbor kid and told him I was the actor who played him on tv.

[@garyfrancis6193]

You’re Bill Mumy?

[@bbbabrock]

@garyfrancis6193 That is basically what I was telling the little neighbor kid, yeah. . Idt he really believed me. But I was enuf older and bigger than him that he never called me out on it too much. The kid did remark that I didn't look like him. And I said that that was due to Holywood make up. I would have been in kindergarten or first grade att. So we didn't look entirely different.

[@scottgamble7767]

I knew a guy that claimed to have been the actor in the monster suit in ALIENS that came up out of the water behind "Newt". He was working on a show (a movie) as the video tape playback guy on location and was out of fresh underwear. He didn't have the dough to buy more, so he was trying to con the the Kmart employee who caugt him trying to walk with fresh ones. The clerk was impressed by his story (a lie), so he let him walk out of the store with a new pack of Fruit-of-the-Looms... without paying for them. 😂

[@GrantTarredus]

@@scottgamble7767THAT should be in a movie.

[@Im_Just_Saying]

I was born in 1966, the same day the third episode of Star Trek: (TOS) aired. I'm a big sci-fi fan, yet I've never watched a full episode of the 1960s Lost in Space -just a few segments here and there. The movie and the Netflix adaptation were okay. Interestingly, Star Trek drew a lot of inspiration from Forbidden Planet (1956), but I suppose Lost in Space got to the robot concept first.

[@BillHalliwell]

G’day PA, I’m a retired film & TV reviewer/critic; born in ‘55. I remember ‘Lost in Space’ (LIS) well. Historically speaking, LIS was a classic example of ‘family viewing content’ squarely aimed at children. After the handful of B&W episodes, I seem to recall them ‘writing down’ to a child’s level. Perhaps Mr Allen was responsible for this but he, or whoever, made the mistake of assuming, “...this is just for kids... they’ll believe anything.” Their handsome budget covered the ‘big ticket’ items needed for the program to stand out from the crowded competition. Still, they could have easily used some of that money for, at least, one producer with experience in children’s programs and, especially, a couple of talented Script Editors to maintain a higher quality of storytelling. One of them always working on the next episode; giving the props. and other departments a small head start. If you look back at early horror and sci-fi films, they could achieve stunning special effects just with the clever use of lighting; camera positioning and ‘in-camera’ visual ‘tricks’. The exposed film needs to be edited anyway and then transferred to whatever format was needed for early TV broadcasts. Essentially, it roughly costs the same amount of money to produce good content as it does to make disappointing TV. This approach has worked successfully in recent times. At the beginning of the ‘X-Files’ when money was tight, they did a lot of clever ‘mood’ lighting and carefully planned camera angles to enhance the simple and sometimes, obviously, cheap ‘monster’ costumes. This also saved on editing time. LIS was shot in the accepted lighting format for the 60s... every available light on; set at full brightness. A cheap, badly constructed ‘monster’, or other prop, is instantly seen as a ‘fake’ in these lighting conditions. I was nearly 11 by the time I saw my first episode of LIS. I was really excited at the prospect of seeing a dramatic, well-acted sci-fi show every week. I knew there was something wrong when LIS made me laugh. I decided not to watch it again when my folks started to laugh as well. Cheers, Bill H.

[@Ripplenator]

I was a big fan of LIS as a kid, but once Star Trek came out, I switched to it because it was a more serious sci-fi show.

[@scottgamble7767]

Bill !! Glad to see you are still commenting! A very insightful and thought provoking comment. Thanks for posting.

[@scottgamble7767]

For @Ripplenator : I was like you here... graduating from LIS to ST:TOS. I still enjoyed watching LIS (the more genre programs the better, I always said), but the whole neighborhood of kid, teens and adults in my home town much preferred the StarTrek episodes in content.

[@BillHalliwell]

@@scottgamble7767 Cheers, mate. Thank you very much. I'm working on the autobiography (11th draft 😉) and it's videos like this that force me to recall that part of my life when it was all new. I know lots would disagree with my assessment of LiS but when stacked up against all the other quality programs on in that period; it has do be down on my list. But, I still watched it. All the best, Bill H.

[@davidpowell3469]

Well I have to admit I would have never guess that the robot got paid that much (or the real stars so little). Regarding the show, I'm 66 so I liked it when it was on it's original run. With the magic of modern internet I watched a few episodes recently.....OMG so bad, so bad, worse than terrible. It probably aged worse than any other 60's show, even Batman which isn't exactly a masterpiece looks ok compared to Lost in Space. I can happily watch Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, I dream of Jeanie etc. which I still consider pretty good.

[@trevormillar1576]

In Britain, the commercial tv channel ITV was offered Star Trek and they turned it down, because they already had Lost In Space, and they regretted it. So Paramount offered Trek to the state broadcaster BBC, for much less money, and they snapoed it up immediately.

[@sjerkins]

I was in 2nd grade when Lost in Space debuted. In 3rd grade I threw a tantrum to get a Lost in Space Lunchbox. Did you know that Robbie the Robot had a first role on the big screen? Robot with same name and similar design was featured in Forbidden Planet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet My mother explaining to a 7 year old what an "id" and "libido" were had to have been hilarious.

[@paulforester6996]

Oh, the pain!

[@mikegrossberg8624]

YEARS before Lost In Space-The TV Show, there was a comic book titled, first, Space Family Robinson, then, after a year or so of publication, switched title to Lost In Space(STILL before the tv show hit the small screen)

[@paulforgette4910]

I had one of the first one of those, read it to pieces, literally, LOL

[@scottgamble7767]

I always wondered why a law suit never arose out of that. 🤔

[@mikegrossberg8624]

@@scottgamble7767 Allen probably paid for the use

[@scottgamble7767]

@mikegrossberg8624 Possibly. Perhaps he eventually did, which would explain the title change of the publication, as an eventual tie into the Show? Elsewhere on KZbin, I saw another piece similar to this one that discussed this directly. In that other video, Irwin Allen was reported to have come up with the notion of a "Space Family Robinson", inspired by but not intentionally a ripoff of the Swiss Family book classic or the Disney film. It was only then that he discovered that the title was already in use for that other publication. Undeterred, he was quoted as saying that he invented the title of "Lost In Space" as an alternate, but kept the last name of the family... probably for audience recognition. He wasn't in violation as long as they didn't call the show by the same title. However, I do recall the announcer calling them "the Space Family Robinson" once or twice in the "Next week, on Lost in Space" voice over announcing often found at the end of the shows weekly episode. Is that a false memory on my part? Anyone out there know?

[@jonmyers8046]

Maybe I dozed off but where was the part about the pay for the robot? 🤔

[@lcashless1839]

You didn’t even mention, Judy Robinson, and Penny Robinson how are you gonna forget the other two girls

[@scottgamble7767]

This is piece is fairly well done, but the CLICKBATE title takes the shine off of it. Nowhere in the vid is said anything that suggests that Bob May (the Robot's performer) was paid anymore than the rest of the cast. Chances are that he was paid less than the other adult cast members. Yes, it cost production a great deal to actually create the robot, but they probably amortized that expense over the show's three seasons. There would have been some upkeep on the actual suit, but nowhere near Jonathan Harris', or Guy Williams' weekly salary.

[@TheMoneypresident]

What about the highest paid robot actor?

[@Animalwon]

A question that was NEVER answered! CLICK BAIT!

[@mightymegafant]

Well,.... I guess the $70,000.00 bucks it cost to make the Robot was his payment?

[@danielroberto2209]

The actor wasn't even credited... he wasn't paid that much, unfortunately, and only got the job because he could fit into the costume!

[@TheMoneypresident]

@danielroberto2209 Johnny Bravo

[@scottgamble7767]

Bobby May.

[@dannystaton5386]

Well done I came out the same year lost in space did lol 😂

[@flyingwithmichael8976]

I would love to see the 60's scifi tv show The Invaders get remade in a modern tv series or a major motion picture.

To quote Mr. Spock, fasinating

[@billmiller2522]

The J2 Beauty Model was 4 feet in diameter, and the robot suit was about 250 lbs.

[@SuperKingslaw]

With a score written by John Williams!

[@johnmassung]

"Never fear, Smith is here!" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@geoffreylee5199]

CBS listened to Gene Roddenberry’s pitch for StarTrek, and said NO. Using the information from that talk, and having committed to it, they streamlined LIS production.

[@clydekimsey7503]

They didn't give the blonde enough lines

[@andrefiset3569]

Danger, danger!

[@IanM-id8or]

The music for the show was written by *John Williams*

[@RamingtonStilll-x4b]

I never got the celebrity that came with Dr Smith. In my young, innocent mind first watching, he was the bad guy who had to be exposed and defeated. Will Robinson was my hero. The Luke Skywalker of my childhood. And I crushed on Penny. Saying that it echoed The Mandalorian seems a stretch to me. That honor goes to things like The Rifleman and Lone Wolf and Cub. Strange you didn't mention Marta Kristen. To me, the space race on TV started with Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.

[@robertphillips6296]

"Special Guest Star Johnathan Harris."

[@Merylstreep1949]

Definitely cover The Prisoner, the Avengers tv show from the 60s, and Definitely the original Outer Limits please

[@garyfrancis6193]

What? No “ Gillighan’s Island”?

[@danerogers9058]

My mother was a big Avengers and Star Trek fan and I used to watch all the new episodes with her. My Father liked anything with spies and I remember watching the Prisoner and I spy with him when they aired.

[@flyingwombat59]

Season 1 was broadcast in black and white. I know the pilot was filmed in color.

[@normanhines5189]

The flashing voice box of the robot looks like that of the original Cylons

[@mightymegafant]

hi. I don't recall the original Cylons having a flashing red voice box, just the cool sequential LED eyes.

[@normanhines5189]

@mightymegafant they had a grill that looked like that of a Lexus

[@mightymegafant]

@ They should've renamed it! People could have been driving,... CYLONs?!

[@scottgamble7767]

@ mightymegafant : You are correct, but may be he is remembering Jonathan Harris' character _Lucifer_, the advisor to Baltar? I think his head glowed and flickered to his every word, didn't it? I haven't seen it in a long while, so I can't accurately recall.

[@coachhannah2403]

Irwin Allen and the super-energy exploding computer weapons!

[@jeffreyjeziorski1480]

If Dr Smith had his own ship it would be called The Raging Queen.

[@mattjohnson9753]

The Green Lady from “The Girl from the Green Dimension” was epic!

[@martinjohnston1907]

Worse than the effects had to look good in color, they had to look good in color and in black and white for all the people who still had black and white TVs.

[@patrickmorris9710]

Elons comment about going to MARS is a acronyms for military auxiliary radio

[@marieroberts5664]

I'm sure you are all correct that this show was as cheesy as they come, but I still love it. I guess I'm still too uncritical - I like what I like. I miss Robot!

[@tonysysejko2119]

It's saturday night lost in space is on me tv. At midnight cst.

[@bentonmarcum8924]

👎 for deceptive thumbnail.

[@kennyfordham6208]

I agree. Absolutely NOTHING mentioned about how much the robot was paid. 😡

[@slabriprock5329]

Spoiler: The question in the title is never answered.

[@Toodlefirky]

Another case of ‘Title Bait’. 😖

[@davidterry2038]

why does it say "why they hated" on the thumbnail?

[@vernonturner3113]

It was set in the far distance future of 1971.

[@lessanderfer7195]

I'd be willing to bet that if you took a Poll, the people that prefer the first Season of Lost in Space are predominately Trekkies, and the people that liked the later Seasons, are predominately Star Wars fans.

[@katenunyabizness9221]

Nice screw up on R2-D2's name. Seriously? Arr Twotytwo? Sheesh AI voices are so cringe.

[@suprbilt]

The first season was all black and white.No color episodes.

[@DaveNarn]

It’s kind of a far reach to compare Lost In Space with TOS or B5 but to your point the main difference was the abrupt change in Lost In Space. I think Irwin Allen got into financial trouble and ’silly kid’s shows’ was were the money was at.

[@HM2SGT]

*And again 20 years later with ALF*

[@OneEyedLion]

The focus on Dr. Smith minimized Guy Williams and the possibility of a long term good story. Lost in Space could've been so much more without Dr. Smith.

[@Toracube]

A family trying to survive in an alien hostile environment they don’t recognise….. that’s mine in London….

[@markgarin6355]

Talking about the show, but showing Robbie a lot.

[@rogerturner1881]

LIS is my 4th and last favorite of Irwin Allen Shows. Because of DR Smith [they should have made him a better and more serious actor].

[@bisem433]

"How Did A Sci-Fi Robot Become TV's Highest-Paid Star of 1965" I can't remember any mention of Bob May who played the robot. There is no evidence that he was the highest paid actor in 1965. Specific salary details for each cast member of Lost in Space are not publicly available. Typically actors like Bob May and Dick Tufeld who played the robots voice would get paid less than the rest of the cast. Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched or Lucille Ball would probably be good candidates for highest paid TV actors back then.

[@terryenglish7132]

What ? Network shows were after 8 . Sunday being the exception .