Lost in Space | |
---|---|
1967 publicity photo showing cast members Angela Cartwright, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Bob May (Robot), Jonathan Harris, June Lockhart, Guy Williams and Billy Mumy
|
|
Genre | Science fiction |
Created by | Irwin Allen |
Directed by |
Irwin Allen |
Starring | (See Characters) |
Narrated by | Dick Tufeld |
Theme music composer | John Williams |
Composer(s) |
John Williams Herman Stein Richard LaSalle Leith Stevens Joseph Mullendore Cyril Mockridge Alexander Courage |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 83 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Irwin Allen |
Cinematography | Frank G. Carson Gene Polito Winton Hoch |
Running time | 51 minutes |
Production company(s) | Irwin Allen Productions Van Bernard Productions Jodi Productions 20th Century Fox Television CBS |
Distributor | 20th Television |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format | black and white (1965–1966) color (1966–1968) |
Audio format | mono |
Original release | September 15, 1965 – March 6, 1968 |
Chronology | |
Related shows | Lost in Space (film) |
Irwin Allen
Gerard Ervin
Mark Sanders
Robert Douglas
Alvin Ganzer
Harry Harris
Leonard Horn
Nathan H. Juran
Sobey Martin
Irving J. Moore
Leo Penn
Don Richardson
Seymour Robbie
Sutton Roley
Alexander Singer
Paul Stanley
Ezra Stone
Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen. The series follows the adventures of a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in a strange and often hostile universe after their ship is sabotaged and thrown off course. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between 1965 and 1968. The first season was filmed in black and white, with the second and third seasons filmed in color.
Although the original concept (depicted in the unaired 1965 pilot episode) centered on the Robinson family, many later storylines focused primarily on Dr. Zachary Smith, played by Jonathan Harris. Smith and the Robot were both absent from the unaired pilot, as the addition of their characters was only decided upon once the series had been commissioned for production.
Originally written as an utterly evil (if careless) saboteur, Smith gradually became the troublesome, self-centered, incompetent character who provided the comic relief for the show and caused much of the conflict and misadventures. In the unaired pilot, what caused the group to become lost in space was a chance encounter with a meteor storm, but in the first aired episode it was Smith's unplanned presence on the ship that sent it off course into the meteor field, and his sabotage which caused the Robot to accelerate the ship into hyperdrive. Smith is thus the key to the story.
In 1962 the first appearance of a space-faring Robinson family occurred in a comic book published by Gold Key Comics. The Space Family Robinson, who were scientists aboard Earth's "Space Station One", are swept away in a cosmic storm in the comic's second issue. These Robinsons were scientist father Craig, scientist mother June, early teens Tim (son) and Tam (daughter), along with pets Clancy (dog) and Yakker (parrot). Space Station One also boasted two spacemobiles for ship-to-planet travel.