60 Years of Lost in Space: "Danger, Will Robinson!"

Today is the 60th anniversary of the network television premiere of the science fiction cult classic, Lost in Space. Can you believe it? Why, only ten years ago it was the 50th anniversary of Lost in Space!

Time flies.

I wrote extensively on the subject then -- some eleventy jillion words, by my count — and if you want, you can read every one of them here (and here and here and here — it was in four parts, an epic!).

I won't rehash that mammoth exercise in boomer nostalgia except to say I think Lost in Space was much better than its detractors gave it credit for and its catchphrase "Danger, Will Robinson" is still part of the culture. Why, it even got a laugh on Young Sheldon a while back. Take that Petticoat Junction!



The original is available to stream on Hulu, may be purchased digitally from Amazon-Prime and shows up for free every Saturday night on MeTV. The Blu-Ray box set is pretty nifty, too! (Note: In 2019, the series was digitally remastered in widescreen for DVD. I don't own this set so I can't review it but I am intrigued ...)

But for Pete's sake, you don't want to watch all of it — even Will Robinson isn't that fond of the show.

Instead, allow me to recommend a single season's worth of the best Lost in Space has to offer, my highly subjective list of 24 Grade A to B-plus episodes in the order that they originally aired.

The Reluctant Stowaway — The first episode. Set in the distant future of 1997, the Robinson family and their pilot Don West (Mark Goddard) blastoff on a five-and-a-half year voyage to colonize the Alpha Centauri star system. A saboteur, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris), is trapped on board and when the mission's environmental control robot goes berserk, the ship becomes hopelessly lost in space!

The Derelict — The Robinson family encounters what appears to be a derelict spaceship in deep space. This episode features the best special effects sequence in the series' history — and maybe anybody's history.



Island in the Sky — Thanks to sabotage at the hands of the villainous Dr. Smith, first John Robinson (Guy Williams) then the Jupiter 2 crash land on an alien world.

There Were Giants in the Earth — As the Robinsons struggle to survive on their new home, they encounter a giant cyclops, mutant snap peas, and a malfunctioning robot hellbent for murder. This episode and the next one rely heavily on re-purposed footage from the unaired pilot.

The Hungry Sea — More challenges face our intrepid band of pioneers including earthquakes, electrical storms, cave-ins and an ocean cruise that makes the Titanic look like The Love Boat. This was the last of what I call the Origin Story Miniseries, five interlocking episodes that established the foundation of the show.

My Friend, Mr. Nobody — A rare episode that centers on Penny (Angela Cartwright), this is a poignant fairy tale about a lonely little girl and her not-so-imaginary imaginary friend. The sort of thing Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone excelled at.

Invaders from the Fifth Dimension — Mouthless, disembodied aliens need a brain to replace a burned-out computer component and notice Will (Billy Mumy) has a pretty good head on his shoulders. So they task Dr. Smith with bringing it to them on a metaphorical plate. The show would recycle this plotline over and over but the first time out, it feels fresh. Plus their spaceship is cooler than anything Star Trek ever served up.

The Sky Is Falling — Paranoia and xenophobia is the order of the day when colonists from another planet arrive on the Robinsons' world. Wait until ICE hears about this!

Wish Upon a Star — Filled with the first season's signature elements, this is a top-notch morality tale about the dangers of getting everything you want. Features wonderfully weird expressionistic cinematography, unexplained alien artifacts, and Dr. Smith's self-absorbed jack-ass-ery.

One of Our Dogs Is Missing — Way back in the series' first episode, June Lockhart's character is introduced as "Dr. Maureen Robinson." Apparently she got her PhD in Space Laundry because aside from baking the occasional chocolate cake, washing clothes is all you ever see her do. This is just about the only episode centered on Maureen, here battling an unseen monster terrorizing the camp. It's not perfect — the men are condescending [jerks] and Dr. Smith has never been sillier — but June Lockhart is one tough cookie.

Attack of the Monster Plants — As daughter Judy, Marta Kristen rarely got a chance to shine but here she showed off a saucy bite as her own evil doppelgänger. Like much of season one, there's a dream-like quality to the mood and cinematography that papers over some of the episode's nuttier flights of fancy.

Return from Outer Space — Will borrows an alien transporter and beams himself to 1997's equivalent of Mayberry RFD. Apparently the internet is down because nobody recognizes Will or believes his story that his family is lost in space. This is probably Bill Mumy's best work on the show and maybe the best thing he did after that Twilight Zone episode where he kept wishing people into the cornfield.

The Keeper (Parts 1 and 2) — The only two-parter during the show's run, this one stars Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) as an intergalactic zookeeper looking for two new specimens for his exhibit — Will and Penny! This was the high watermark of the show's original (serious) concept of a family struggling to survive in a hostile environment. After this, the camp crept in with mixed results.

War of the Robots — The first episode where the Robot crosses over from a mere machine, no matter how clever, into a fully-conscious Turing-Test artificial intelligence. Featuring Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot. If Will was the show's hero, and Smith its plot-driving irritant, the Robot was its soul.

The Magic Mirror — Penny falls through a magic mirror into a dimension with a population of one — a boy (Bonnie and Clyde's Michael J. Pollard) who promises she'll never have to grow up. A beautiful and bittersweet fairy tale about coming of age on the final frontier.

The Challenge — Kurt Russell plays a young prince from a warrior planet trying to prove to his father (Michael Ansara) that he's worthy of his respect and love. A good story about father-son relationships, plus Guy Williams gets to show off the fencing skills that earned him the title role as Disney's Zorro.

A Change of Space — Will takes a ride in an alien space ship and winds up with the most brilliant mind in the galaxy. And still he has to brush his teeth before bedtime! This is one of those episodes that underscores my contention that not all of the trouble Will found himself in was of Dr. Smith's making.

Follow the Leader — The spirit of a long-dead warrior possesses Professor Robinson and turns this warm, rational man into a vicious, unpredictable bastard. Dark, moody, occasionally terrifying. Pop-culture critic John Kenneth Muir called this episode a parable of "alcoholism in the nuclear family." The last episode of season one, and the last in glorious black-and-white, this was one of the series' very best.

Wreck of the Robot — The only season two episode on my list, here three faceless aliens in bowler hats lust after the Robinson's robot for undisclosed and no-doubt nefarious purposes — I'm guessing as research for Elon Musk's next sex partner. Who knows. But it's a good episode and for once it's not Dr. Smith's scheming that drives the plot.

Condemned of Space — The Robinsons are captured by a prison spaceship and Major West winds up hanging by his thumbs. With Marcel Hillaire as a charming murderer who strangles his victims with a string of pearls.

Visit to a Hostile Planet — The Robinsons finally make it back to Earth only to discover it's 1947 and everyone thinks they're alien invaders. A cross between Star Trek and any given day on Fox News.

The Anti-Matter Man — An experiment gone wrong transports Professor Robinson into a parallel dimension where he meets his own evil self. The scenery is summer stock by way of Dr. Caligari, and Guy Williams (having the most fun as an actor since Zorro) gets to chew on all of it. The best episode of the show's third and final season.

The Great Vegetable Rebellion — Featuring a giant talking carrot played by Stanley Adams (of Star Trek's "The Trouble with Tribbles" fame), this is, in the words of Bill Mumy, "the worst television show in primetime ever made." TV Guide respectfully disagrees, ranking it 76 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. This is either the apotheosis of camp or gloriously awful must-see tv. Don't miss it.

And check out these episodes on your own time:
Season one — All That Glitters.
Season two — The Prisoners of Space, Trip Through the Robot.
Season three — Flight Into the Future, Space Creature, Target Earth, Time Merchant.

Well, that's it. Gosh, I sure do hope I'm around in ten years to do this all again!