STAR TREK the enemy of LOST IN SPACE?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by ZapBrannigan, Sep 3, 2013.

  1. Push The Button

    Push The Button Commodore Commodore

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    How about a dark, gritty version, something like the BSG reboot?
    Then you could have someone finally give Smith his due and flush him out of an airlock.

    I watched the movie remake 15 years ago, but I can only remember Heather Graham, the rest of it was too dreadful and my brain must have deleted it.
     
  2. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Irwin Allen tried to repeat the Dr. Smith/Will Robinson dynamic in Land of the Giants with Mr. Fitzhugh and whatever that kid's name was.

    Two words: Gary Oldman.
     
  3. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I would have been fine with the light and silly tone of LIS if the writing had actually been somewhat witty and clever (along the lines of the 60s Batman, or hell even The Addams Family). But other than the occasional witty remark from the Robot, most of the writing on the show was just abysmal.

    Even for a kid's show, you'd think they could have put a bit more effort into it than they did.
     
  4. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I don't think it has to be that dark and edgy to work. Smith could just as easily try to sabotage things (the launch) out of misguided beliefs or even just out of coercion.
     
  5. Duncan MacLeod

    Duncan MacLeod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    And he could be trapped aboard because his "employers" are trying to get rid of the evidence.

    Which actually might be the first step in his redemption, once he realized what actually happened.

    Just throwing out a possibility. ;)
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    He certainly was. His antics were very popular. After all, it was a show whose audience was largely children.


    Well, first off, I'm not sure TOS is the right comparison, since the shows weren't trying to reach the same demographic. One was a family show, the other an adult drama.

    Second, I think most of the first season did achieve what you're talking about. Remember, the descent into sheer camp wasn't just about Dr. Smith, since it didn't happen until the second season. It was about competing with Batman. People forget what a massive, industry-shaking hit and cultural phenomenon Batman was in its first season. And there's always a drive in TV and movies to imitate big hits. Not only Lost in Space but The Man from U.N.C.L.E. got more campy in response to it and in an attempt to compete wtih it.

    So without Dr. Smith, if the show had been popular enough to get a second season, it would probably still have been camped up to compete with Batman. But conversely, if Batman hadn't existed, then LiS with Dr. Smith would've remained, if not serious, at least nowhere near as campy and intentionally ludicrous as it became.



    But it also saved them the expense of rebuilding the planet soundstage every week or showing takeoff/landing sequences regularly. Irwin Allen was famously cheap.
     
  7. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I think this could work. There's a tendency today to make most everything go "dark and edgy" because it's currently trendy, but it doesn't always have to be that way. By redeeming Smith and keeping it somewhat more mainstream then you don't risk automatically alienating a lot of fans of the original series.
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I submit that we've already had a rebooted, redeemable Dr. Smith in a dark and edgy series. It's just that he was called Gaius Baltar instead.
     
  9. Duncan MacLeod

    Duncan MacLeod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Wouldn't know. Never watched the remake. I know that it exists, that some characters had gender changes, practically all of them had personality changes, but that's about it.

    I suggested it simply because it seemed logical.
     
  10. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Listen, that episode served up some bold social commentary on large birds and the danger of drinking high-explosive beverages. Things no other show was willing to talk about.

    [​IMG]

    LIS might have been better off sticking to more realistic overall scenarios and leaving the comedy to Jonathan Harris. Dr. Smith's scene-stealing presence was like lightening in a bottle compared to the more workaday roles of John, Don, and Maureen.

    Harris was the biggest thing LIS had that the other Irwin Allen shows did not. He literally stole (and I think saved) the show.

    And this had an effect on Star Trek, because after Guy Williams famously became a supporting character in "his own" show, agents of leading men began demanding contract clauses that kept any character from having more lines than the official star. Thus William Shatner found himself having to count lines to ensure Nimoy wasn't getting more than him. It's not that Shatner was petty-- he was just trying to avoid the professional catastrophe that had befallen Guy Williams.
     
  11. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    ^^ That is a seriously WTF! Image. :lol:
     
  12. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    I've never heard of such a contract clause. Care to share a source?
     
  13. Commishsleer

    Commishsleer Commodore Commodore

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    Didn't he also steal the show as Lucifer in Original BSG. OK perhaps not steal the show but I still remember him.

    I thought Dr Smith much less redeemable than Gaius Baltar in nuBSG but perhaps he is a modern equivalent.
     
  14. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Fan knowledge of this general topic probably began with a review of ST:TMP by Harlan Ellison in Starlog magazine (April 1980), in which he excoriated Shatner for counting lines in the "City" script. Ellison might also talk about it in a youtube video somewhere; I can't recall for sure. But he obviously didn't understand the legitimate problem faced by TV's lead actors in the 1960s, and didn't bother to find out.

    I think I read "official" confirmation that Shatner had one of these role-protecting contract clauses in Inside Star Trek, of which I read a borrowed copy so I can't find the reference. But it's a pretty well-known thing now.
     
  15. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Here's a little insight on Guy Williams' professional disaster at the hands of Jonathan Harris, which Shatner did not want to risk experiencing with Leonard Nimoy:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    As I've said, I think Harris actually saved Lost in Space, but Guy didn't have to like it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2013
  16. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, but you don't have to go all dirty on it. Sure there is swearing in real life but often not as over-the-top as it's done on TV.

    What was that western themed series some years back that had "fuck" like every third or fourth word? I got bored real fast.
     
  17. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    That hardly sounds like it's "common" though. That's just a Star Trek specific example. I don't recall reading any such thing in Inside Star Trek, but my copy is out on loan so I can't check right now.
     
  18. BoredShipCapt'n

    BoredShipCapt'n Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    He was great in BSG! Definitely stole all the scenes with Baltar, subtly getting his goat. I always thought Lucifer would be fun to hang out with.


    Love the ad!!
     
  19. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You have obviously never met a co-worker of mine named Rob. This disturbed fellow feels compelled to drop an "F bomb" at least every other sentence. It would be one thing if I worked on a shipyard loading dock for some other equivalent "blue collar" job. But we are both system engineers in a 7 story tall office building with a dress code mandating button down shirts and ties.

    One time I got so frustrated with him that I asked, "So, how's your Tourette syndrome today?"

    An exceptionally vile individual.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  20. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Well, I did know a fellow from Columbia who covered his lapses in English vocabulary with an *F* about every sentence. He was actually a pretty funny guy, but it could get old. :lol: