I wonder if Irwin Allen's schlock sci-fi show somehow contributed to ST's early death. Perhaps some viewers were more interested in LIS's 1950's type of stories, rather than ST's intelligent form of sci-fi. Opinions?
Did 'Lost In Space' Contribute To Star Trek's Cancellation
- Thread starter Spock's Barber
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Lost in Space ended its run in March 1968, just before the end of Star Trek's second season. So no, LiS did not contribute to ST's cancellation.
^.....but, but, but if LIS drew viewers away, then that would affect ST's Neilsen Ratings, which were always marginal at best.
My favorite David Gerrold/"World of ST" anecdote about the relationship between LIS and ST : The CBS executives who met with GR during pre-production made comments to him after the meeting such as "We are now developing LIS. We are happy with that show's premise, but thanks for all the ideas you gave us, GR."
My favorite David Gerrold/"World of ST" anecdote about the relationship between LIS and ST : The CBS executives who met with GR during pre-production made comments to him after the meeting such as "We are now developing LIS. We are happy with that show's premise, but thanks for all the ideas you gave us, GR."
I don't think you're getting it. LiS was cancelled in 1968. Star Trek was renewed in 1968 and ran for one more season after that. The timing is wrong. LiS only would've affected the ratings of ST's first and second seasons, and yet ST was renewed both times. So ST survived whatever ratings challenge LiS posed to it, and outlived it by an entire year.
I suppose it is possible that any ratings hit in the second season might have contributed to NBC's decision to move ST to a poorer time slot, which was a factor in its decline in season 3. But I don't really see how, because the two shows were not airing opposite each other. In the 1967-8 season (ST's second and LiS's last), NBC aired Star Trek on Fridays at 8:30 PM, while CBS aired Lost in Space on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. ST's competition that year consisted of a Western called Hondo on ABC and Gomer Pyle and the start of the CBS Friday Night Movies on CBS. So how would a Wednesday night show have drawn viewers away from a Friday night show?
No, maybe you're not getting it. If CBS network executives viewed LIS as superior to ST, then just imagine how viewers in Podunk, Idaho thought about SF in the 1960's. Television is like the Neural Neutralizer in "The Dagger of the Mind"; it just kind of hypnotizes them. LIS viewers loved to see bug-eyed creatures with Dick Tracy type color motifs. Ugh!
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You'll pardon me if I don't care to engage you in any more serious consideration, given how seriously you took more considered response Christopher offered.
You'll pardon me if I don't care to engage you in any more serious consideration, given how seriously you took more considered response Christopher offered.
Good. Christopher thinks he is God's gift to Trek BBS. He's just another poster on this forum.
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What does that have to do with this thread?
You asked a question. People gave answers.
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Might be the reverse. Maybe NBC thought some of the people that watched Lost in Space but hadn't tried Star Trek might be tempted to try it now that the former was no longer on the air?
But I don't see how one impacted the other negatively when they were on separate networks and on different days of the week. If the books I've read over the years are correct, the only negative impact Lost in Space had on Trek was that CBS chose it over Trek when both were in their development stages.
But I don't see how one impacted the other negatively when they were on separate networks and on different days of the week. If the books I've read over the years are correct, the only negative impact Lost in Space had on Trek was that CBS chose it over Trek when both were in their development stages.
Wow! A one word explanation!
You'll pardon me if I don't care to engage you in any more serious consideration, given how seriously you took more considered response Christopher offered.
Good. Christopher thinks he is God's gift to Trek BBS. He's just another poster on this forum.
I'm confused? None of us were there so any answer is conjecture. Did you only want conjecture that fit your personal views?
Since they didn't air in direct competition with each other, I don't see how LIS affected TOS. But for many families, those were the days of usually only one TV in the house, with Dad or Mom controlling what was watched.
I was 6 during LIS's first season, and I remember watching both shows during their network runs. But I had to go in Grandma's room to watch Lost in Space. Being a kid, I liked LIS just a little more than Trek. I have since matured (sort of).
I was 6 during LIS's first season, and I remember watching both shows during their network runs. But I had to go in Grandma's room to watch Lost in Space. Being a kid, I liked LIS just a little more than Trek. I have since matured (sort of).
True story: Many years ago, when the LOST IN SPACE movie was in the works, I attended a presentation the studio put on for potential licensees. A spokesman for the studio began the meeting by observing that there were three great science-fiction franchises: STAR WARS, STAR TREK . . . and LOST IN SPACE.
Somehow I managed to not laugh out loud.
Somehow I managed to not laugh out loud.
I don't think he's saying they were head to head competitors and that LIS stole away the audience. I think what he's saying is that because of they kind of program LIS was, it may have turned people off from watching other Star Trek because they preferred the less sophisticated fare from Irwin Allen.
I honestly think the time slot had more to do with it than anything. It never reached the right audience in mass numbers. Besides, sf was seen as kiddie stuff to a lot of the audience before LIS ever aired. So I wouldn't necessarily finger that series but the overall preconceptions by the masses.
I honestly think the time slot had more to do with it than anything. It never reached the right audience in mass numbers. Besides, sf was seen as kiddie stuff to a lot of the audience before LIS ever aired. So I wouldn't necessarily finger that series but the overall preconceptions by the masses.
If anything, the preponderance of "one tv households" may have been a factor more than Lost in Space specifically. I know guys like my father tended to make the viewing choices, and to his generation, Lost in Space and Star Trek were no different from Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon.
Also, I was the youngest of six kids, so if dad wasn't going to watch tv, I was waaay down in the pecking order when it came to viewing choice.
Also, I was the youngest of six kids, so if dad wasn't going to watch tv, I was waaay down in the pecking order when it came to viewing choice.
I agree and that's why I think the series exploded in syndication. It wasn't so much that people finally "caught on" but that it was on early enough when the kids or "other than parents" had more say over what was being watched. I know my family totally got into the series when I found it in reruns and we watched it around dinner time. I turned my whole family into Trekkies...
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