Episodes with LOST IN SPACE Analogs

[ZapBrannigan]

Some episodes of Star Trek seem to be paired with Lost in Space shows due to similar themes. Including but not limited to:


"Spock's Brain" and "The Colonists"
Alien culture puts women in charge, with no respect for men.

"Mirror, Mirror" and "The Anti-Matter Man"
This is a very close analog. Probably a coincidence, but very close indeed. LIS staged it with plenty of style. The suspended, fog-dripping walkway between universes was amazing. Star Trek put most of its stylistic effort into the costumes.

"The Way to Eden" and "Collision of Planets"
This connection is less exact, but the LIS was scored by Gerald Fried, and I swear I can hear little strains reminiscent of "The Paradise Syndrome"(a vastly superior Fried effort). And the hippies are going to get everybody killed, as they were on Star Trek.

"The Way to Eden" and "The Promised Planet"
Lost in Space was hitting the hippie theme for a second time in the same season, this one with more music and dancing.

There might be some other cases to investigate.

 

[johnnybear]

Space 1999 'borrowed' a few LIS themes like Rules of Luton which was The Great Vegetable Rebellion and 1999 even borrowed an episode title of Trek's, Immunity Syndrome but there was no giant single celled amoeba, but a single celled flashing light called I that is I!
JB

 

[Maurice]

"The Anti Matter Man" points to how good Lost In Space could have been if they'd not focused the show so narrowly on the Smith/Will/Robot angle. I bet Guy Williams loved finally having something interesting to play.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

In BY ANY OTHER NAME, 430 of the crew get cubed.
In PRINCESS OF SPACE, Smith, Don and Judy get ''taped.''

That's a good one. If Judy's tape passed through my hands, I'd make a copy before giving it back. There's a lot of data on those things, to reduce a person to three feet of tape. Maybe it was a 32-track digital format.

Here's another pair of analogs:

"What are Little Girls Made Of?" (20OCT1966)
An alien machine turns a glob of white dough into an android.

"Space Destructors" (11OCT1967)
An alien machine turns a glob of white dough into an android.

Both shows demonstrate the process clearly and seem to corroborate each other. I think we should be funding research for a Pillsbury Dough-bot.

 

[Redfern]

...Pillsbury Dough-bot.

That one "hit" at just the moment and circumstance. I'm nearly choking from laughter!

It just rolls off the tongue so well!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Marsden]

I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us. Poppin Fresh!

 

[Silvercrest]

Nice thinkin', Ray.

 

[Galileo7]

Spaceships accidental time travel to Earth's past:

Jupiter 2 to 1947 in Lost In Space "Visit To A Hostile Planet"

1701 to late '60s in TOS "Tomorrow is Yesterday"

 

[Warped9]

I find first season LIS to be a mix of interesting and frustrating although not nearly as frustrating as the following two seasons. It had some interesting ideas and some worthy stories that could be marred and even undone by the comedic slant that was gradually ramped up after the first few episodes. I like the episodes in b&w which lends the stories a moodier sensibility.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

"Mirror, Mirror" and "The Anti-Matter Man"
This is a very close analog. Probably a coincidence, but very close indeed. LIS staged it with plenty of style. The suspended, fog-dripping walkway between universes was amazing. Star Trek put most of its stylistic effort into the costumes.

I think that "The Anti-Matter Man" also pairs with "The Alternative Factor".

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I think that "The Anti-Matter Man" also pairs with "The Alternative Factor".

I hadn't thought of that one.

This is semi-off topic, but LIS "Flight into the Future" has a partial analog in VOY "Timeless." In both cases, crew members explore the decayed wreckage of their ship long after it crashed.

That's the kind of episode where, if you saw it as a little kid, the concept of the spaceship as ancient wreckage becomes an indelible memory. Also seeing Marta Kristen as Judy's hot future descendant:

 

[Ssosmcin]

"What are Little Girls Made Of?" (20OCT1966)
An alien machine turns a glob of white dough into an android.

"Space Destructors" (11OCT1967)
An alien machine turns a glob of white dough into an android.

Both shows demonstrate the process clearly and seem to corroborate each other. I think we should be funding research for a Pillsbury Dough-bot.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had an episode even closer: "The Cyborg." Deranged scientist creates a (misnamed) cyborg duplicate of Admiral Nelson out of a glob of man shaped white paste for the express purpose of taking over the Seaview. This similarity did not go unnoticed by Kellam de Forest.

Voyage had a couple of similar episodes as well...

"The Human Computer" the Seaview is used to test an advanced computer to see if it can command a submarine without the aid of a human crew. The Seaview proceeds with only the captain aboard. The episode begins with a war games exercise. An enemy spy slips aboard to sabotage the sub, kill the captain and steal the computer.

"The Ultimate Computer" the Enterprise is used to test an advanced computer to see if it can command a starship without the aid of a human crew. The Enterprise proceeds with a crew of 20. The episode ends with a war games exercise. The computer begins to make its own decisions and defends itself against the attacking ships with lethal force.

 

[johnnybear]

Irwin used to plunder his own shows for the same things over and over!
VTTBOTS had a Cyborg story then did it again with the same costumes for LISs The Space Destructors! LISs Angus from season two's Astral Traveller started off as a Spaghetti monster in Voyage's third season offering The Creature!
JB

 

[Metryq]

Interesting that these androids made from a blob of white dough later show hard electronic components just under the skin—at least in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". LIS never damaged their androids. Amok androids were instantly disintegrated with an electric fish net.

The "common electronic components under the skin" gag appeared in a later TOS episode ("I, Mudd") and other TV shows (THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, Rem from LOGAN'S RUN). How could they pass as human? I liked the way Ash from ALIEN showed a soft mechanical inner structure—at least he could pass the touch test.

As for common episodes—if you really want to stretch a point—ships getting lost in space due to the influence of a madman on board ("Is There In Truth No Beauty?" and "The Reluctant Stowaway").

 

[ZapBrannigan]

As for common episodes—if you really want to stretch a point—ships getting lost in space due to the influence of a madman on board ("Is There In Truth No Beauty?" and "The Reluctant Stowaway").

That's a good one. I'm counting it.

I have another case that doesn't really count:

LIS "Wreck of the Robot"
Aliens confiscate the Robot and disassemble him for study.

TNG "The Measure of a Man"
A Starfleet engineer wants to take possession of Mr. Data to disassemble him for study.

TNG "The Most Toys"
A genre hobbyist kidnaps Mr. Data for his collection.