LOL one way ticket to HBO I know where that's going
"Lost in Space" - any love for this old show?
- Thread starter Qonundrum
- Start date
LOL one way ticket to HBO I know where that's going
Which might not have been so bad if he hadn't ended up completely dominating the show, to the extent that the nominal star Guy Williams was often reduced to a token presence. Williams was one of my favorite leading men of the era, and in my youth I kind of saw John Robinson as an ideal father figure. So it was a shame to see him marginalized, especially in favor of someone so annoying.
Well, that's all thanks to Harris changing the character during season one, and Allen infamously telling him to "Do more". Typical TV producer reaction: if a character is becoming popular, turn up the character's traits to ridiculous degrees. See Fonzie from Happy Days, where he devolved from sort-of threatening, not-as-talkative greaser/biker, to the cartoon superhero overusing the catchphrase, his thumbs and applying his magic touch to everything, which quickly bumped series star Ron Howard to second-fiddle status.
Johnathan Harris lobbied/did that himself. He liked the gig and thought that if they kept having Smith backstabbing everyone, the character would end up dead, and no more "special guest star"...
DOH - ninja'd
Same here.
No to mention the over sexualized nature of that magic power.... You had to wonder just how many women of age or under Fonzie had fucked with that power and it's gross and icky
Huh? Nobody fucked on 50's TV. Heck, married couples didn't even sleep in the same beds!
Uhh, Happy Days was a '70s-'80s show. It was just set in the '50s-'60s. It was given that title because it was an exercise in nostalgia for an earlier time.
Oh I know in 50s TV kids just appeared as if by magic
Another thing I'm finding quite absurd is Smith's predilection for trying to get rich. Exactly why does he think money and wealth will do him any good on a barren planet that doesn't use it? Yes, I know: because he's also constantly trying to find ways to get back to Earth while screwing the (completely oblivious) Robinsons. Yet since that never seems to end up happening, I'm not sure why the accumulation of riches is so important to him other than to enhance the buffoonish characterization he evolved into.
Alien brain parasites got to him....... made him loonier then usual
When has greed ever been rational? How is Smith's behavior any different from compulsive gambling, say? You have about as much chance of winning the lottery or breaking a casino as Smith has of getting back to Earth, but many people still pursue that minuscule chance with fanatical fervor. And in an earlier time, think of all the prospectors who risked their lives and endured years of hardship in pursuit of the flimsy hope of finding gold and striking it rich.
Even billionaires, people who have immeasurably more wealth than they'll ever need, are still desperate to gain more wealth, no matter how much harm they have to do to others in order to obtain it. Wealth is an addiction. Once you're hooked, you'll do anything to get more, no matter how irrational or harmful. It's not about the likelihood or practical benefit of wealth, it's about chasing the endorphin rush of obtaining it.
The problem, however, is that Smith's actions tend to defy common sense. For example, we know that the one thing he wants the most is to get off that planet and get back to Earth. For example, in the last episode I watched, "The Curse of Cousin Smith," we find that Smith's cousin Jeremiah, who is in contention with Smith for the family inheritance, not only can seemingly come and go from the planet at will, but he is in contact with his bookie who can make a gambling machine instantaneously appear and disappear (presumably teleporting from one planet to another.) And yet all Smith seems to care about is trying to get rich quick from the one-armed bandit. Huh? Why isn't Smith desperately trying to persuade his cousin to get him off that rock, which Jeremiah can easily seem to do? Why didn't he just give Jeremiah the family inheritance in exchange for passage back to Earth?
It doesn't make sense because it's season 2. It's as simple as that. Season 1 is decent to good; season 3 is wildly uneven with some decent bits; season 2 is pretty much an ongoing insult to the viewers' intelligence, even given that it was made for children.
The first six or so B&W episodes still hold up well. They are dark and dramatic. If it had stuck with THAT, it would have been something decades ahead of its time.
But I just can't with the Tribble dealer as a sentient carrot.
But I just can't with the Tribble dealer as a sentient carrot.
Similar threads
