Revisiting Lost In Space...

[Warped9]

"The Keeper" (Parts 1 & 2) ***

An alien who collects alien animals wants to add Will and Penny to his collection.

On the one hand here you've got Michael Rennie lending some weight and substance to the story. And, really, this story isn't much different than what Gene Roddenberry offered up in Star Trek's first pilot "The Cage." The BIG difference is execution.

There are quite a few things to like in this episode. There's Michael Rennie's presence and the depiction of some pretty nifty hardware that suggest some very advanced science and technology. The idea of an interstellar collector isn't bad either.

But there are also problems. All sci-fi's, even today's, utilize people to stand in as aliens despite the fact it's not at all credible. It was silly beyond belief to see The Keeper spouting off about how primitive humans were when he himself was essentially no different. At least Roddenberry made an effort for his Talosians to be non-human even if they were humanoid, and only because the f/x limitations of the day prevented him from having crab-like Talosians as he originally envisioned. The point being is that The Keeper could offer no justification for being advanced and more evolved when he tries to cage other sentient beings like himself and no different than people being caged and used as fodder by others decades to centuries ago here. Now if the Keeper had been projecting an illusion of being human then that would have been different. But when we see him communicating with another of his race and that one was human as well then the whole concept falls apart. That's the only major gripe I have with this story. The visual depiction of the Keeper really undermined the story in that regard. If they had made at least some effort to make him seem and appear more alien or something other than what he appeared to be. Beyond that this episode was a better effort than a lot of what preceded it.

The show's budget really showed here in the heavy reuse of already seen creatures. The other hurt was the fact that today's televisions are not kind to f/x originally intended for poor resolution '60's era TV sets.

It's become a tired rant, but I absolutely loathe the character of Zachary Smith. He's a piece of crap and not the least amusing. He's just obnoxious and annoying as hell.

 

[Saga]

i can't wait till you revisit Mr. Ed. then you can analyze and suck all the fun out of that show too.

 

[Forbin]

i can't wait till you revisit Mr. Ed. then you can analyze and suck all the fun out of that show too.

It's a darn shame you're being forced to read this tread at gunpoint, ain't it?

 

[Kemaiku]

i can't wait till you revisit Mr. Ed. then you can analyze and suck all the fun out of that show too.

He can't, ever since our Pony craze hit the board, no-one can watch the show without having horrible Pony/Ed nightmares afterwards.

 

[Maurice]

i can't wait till you revisit Mr. Ed. then you can analyze and suck all the fun out of that show too.

Warped 9's critiques of the show have been very fair, and all you can do is poo poo it.

 

[Warped9]

"The Sky Pirate" *

A pirate on the run from an alien creature drops in on the Robinsons.

All I can say is...Yeesh!


"Ghost In Space" **

Zachary Smith's carelessness inadvertently lets loose an invisible alien that only comes out at night.

I really couldn't understand what was going on in this episode. And it was kinda weird that Smith, supposedly a man of science, still believed in the spirit world and the power of a Ouija board. I also couldn't help wonder if Harris has ever played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. He might have done all right with it.

On a production look I might not have expressed my appreciation for the depiction of much of the planet's terrain. A lot of it is rather cool. I also particularly liked scenes set at night which gave the scenes a more eerie atmosphere.

 

[RJDiogenes]

While your criticisms are inarguably valid, you're definitely approaching your evaluations with the wrong attitude. You can't judge LIS by the standards of "The Cage" or The Day The Earth Stood Still. That's like criticizing The Flinstones for having dinosaurs and cavemen alive at the same time or HR Pufnstuf for having talking trees. It's a romp, it's surreal, it's pulp adventure for kids. It also helps to be drunk or under the influence of hallucinogenics.

 

[Warped9]

While your criticisms are inarguably valid, you're definitely approaching your evaluations with the wrong attitude. You can't judge LIS by the standards of "The Cage" or The Day The Earth Stood Still. That's like criticizing The Flinstones for having dinosaurs and cavemen alive at the same time or HR Pufnstuf for having talking trees. It's a romp, it's surreal, it's pulp adventure for kids. It also helps to be drunk or under the influence of hallucinogenics.

I'm approaching it with the questions: is it entertaining? If so why and if not then why does it fail?

If something engages you then you're more likely to forgive things you don't really care for. If you're not engaged and entertained then all the things that bug you loom large.

I can't help but draw comparisons when a story evokes something similar done elsewhere, particularly if that other version is more effective.

I'm reminded of the TNG episode "Cause And Effect" which I thought wasn't bad when I first so it so many years ago. And then sometime later I caught an X-Files episode and then later a Stargate: SG-1 episode that explored a similar idea. Suffice to say I found the latter episodes vastly superior to what TNG did, mostly because the X-Files and Stargate writers brought more nuance and scope to their versions of the idea.

An essential point is LIS' "The Keeper" seemed more dramatically oriented than a lot of what else they did on the show. So I can't help but think of what could have made the story even more effective because there was already another ready made example of the story idea out there as a comparison.

LIS might have been served better if instead of shoehorning over-the-top camp into every story they had alternated between telling more dramatically oriented stories with more humorous ones. Other shows have done exactly that to good effect. The approach LIS did use served neither drama nor humour well. The over-the-top camp wore thin quickly and became annoying and any potential drama was constantly undermined.

 

[Silvercrest]

I'm still trying to figure out why Will turned invisible.

 

[RJDiogenes]

LIS might have been served better if instead of shoehorning over-the-top camp into every story they had alternated between telling more dramatically oriented stories with more humorous ones. Other shows have done exactly that to good effect.

Well, if LIS had done that, it would be a different show. Like Star Trek. When I'm in the mood for Star Trek, I watch Star Trek; when I'm in the mood for LIS, I watch LIS. Same with Lexx, or Firefly, or B5, or Futurama, or UFO, or whatever. I find them all entertaining, but you can't judge one by another's standards.

 

[Warped9]

I'm still trying to figure out why Will turned invisible.

So was I.

 

[Maurice]

Lost in Space is a middling show that's poorly written except for kids, but kids weren't the only audience, especially in 1965 when most homes had only one television and families tended to watch the same shows.

The fact is that the writing on the show was frequently lazy and illogical and characters acted for the sake of the story instead of acting true to their characters.

My review of...

The Keeper

At last, an episode that mostly works.

The episode is a model for what LIS should have been: an action adventure with some light moments that gives all the characters something to do. The kids are well represented, but not at the expense of the others. Heck, Judy even proposed something for a change. It's too bad this wasn't the norm on the show.

I admired the effort of using split screens to put the giant lizard in shots with Don and John, Yes, the made-up lizard is obviously a lizard, but that they didn't cheap out impressed me. Likewise, the final giant monster creature is an impressive effort mostly spoiled by bad puppeteering when it walks.

I agree with Warped 9 that the Keeper himself is so humanoid that it sort of interferes with grasping why he considers the Robinsons as inferior enough to be mere animals. It would have been interesting if it was Smith's conniving nature that convinced him of their inferiority, and Maureen's compassion that in the end convinces him otherwise. Alas, not to be, ergo we get no really good reason why he'd want Will and Penny over Don and Judy, whom at first he's interested in until he isn't.

The use of a painting to represent the Keeper's ship is cool. It's just too bad that the interior just doesn't fit within the shape we're shown.

There are some vexing loose ends, though.

When John realized Smith was not susceptible to the Keeper's staff when wearing earplugs, I really expected that this would play into the story later. In fact, I half-expected them to have Smith fake being affected by the staff to catch the Keeper off guard or something like that. Sadly, as is typical of the show, they set something up and don't connect the dots.

I appreciate that the show's budget was not super high, but showing the same four aliens exiting the ship over and failed to convey an escaping menagerie. They'd have been better off with fewer shots and instead showing many shadows crossing the cowering Smith and Robot.

The Robot easily fries the flying creature that attacks Smith, but then they flee an identical one moments later. Ummm...why?

Smith's idiocy really undermines his character. I can accept that he's lazy and only thinks about himself, but he's frequently portrayed with behavior so preposterous that it's impossible to believe that someone as egotistical and foolhardy could have gotten to the position he did before the mission. A case in point: once on the Keeper's ship he arrogantly touches totally alien controls and ends up opening all the zoo cages. Mind you, THIS man programs the Robot, and yet he doesn't grasp the possible repercussions to playing with devices he doesn't comprehend? "That does not compute!"

 

[Warped9]

^^ Well said.

 

[newtontomato539]

The first five episodes I agree.

The movie remake isn't perfect but it does build on these five. Pity there was no sequel. Anyone read the prose novels?

 

[Forbin]

The thing that always bothered me about The Keeper episode - I thought he was taking breeding couples of each species. It always creeped me out that he took Will and Penny.

 

[Saga]

While your criticisms are inarguably valid, you're definitely approaching your evaluations with the wrong attitude. You can't judge LIS by the standards of "The Cage" or The Day The Earth Stood Still. That's like criticizing The Flinstones for having dinosaurs and cavemen alive at the same time or HR Pufnstuf for having talking trees. It's a romp, it's surreal, it's pulp adventure for kids. It also helps to be drunk or under the influence of hallucinogenics.

well said.

 

[Silvercrest]

The first five episodes I agree.

The movie remake isn't perfect but it does build on these five. Pity there was no sequel. Anyone read the prose novels?

I used to have the one by Dave van Arnam, but I got rid of it a number of years ago. It had its moments, but just was not a very interesting read.

 

[Warped9]

The thing that always bothered me about The Keeper episode - I thought he was taking breeding couples of each species. It always creeped me out that he took Will and Penny.

That also occurred to me. Don and Judy would have been a better catch...so to speak.

 

[DarthTom]

Well, if LIS had done that, it would be a different show. Like Star Trek. When I'm in the mood for Star Trek, I watch Star Trek; when I'm in the mood for LIS, I watch LIS. Same with Lexx, or Firefly, or B5, or Futurama, or UFO, or whatever. I find them all entertaining, but you can't judge one by another's standards.

It's important to remember however that Rod Serling wrote excellent sci/fi - fantasy drama while during the same time that LIS wrote "campy," drama.

So it's not only that fact that it's a 'time piece,' that some of the problems exist on the show.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ What would time have to do with it? It was on after Twilight Zone had ended and while Star Trek was on the air.

The thing that always bothered me about The Keeper episode - I thought he was taking breeding couples of each species. It always creeped me out that he took Will and Penny.

That would actually be a great idea for a plot. Not on LIS, but still a good idea.

While your criticisms are inarguably valid, you're definitely approaching your evaluations with the wrong attitude. You can't judge LIS by the standards of "The Cage" or The Day The Earth Stood Still. That's like criticizing The Flinstones for having dinosaurs and cavemen alive at the same time or HR Pufnstuf for having talking trees. It's a romp, it's surreal, it's pulp adventure for kids. It also helps to be drunk or under the influence of hallucinogenics.

well said.

Thank you.