Things from other sci-fi you wished to see in TOS....

[Commishsleer]

Land of The Giants was a society very similar to the Soviet communist bloc in the real world in the series while beneath the ground lurked another culture, one whom had been at war with the surface centuries before and didn't want another or for their civilization to be uncovered! The other was a culture on the other side of the planet ruled by a dictator called Titus played by Nehemia Persoff!
JB

Land of the Giants was one of my favourite series.It was interesting that they had a sort of police state and a sort of resistance. Also I liked that the Land of the Giant's cast weren't all noble characters, The 3 Spindrift crew members and the child were the "good" but the others had their own agenda.

 

[johnnybear]

Agreed but the series built upon itself! At first the giants never spoke then when they did it was seemingly in slow motion and later on it was a world of scientists fifty odd years behind us!
Later on they added the SID and the communist style of government and later on a greasy inspector (Kobik) who was obsessed with the capture of the little people! But due to the haphazard order of the series when it was first shown a lot of the stories could be hard to follow!
JB

 

[Rick Sternbach]

You know they did exactly that in TNG, right? Rick Sternbach had worked with Robert Bussard earlier in his career and done art of Bussard ramjet starships for Carl Sagan's Cosmos, so when he became TNG's technical advisor, he interpreted the red nacelle domes as Bussard collectors.

I got to know Bob Bussard around 1983 when I wrote and illustrated an article on interstellar flight for SCIENCE DIGEST magazine. I had attempted to get in touch with him back during COSMOS in 1979 but we didn't connect during that production. In 1987, when we went full steam ahead on TNG, I worked out the tech for the collectors based on what Bussard taught me during the magazine stuff (interstellar material density, volumes collected at various velocities, etc.), and convinced the producers that using his name in-universe would be a nice homage. - Rick

 

[Qonundrum]

Packer also wrote Return from Outer Space and a bunch of other solid episodes. Gene Coon wrote Spock’s Brain, they can’t all be gems. Packer also did write one episode of Land of the Giants and did credited work on one episode of Voyage. But LIS was the show he spent the most time on.

Yup. Having to belt out so many in a small span of time can't help either.

https://lostinspace.fandom.com/wiki/Crew_List

"Visit to a Hostile Planet" was well done.

"Collision of Planets" is not perfect but it hangs together and managed to meld fun with a sense of trepidation.

I recall "Flight in to the Future" being fairly good until the ending - from the last time I recall seeing it... might rewatch it.

"Condemned of Space" has some interesting, if not flawed, ideas that somehow remains watchable and not always in a heckle-worthy way. But Packer may have been using this situation to mock the idea of rehabilitation during time served as a big ice cube (while holding all their weapons, how convenient) then getting released with a pinky swear they won't do it again.

"Target Earth" is oversimplified (even by LIS's standards) but still has a few robust moments, despite a production that feels like it's coasting.

And I'll put "Space Primevals" over "The Apple" any day, though that isn't saying too much either. Still, Dr Smith saves Don's life in the episode - season 3 did have a few moments of Smith having more importance than previously hinted at ("Time Merchant" also revealing a biggie, the weight of Smith prevented the ship from being destroyed by a direct asteroid collision.)

 

[ZapBrannigan]

And I'll put "Space Primevals" over "The Apple" any day, though that isn't saying too much either. Still, Dr Smith saves Don's life in the episode - season 3 did have a few moments of Smith having more importance than previously hinted at ("Time Merchant" also revealing a biggie, the weight of Smith prevented the ship from being destroyed by a direct asteroid collision.)

It was always a great moment when Dr. Smith did the right thing, because he didn't usually come around. The series really earned those rare payoffs. Along with the Smith-West reconciliations, I liked "All that Glitters," when Smith accidentally kills Penny. His moral crisis is great, and there's a classic Smith punchline at the end.

 

[johnnybear]

Smith did the right thing in a few episodes! Sometimes because he was forced to and others where he knew he'd been a bad boy and needed to correct his errors especially if Will or Penny were about to suffer!
JB