VOY = LOST IN SPACE?

[MontgomeryScott]

While TOS was about boldly going where no man has gone before, VOY seemed to hit the bottom of the barrel by trying to get back.
Didn't "Lost in Space" already do that?

Here we had the "family;"
Mrs. Robinson: janeway
Mr. Robinson: Chakotay
Will Robinsin: Harry Kim
Penny: Torrest
Don: Tom Paris
Dr. Smith: EMH
Robot/Judy: 7/9

Anyway they all get in a ship and somehow get lost in space, and try to get back home, running into all sorts of odd aliens along the way.

Is this an obvious ripoff, or just a coincidence?

 

[froot]

It's a connection that's been made about a billion times before, along with Gilligan's Island.

There are actually quotes from the Gilligan's Island theme song on various portions of the Engineering set. I'm sure they were aware of the similarities.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Is this an obvious ripoff, or just a coincidence?

A rip off of course. Voyager was hoping to suck off the teat of Lost in Space's sheer awesomeness and iconic status. Of course it failed and it will always be a greenish shadow mumbling about assimilation and clinging to Lost in Space's laurels.

But, what are ya gonna do.

 

[lurok]

LIS the movie? (which is wtf?, though with some nice fx) or the TV series? (which only seen clips of on YouTube). Can't see similarity to either...but what do I know *shrug*

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The TV series of course. The one utterly PLAGIARIZED by Our Voyager.

Maybe you are too pure lurok to know this dirty secret.

 

[Shatnertage]

Isn't it all derivative of The Odyssey? Or probably a million other stories as well?

I'm not seeing this at all.

Although, to be fair, when I gave up watching in its first run, I thought that it was too much like Gilligan's Island. And this was pre-Internet, so I reached that conclusion myself without the aid of other people's negativity. Now that I'm rewatching it, I see that I was wrong.

 

[froot]

^ Gilligan's Island in-jokes are hidden in the set pieces, though. So even folks involved with the show came to that conclusion.

And yeah, I think all stories like this kinda hearken back to The Odyssey, really. The episode "Bliss" openly acknowledges it, even.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The Gilligan's Island comparisons usually are strongest whenever there's an episode featuring another possible way for the Voyager to get back home. It will always somehow fail (usually at the last minute) because the series would end if it actually did work. At best, it would move them closer to home, but still keep them firmly on the island--I mean in the Delta Quadrant...

 

[froot]

WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST PATCH THE DAMN HOLE IN THE BOAT

 

[lurok]

It's at times like this grateful for internet as had no idea what Gilligan's Island was. But (raising hand at back of class) aren't scenarios different? Like...one is static, one mobile? In that respect, isn't The Odyssey a better model for Voyager? Certainly in first few seasons where had real sense of Janeway desire to return to partner (which they seemed to drop), and the anomaly-of-week as galactic Scylla and Charybdis.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

I've never seen Gilligan's Island so I can't comment there, however even though there are some similarities in the basic idea of Voyager and Lost In Space, the only bit of Voyager that struck me as particularly like LIS was the episode with the clown.

It does seem that Janeway is the mother, Chakotay the father and Tom and Harry are the sons in a family sometimes. Particularly in the Bride of Chaotica (?) episode.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

Will Robinsin: Harry Kim
Penny: Torrest
Don: Tom Paris
Dr. Smith: EMH
Robot/Judy: 7/9

I don't remember the Doctor calling Seven along the likes of a borgified boob or a cantankerous cyborg or an arrogant automaton, nor cower behind Harry Kim at the first sign of danger. He did certainly channel the "good" Doctor for "Virtuoso", "Body and Soul", and "Flesh and Blood" though. I don't remember Seven shouting "Danger! Danger! Harry Kim!" flailing her arms. Would've been an interesting scene though.

^ Gilligan's Island in-jokes are hidden in the set pieces, though. So even folks involved with the show came to that conclusion

Who's who then?
Janeway- Skipper and Tuvok- Professor makes sense
Harry is definately Mary Anne, so would that make Tom Gilligan.


And wait, we have Tom Paris and Harry Kim, so who's the Dick on the ship? Were we to have First Officer, Commander Dick Solomon originally?

 

[Shatnertage]

Now I won't be able to get the thought of Janeway calling Tom "little buddy" out of my head.

Who are Mr. and Mrs. Howell? Neelix and Kes?

I read a really interesting piece once about how each of the Gilligan's Island character represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins. This version's OK, but I prefer the Skipper as Anger and Gilligan as Gluttony.

Which Voyager main character matches up with which deadly sin? Here's my rundown:

1. ANGER: Torres, who is often quite angry
2. SLOTH: Chakotay, who seemed content to say, "She's the captain" a lot
3. PRIDE: Tuvok, who was pretty prideful
4. GREED: Paris, who kept on wanting more and more resources and holodeck time to indulge his adolescent fantasies
5. LUST:The EMH, who programmed himself to have equipment and seemed to think about sex an awful lot for an AI with no built-in hormonal drives
6. GLUTTONY: Neelix, who was constantly cooking and trying to acquire new ingredients
7. ENVY: Kim, the eternal ensign

I've left out Janeway, Seven, and Kes, but you could probably slot the first two into Anger and Pride if you want. Kes seems pretty blameless.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Which Voyager main character matches up with which deadly sin? Here's my rundown:

1. ANGER: Torres, who is often quite angry
2. SLOTH: Chakotay, who seemed content to say, "She's the captain" a lot
3. PRIDE: Tuvok, who was pretty prideful
4. GREED: Paris, who kept on wanting more and more resources and holodeck time to indulge his adolescent fantasies
5. LUST:The EMH, who programmed himself to have equipment and seemed to think about sex an awful lot for an AI with no built-in hormonal drives
6. GLUTTONY: Neelix, who was constantly cooking and trying to acquire new ingredients
7. ENVY: Kim, the eternal ensign

I've left out Janeway, Seven, and Kes, but you could probably slot the first two into Anger and Pride if you want. Kes seems pretty blameless.

And that is why she is boring.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST PATCH THE DAMN HOLE IN THE BOAT

See the episode entitled "Good-Bye Island." This episode basically explains that.

Spoiler: Good-Bye Island

Gilligan discovers a super glue which the professor figures will fix the Minnow. It's only temporary, of course, and when the glue dissolves, the boat completely falls apart. All that remains of the boat is the wheel.

 

[ALF]

No, the robot is Neelix.
Can't you hear his voice??

Neelix: Danger! Danger!
;P

 

[froot]

WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST PATCH THE DAMN HOLE IN THE BOAT

See the episode entitled "Good-Bye Island." This episode basically explains that.

Spoiler: Good-Bye Island

Gilligan discovers a super glue which the professor figures will fix the Minnow. It's only temporary, of course, and when the glue dissolves, the boat completely falls apart. All that remains of the boat is the wheel.

Holy cow. I learned something today. LOL

Well, now that question's answered. Also, that episode sounds pretty funny.

 

[Navaros]

I don't think VOY is at all like the OP says it is.

Most of VOY's episodes have absolutely nothing to do with going home. Instead, they are about holodeck malfunctions/soap operas and other irrelevant tripe like alien NASCAR races.

If VOY was about being lost in space and trying to get home, instead of the aforementioned type of things, then it could have been a great show.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

Most of VOY's episodes have absolutely nothing to do with going home. Instead, they are about holodeck malfunctions/soap operas and other irrelevant tripe like alien NASCAR races.

Quite the exaggeration. While there are too many Holodeck episodes and "Drive" was tripe (oh my, The Phantom Menace is popular, let's rip off that race portion), it wasn't like they set the ship to cruise control and were in the holodeck all the time. Most episodes are adventures they encounter while heading in the direction of the Alpha Quadrant. Occasionally they stop to investigate something interesting.

 

[froot]

I don't think VOY is at all like the OP says it is.

Most of VOY's episodes have absolutely nothing to do with going home. Instead, they are about holodeck malfunctions/soap operas and other irrelevant tripe like alien NASCAR races.

If VOY was about being lost in space and trying to get home, instead of the aforementioned type of things, then it could have been a great show.

There was exactly one episode about an alien drag race. There was definitely some holodeck stuff, but stuff like investigation/gathering supplies/first contacts/moral dilemmas were the bulk of the stories.