Lost in Space (TV Series) 1965

Let’s have a brief look at the evolution of the Lost in Space franchise…

1719:       Robinson Crusoe
1812:      The Swiss Robinson / The Swiss Family Robinson
1962:        The Space Family Robinson Comic
1965:       Lost in Space CBS/Fox Series
1998:       Lost in Space New Line Cinema Feature
2003:       The Robinsons: Lost in Space WB/Fox Series
2018:       Lost in Space Netflix Miniseries

Somewhere in there is a comic book.

Yup, three hundred years of gestation, adaptation and general wrangling of the Robinsonade genre. Now you know why their surname is Robinson.

So the CBS TV series, which ran 1965-1968, was based on the 1812 Johann David Wyss novel “The Swiss Family Robinson” which was, in 1812, made to be reminiscent of the age of adventure. That was back then, when practically nothing had been discovered yet, so spinning tales of unknown places was fairly commonplace.

Still, the idea of turning it sci-fi sounded futuristic so the cast donned their best tinfoil suits and prepared to live the life of a family out on a nice dangerous adventure, in space, as all families will be in the year 1996.

Angela Cartwright (13), Marta Kristen (20) and Bob May (the robot) (26) did manage to liven up the production by creating ever-more inventive ways of copulating on camera without anyone noticing. One of Bob’s tricks was to don the robot suit backwards, which wasn’t easy to spot. It does explain a good deal of the behavior in several episodes, though.

Sadly the behind-the-scenes activity remains hidden from all but the most observant, and sad only in that this was surely a great deal more entertaining than the cheap-as-chips nonsensical adaptation.