Lost In Space Season II RUMOR (1 Viewer)

[Eric Paddon]

Remakes that attempt to be trendy by making the characters dysfunctional is unfortunately a common disease nowadays. I'm still livid over what was done to Battlestar Galactica last December in that horrible thing with the same name.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

You are also talking about different times. In the 60s there were no disfunctional families that I can think of because everything was suppose to be perfect. If everyone was getting along on screen and smiling how dramatic would that have been?

I enjoyed the movie. Wish they had done more. Too bad about Mumy. He blew it.

 

[Eric Paddon]

Actually, the commentary track for the movie pretty much reveals it was the producer and director who were too dense to realize why Mumy was needed for that scene to have any credibility.

And it is not accurate or fair to say that non-dysfunctional families are "perfect." You can have plenty of drama within a storyline in which the family is based first and foremost on love and respect. The idea that only a dysfunctional family offers the potential for dramatic storytelling is IMO one of the biggest lies foisted on us by Hollywood in recent decades. And for properties like LIS and Battlestar Galactica, in which the strengths lay in the positive family relationships, there is nothing good in changing that simply to be more "edgy".

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

I don't know if this means much, but LIS Season 1 was # 37 on Billboard's list of 40 top-selling DVDs (by units sold) for the week of February 7, 2004. So I would tend to believe Peter Staddon's statement that it "sold OK," even if it wasn't a blockbuster.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

But I always thought that the whole reason the Robinsons were picked out of scores and scores of families to go on their fateful mission (in the original series) was because they worked so well together and were perfect candidates. I know that this was the perception of 50s and 60s families generally speaking, but in that TV series I always viewed it as the Robinsons being the exception, not the rule.

As for Billy Mumy "blowing" it, I have to disagree. Nothing was gained by that LIS movie, and no careers were advanced because of it. I thought it was an embarrassment myself, and Bill Mumy was lucky to have avoided it.

I'll tell you who really blew it -- Irwin Allen. For years, Billy Mumy actively tried to convince him to film a "reunion," and Mumy even provided a great script that resolved the Robinson's plight. But unfortunately, Irwin basically always told Mumy, "if I want to do a LIS reunion, I'll call you".

Sadly, now Allen's dead, and so are Jonathan Harris and Guy Williams. Inexcusable, since the original cast was always ready, willing and able to go for decades... but never got the green light. :frowning:

 

[Carlos Garcia]

My favorite quote during the making of the Lost In Space movie came from Jonathan Harris. When asked if he wanted to do a cameo appearance in the movie, his reply was "I don't do cameos baby! Hahaha..He was a class act, and could smell a stink bomb a mile away!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

It was a wish of mine to one day meet Jonathan
Harris, as I was a huge fan of his from my
childhood days watching LIS.

In the very early days of the Internet I joined
a LOST IN SPACE message board where I expressed
my desire to contact Mr. Harris.

Someone emailed me his home address, asking that
I keep it private (which I did). I didn't think
what I had was the real thing, but upon writing
a letter to that address, I received a personal
reply from none other than Jonathan Harris. He
and I corresponded back and forth a few times and
I noticed that he never autographed his letters.

I soon found out why.

One day I wrote him and asked him for his
autograph. He wrote back saying that I could
have it with a picture for $25. No big deal.
I sent him a check, and he immediately mailed
me a very nice autographed photo as well as the
first letter ever signed.

I tried to arrange to meet him personally while
out in Los Angeles on business. I invited him to
lunch. He responded that he charges a fee for
personal appearances.

When he sent me his home phone number I gave him
a personal call. An elderly woman answered the
phone and I asked if Jonathan Harris was in. She
said "hold on" -- there was a pause -- and next
thing I heard was a familiar sounding "hello."
It was the voice of Dr. Zachary Smith.

Jonathan and I talked on the phone for about
10 minutes. He was absolutely charming, but all
he kept talking about was the money he was making
at appearances and how he was looking forward to
making more money. He told me if I was interested
in having him appear at a "Studio Day" event he
would gladly do so for a fee.

I'll never forget what he said to me....

"I'll be charming, witty, and amusing - not
necessarily in that order."

I hope I'm not coming across as badmouthing a
sweet old man. He was very, very nice in his
letters and on the phone. I was just a little
dismayed by how much money meant to him.

I was very disheartened to learn of his death
almost two years ago. I came so close to
actually meeting him. It would have been so cool.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Ron, you are lucky to have corresponded with Jonathan. He was TRUELY a class act. I was fortunate enough to have met him at 2 different autograph shows in New Jersey in 2001. Here is a picture of him and me. He was the most fascinating Hollywood legend I have ever met. He would tell you so many classic Hollywood stories, that you just didn't want to leave his table. I must tell you that I would buy a couple of his pictures, take a picture with him, then just hang around his table to listen to his stories. He told them with such flare. I miss him alot, autograph shows just aren't the same without class acts like Jonathan.

 

[Steve...O]

Ron & Carlos - what interesting stories! Thanks for sharing. (Carlos - that's an especially good picture of you and Mr. Harris)

I wonder if the reason he was so money oriented is because he needed it. Not to suggest that he was destitute or anything, but many TV actors from that era never made that much to begin with and residuals didn't amount to much in those days.

Regarding the splitting of season 2 into separate sets, I'll first caveat this by saying I'm not a LIS fan so I look at this as an objective outsider.

I think Fox is doing a good thing here by going the extra mile to keep fans happy. Although it would have been criticized, Fox could easily have said "no go" to Season 2 and blamed retailer apathy.

I've been very critical (and still am) of what in my opinion is Fox's poor sense in refusing to release their Charlie Chan films, but in this case I think they deserve credit and praise for coming up with innovative solution.

Steve

 

[Deb Walsh]

I met Jonathan Harris, along with Bill Mumy, Mark Goddard, June Lockhart, Marta Kristen, and Angela Cartright at an SF con in Boston a few years ago. They had a block of tables together in the dealers room - Mark was selling, among other things, autographed copies of the LIS comic book issue he had written (when the company was going out of business, he bought up all the copies of that issue, apparently). Bill had his music tapes, comic books (he wrote a bunch of the LIS comics, among other titles), photos, etc. Angela was at the time involved in Bill's merchandising - she probably still is. They did autographs within that group of tables. While there was certainly commerce evident, the one thing that really struck me was how they all seemed to work to protect each other, Jonathan most of all.

This was after the LIS movie came out and did so poorly critically. I have to wonder - a lot of money has been made on that show over the years, in syndication, on tape, now on DVD, etc. I don't think these people made much off it, yet it's their performances that endeared the show to so many people. If any of them have found ways to redress that, good for them.

If you ever get a chance to listen to Bill Mumy's music, check out the song he wrote about Will Robinson - I think it's on his "Dying to be Heard" CD. Which you can find, along with recordings made by the cast of Babylon 5, and the Jenerators (Bill, Miguel Ferrar and others) on the official Bill Mumy web site www.billmumy.com. All of the "Fish Heads" 45s are sold out, though ... :>

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Some cool news out of the LOST IN SPACE camp....

Apparantly a source (who I will keep private) has
has received a copy of the SEASON TWO DVD set.

Upon viewing, they were described as being
"Very Impressive"

If Fox wishes to send me early screener copies I'll
be more than happy to write up a full report.

 

[JeffT.]

Is 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment still going ahead with its plans to break-up the 30 LOST IN SPACE (CBS 1965-68) second season episodes into two DVD sets or is this still under deliberation by the powers-that-be?

From your source's comments are we to assume that Fox Home Entertainment has made the effort to fully restore and digitally remaster the source elements so that pristine copies of the episodes will be pressed from improved high-grade masters?

 

[Dave Scarpa]

If Fox does digitally remaster the episodes then I can definately live with the two box set idea.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I doubt they will remaster the show, since the release date for season 2 isn't that far off. Who knows, maybe they will remaster Lost In Space when it's eventually released on the HD-DVD format.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Folks,

More information from my source has just come in.

Though I am very confident as to where this
information is coming from, this is not being
told to me first-hand from the studio.

Here is information I received today -- and it
looks VERY good....


Fox Home Entertainment is using the 1988 1" video masters for Season Two.
This is the same source as the Columbia House VHS tapes and the Japanese
laser discs, etc. Fox assures me, however, that these analog masters have
been put through an additional digital cleaning and color correction step,
so they should look better than ever (although not as "crisp" as digital
transfers would).

Extras are sparce, but should be better than Season One.

 

[Chris Wagner]

Ron,

Your posts above are somewhat cryptic.

"a copy of the SEASON TWO DVD set"

Does this refer to the entire season as one set,
or was packaging not necessarily reflected by your comments?

Maybe a change of heart from Fox.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I still am not certain whether this show
will be divided in two sets or not, though
everything reported thus far points to the
probability that it will.

 

[David Lambert]

I've gotten word from a retail source that confirms it will be split up. No other new info, though.

 

[David Lambert]

I've gotten word from a retail source that confirms it will be split up. No other new info, though.

 

[Craig S]

According to the Bits, it's official: LiS Season 2 Volume 1 will be released on 9/14 this year. No word on price.