Lost in Space: Season 1 Officially Announced - UPDATE & APOLOGY ADDED 10/8 (1 Viewer)

[Joe Karlosi]

It's an unfortunate thing about the missing bit of footgae, but it's really only a drop in the ocean, as the rest of the set seems pretty good. Hopefully, fans won't make enough of a stink to keep Fox from being interested in the next two seasons.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You are right. It is a mere drop in the ocean.

I'm one of the biggest LIS fans alive and this
really doesn't bother me.

 

[David Lambert]

There is a second scene similarly missing, according to reports I've gotten from fans.

It's in "The Reluctant Stowaway", and occurs after the "commercial break" following Maureen Robinson's fainting emersion from the freezing tube. The missing footage is supposed to consist of Prof. Robinson & Major West questioning Dr. Smith about his presence on the ship, while Smith revives Mrs. Robinson using techniques similar to those he used on West a few minutes earlier. A later scene even refers to the West/Robinson confrontation with Smith.

I can't verify the difference myself, but have gotten multiple reports about this by e-mail. One referred me to a DVDTalk (I think that was it) discussion, but I haven't checked it out.

I agree that the few seconds on this one or the other one isn't enough to get worked up about, and that we are on the other hand getting back footage that was trimmed for years of syndication, which hasn't been seen since the original broadcast.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Have finally taken a brief look at this set.

I'm not particularly overjoyed with what was
done with this set, but understand Fox's reluctance
to do better....

I watched Ghost Planet. It was the perfect
choice because most of the episode takes place at
night. I saw what many of you reported earlier --
the dark scenes are way too dark.

Some sort of restoration would have helped this
series. Even though these are off masters that are
still considered "good," I noticed a lot of background
grain and dirt in the prints.

 

[Jeff Koch]

Ron said:
"Some sort of restoration would have helped this series. Even though these are off masters that are still considered "good," I noticed a lot of background grain and dirt in the prints."

Ron, I completely agree. I bought two box sets last week, one for myself and one for my sister. We both grew up loving this show but I can see problems with these transfers. "The Reluctant Stowaway" and "Island In The Sky" both exhibit fine horizontal noise lines. When I freeze the picture, the lines freeze as well so this problem is imbeded in the original transfer. "The Derelict" appears to be soft focused. Another thing I find annoying is at the end of certain "act outs", the decay is cut off, i.e., the music is clipped off too soon. The main title was severely clipped off in one episode.

I had the opportunity to see most of these episodes from original 35MM CBS NY network air prints back in the mid seventies when we ran them at USC. We as film students had excellent contacts with Fox back then and were allowed to borrow many episodes from storage. The quality was absolutely stellar.

These transfers leave something to be desired but when given the options, I guess this is as good as we can hope for.


Jeff

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I watched the Unaired pilot the other night. Pretty bad. It looked like SOS pads were bring thrown at the ship.

I had the oppurtunity of meeting June Lochart last year at at a convention. She was very nice and gracious to all her fans. She sat there and talked with everyone who approached her table, signed autographs and posed for pics.
Class Act.

 

[paul_austin]

lol i had always thought it looked like wads of aluminum foil being thrown at the ship

 

[Eric Paddon]

My first complaint with this set is that when watching "The Derelict" the credits are placed up front whereas the original broadcast (as was shown on the 35mm print that was released on the commercial VHS release as opposed to the Columbia House club release) has the credits after the recap scene and the next bit of action with the comet. Then the credits then the episode title and the scene in Alpha Control. The whole stylistic flow of the episode just got disrupted to have the credits, then a scene and then no episode title for ten minutes until the next scene.

I'm not throwing out those VHS copies of the first six episodes. (I also like how they have the original 20th Century Fox Television tag)

 

[Steve_AS]

lol i had always thought it looked like wads of aluminum foil being thrown at the ship


This is losing the forest for the trees -- to me, the model work on the Jupiter Two itself (and other spacecraft -- i.e., the eerie 'eyeball' ship in 'Invaders from the 5th Dimension', and the 'blob' ship from 'The Derelict') is stellar, and for its time, excellent. The scenes in the first episode/pilot where the out-of-control J2 is crash landing in a 'grand canyon' landscape are also astonishingly realistic.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Guys,

I am getting reports from the Fan Club guys
that Season Two is now on the roster
for July release and Season Three for
January 2005 release.

Still uncomfirmed but from pretty good sources.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Ron, this is excellent news, if true! Hopefully the source is right on the money

 

[paul_austin]

yes dont get me wrong....i always loved the model work in lost in space. I only slightly poke fun at it out of total affection.

 

[Steve_AS]

Watched the 'Change of Space' episode last night, which I hadn't seen for decades. Dr. Smith as an old man was a hoot and a complete scene-chewer!

Watching some of these old eps, does it strike anyone else what an unpleasant prick Dr. Robinson's character was? He's always barking at people. Doesn't seem like a happy fellow at all.

 

[Bill Huelbig]

I watched "The Hungry Sea" last night and was amazed at how good the rear projection was during the storm sequence. It reminded me of Hitchcock's LIFEBOAT, where you totally forgot you were looking at actors in a studio in front of a process screen. Both are fine examples of the excellent work done by the 20th Century Fox special effects department. Fox had the best studio tank in the business, and apparently they still do (MASTER AND COMMANDER).

--Bill

 

[Craig S]

to me, the model work on the Jupiter Two itself ... is stellar, and for its time, excellent.

I always loved the design of the J2, and still do. However, is it just me, or is the scale off? What I mean is, it appears to be a much bigger ship inside than what we see when the characters are outside of it. The top deck is fine, but it doesn't seem that there is room in the bottom deck for individual quarters, galley, chariot stowage, etc.

 

[Mark_TS]

as originally designed for the Pilot, the Juiter 2 was a flat bottomed, one level saucer. Some of the model shots in the series use that version, and the model has a grey or white tinge to it. The later models used in the series have a J2 that has a lower deck, as well as a more pronounced rounded bottom that would make up the lower level, including an auxilary control room with view ports (usually closed). The Chariot "Garage" is never really explained or seen, let alone the magical appearence of the "Space Bug" bay in Season 3.

There was a full scale J2 mockup with landing legs extended used in several episodes. THE DERELICT, and an "Earth" landing episode in Season 3....and in the first several episodes in Season one, after the ship crashlands, where furrowed earth and debris are pushed up to meet its hatchway, (its kind of disguised) before the now standard flat -on the ground set-ship became the norm.

The FOX SPFX Dept disbanded in the late 1970s, let by the underappreciated L.B. Abbott, who has passed on-

I imagine FOX now contracts out effects work to the highest bidder these days

 

[Dane Marvin]

I'm probably one of a handful who made this purchase without ever having seen an episode before. I wanted to weigh in on the Dr. Smith issue, as I am about 8 eight episodes into the my LiS experience now:

I hate Dr. Smith so much. He is the most spiteful jerk in the history of television. I cringe every time I see his loathsome face occupying screen time. I really do hate this man. You have to wonder about a guy who doesn't hesitate to endanger the lives of little kids every chance he gets. I did like the part when he used up all the water supply by taking a shower!

I hear he goes soft later on in the series, which is good, because I don't find his behavior realistic or called for. The Robinsons already have a better antagonist each week in the form of alien races, strange creatures, and the environment around them. They don't need this jerk adding to that. So kudos to the producers and writers for making him lighten up. Does the change happen by the end of the first season?

Also, I can't wait until the show goes color.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Guys,

Want to see something really sweeet?

http://www.spacepodlaunch.com

 

[Paul_Scott]

Dane,
i always felt the same way about Smith.
i dunno if it was Harris just doing a good job of embellishing what was on the page or what, but the character is a hinderence to me really loving the show.
his behaviour (and the familys "oh well" atitude about it most of the time) really is unrealistic.
in fact, i find it maddeningly stupid sometimes.
and something about the performance just makes me cringe.
in real life i wouldn't want a character like that anywhere near my kids.

haven't picked up the set yet, but i will at some point.
looks like the heats off though as it seems pretty certain that rest of the series will make it out.

i still am flabbergasted that this sold enough (at its price point) to justfiy the rest of the series getting a release and yet MTM was a 'failure'.
not ragging LIS, i did enjoy the show overall, but i'm just ...confused.

 

[Steve_AS]

um, criticizing LIS for being 'unrealistic' is kind of....unrealistic.

Personally, I wish they'd stuck with the malicious, menacing version of Smith...much more interesting than the shrieking twit he became...though naturally that would have made it hard to keep the series going.

One of the the few things the LiS movie did right was have Gary Oldman play Smith as a nasty piece of work from start to finish. (His best line : 'I loathe children.')