Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
The Robinsons have to rescue Dr. Smith from stupid situation, April 12, 2005
This videotape is the unlucky thirteenth in the "'Lost in Space' Collector's Edition" and represents the low point in the show's first season. When you think back on how dramatic the first episodes were when the space family Robinson got lost and crash landed on Priplanis, it is a shame to see that the show devolved into a situation comedy built around the scene stealing antics of Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith. This pair of episodes demonstrates him at his vainglorious best, which is arguably worse for the series.
Episode 24, "His Majesty Smith" (Written by Carey Wilbur, First aired March 16, 1966) proves that every dog has his day as Dr. Smith becomes the leader of aliens on another world. The cliffhanger from the previous episode had Dr. Smith finding a crown that he tries on only to get shocked. When Will (Billy Mumy) dons the crown aliens show up and hail him as king. Will refuses and Dr. Smith gets the job instead. Of course there is a catch to this: the leader is sacrificed ever 10,000 years. Notice that the alien ship looks a lot like the ship of the Keeper (ah, the joys of recycled sets on "Lost in Space"). However, Smith does get bonus points for actually doing something on his own behalf besides (and before) trying to run away. Yes, there is a nice bit when the aliens make a Smith android that works hard (a dead give away) and there is also a nice punch line to this one that the aliens make sure they only sacrifice creatures that are not useful (but then why did they want Will?). But there is no real pleasure in watching Smith being hung out to dry because it is all too silly. Then there is the next episode...
Episode 25, "The Space Croppers" (Written by Peter Packer, First aired March 30, 1966) offers the sight of Mercedes McCambridge as Sybilla, the matriarch of a group of space hillbillies that moves to Priplanis. Dr. Smith tries wooing her because he sees an opportunity to a lift home while Don (Mark Goddard) falls for Sybilla's daughter, Effa (Sherry Jackson). Meanwhile, the daughter turns out to be a witch, the son is a werewolf, the aliens are planting their crop of man-eating plants and once again it is up to the Robinsons to rescue Dr. Smith from another predicament. Eventually this show would take us from the grand tradition in science fiction of Triffids to "The Great Vegetable Rebellion." If this is not the low point of the first season you are going to have to make an argument for what else the nadir could possible be.
Again, the contrast to the first five stellar episodes of the series makes you want to cry and I am rounding up here only because of the scenes in the first episode where the Robinsons have to deal with the fact they really llike the android Dr. Smith. Like a true situation comedy, you have a character (to wit, Dr. Smith) who refuses to learn anything from one week to the next. In both of these episodes aliens take advantage of Smith, just like pretty much every other alien who has stopped by Priplanis, but that does not matter to Smith who makes the same mistakes over and over again. The following season, when "Lost in Space" was up against the "Batman" phenomenon, things would get even worse in that respect, but at least they would be in color.
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