User Reviews

As Elaan of Troyius told Captain Kirk on learning her attempted-murder victim would recover, so it goes with this majorly underrated segment of Lost de la Space. It had its cheesy moments - the idiotic "pump" mechanisms the Abbott & Costello space-hippie duo were operating, D. J. Travanty's ghastly dank wig & Dr. Smith as an extraterrestrial Hercules - but the bearded shorter of the 2 (who got no lines & thus had no closeups) & Travanty were very easy on the eyes (long-armed stubble-faced wicked-eyed Travanty had some Big Booty going on that a baker's dozen years later was kept completely under conservative wraps as F. X. Furillo; no doubt in closeup (sans that ridiculous rag) & when he has to lift/carry that box he engenders plenty of gender-neutral drooling!), the "Little Master" references were a nice touch (along with Professor Robinson turning the "Big Master!" tables on that delinquent quartet) and, as I was given in a recent rerun to recall, a forgotten classic moaning from Dr. Smith that had put me on the floor: "Treachery, thy name is woman!" ("Ain't it the truth!" to borrow from Bugs Bunny.) So it ain't top-notch space opera; they've done worse - the very mention of something about a "Vegetable Rebellion" leaves us recoiling in horror - and this planet-blowing mission happily got the Jupiter 2 back where she belonged, in space. The humorous final indignity of being nearly run into a galactic ditch by the departing hippies, to the girl's laughing rejoinder of "Get that heap off the road, Little Masters!" was, unfortunately, then tempered by some sanctimonious statement or other by the Robot as a pre-Springer Final Thought. But in the main it's entertainingly watchable - many others, paging "The Toymaker" & "Space Vikings"! have us just groaning with embarrassment we even like this production. But the wince-inducing segments are counterbalanced with the many excellent episodes, starting with numero uno "The Reluctant Stowaway." This one doesn't rate up there on the It's Quality Work! scale, but I still rank it as an 8 for its glittering little jewels of Merriment & Frivolity. Would that they could have sustained such quality more consistently, with (plenty) less focus on just Dr. Smith, "William Robinson" & the Robot - "Yoo-hoo, Mr. Antimatter Man!" - as the 1st season had involved more of the family so well. But we have to savor what we can when we can, & just keep the love of the Space Family Robinson as has been the case "For a long long time."

The first season of classic Star Trek had some great Alexander Courage scores but the second season was mildly damaged by the too-loud or too-light-hearted scores of composer Gerald Fried. Well guess what, Fried also scored two episodes of LIS and Collision Of The Planets was one of them. His LIS music here is just as light hearted and even more loud but the episode itself is so insane that the Fried score is almost welcome. We needed new music at this stage in the season.

LIS year two was silly nearly every week but year three only went silly sometimes, like this hour, and this made the over-the-top camp less of a problem. Granted, Collision is not the best of year three (the humour in Two Weeks In Space was better), but if you go along with the humour of Jonathan Harris and the rebel gang, well, you might have a fun Bewitched/I Dream Of Jeannie-type joy ride. Who could not laugh at the end bit in space where the "bike riders" over-take the Jupiter 2 "Get that heap off the road, little masters". Interestingly, Don and John respond to that crazy line in a deadly serious way????

Other highlights include the teaser (note The Time Tunnel props) and the bits where John/Don go to the rebel gang campsite and have a few clash of culture exchanges. Some male viewers will find the young female rebel rather hot to look at.

Added note: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea submarine props are used in an imaginative way.