Reviews

You may rate this episode higher, if you enjoy hearing the word "obsolete" repeated about 50 times. The episode is well done, thanks to two good actors (Burgess Meredith and Fritz Weaver). Meredith's character seems to be a variation on his role in "Time Enough at Last," a better episode, in my opinion. The story here, of a totalitarian state, can be frightening, since the world we actually live in tends to increasingly de-value human dignity. Again, well done episode, but redundant at times.

This episode was Marta Kristen's personal favorite. It was definitely one of the few times the spotlight was on lovely Judy. When she refused the salad, that was her parents' first clue that this may not be their beloved Judy. My favorite scene is between Judy and Dr Smith. Judy tells Smith to "come here." When he doesn't respond, she repeats herself. She wouldn't have had to tell me twice! Between her beautiful face and that throaty, sexy voice! Marta was actually a little scary here (as beautiful women can be). She was dead serious for most of the episode, but even the darkest frown couldn't compromise her beauty. I am a life-long Lost in Space fan. If I had to criticize the show for one thing, it wouldn't be the Great Vegetable Rebellion. It could only be the lack of focus on the beautiful, ultra-sexy Marta Kristen.

It was great to have Elizabeth Montgomery voice the cartoon version of her Bewitched character. However, Dick York's part was so small, Darren might as well have not been there. The Stephen's were supposed to be the Flintstones' new neighbors, but did not appear after this episode. The camping story is standard Flintstones fare, with some witchcraft thrown in. On Bewitched, Darren's constant insistance that Samantha not practice witchcraft was annoying. For Darren's small part in this cartoon, he still had to tell her not to do her thing. I'm glad she didn't listen! Overall, a fun episode. Trivia note: Gerry Johnson (Betty) once appeared in a Bewitched episode.

This episode is quite different from everything that follows. The house is different. The girls have a cat (fluffy) which is never seen again, after this episode. Tiger, at least, stayed around for a little while. This episode contains what is arguably the finest moment in the series. Mike tells young Bobby that he doesn't want him to forget his "real" mother. A very touching scene, indicative of a different path the show might have taken. All the stars very good here. Maybe, they should have continued in this mode.

When I was a kid, this show came on TV at 6am-and I would wake up that early just to watch it. The "stop motion" animation is quite unique. The show has obvious religious overtones, but you don't need to be religious to get the "message." Although the show's target audience was children, there are many adults who could benefit from the lesson each episode offers. To the show's credit, the humor is very subtle. Only Goliath seems to have any funny lines. The fine character actor Hal Smith did the dog's voice, among others. Check out this great series.

My heading refers to one of the Robot's many funny lines in this episode. This is the definitive Lost in Space episode, despite Will Robinson not appearing until the very end. In this episode, Dr Smith forms an alliance with Penny. Penny likes the ugly frog alien, instead of the handsome Golden Man. Stay tuned, and find out why. Dennis Patrick always seemed to play sneaky, loathsome characters-and he played them well! A really campy, fun episode. Angela Cartwright's acting was better than usual.

Produced (and often directed by) Desi Arnaz, and from the writers of I Love Lucy. Despite an obviously different theme, there was a clear attempt at a variation on I Love Lucy. In the Mothers-in-Law, the basic problem is that none of the stars are particularly funny. Kaye Ballard stands out only because of her big mouth. She is almost always shouting. Nothing she said was very funny-and her shouting didn't make it any more funny. Eve Arden was a nice-looking lady and a good actress, but comedy wasn't quite her bag. The other problem here was that tired, overplayed premise of mothers-in-law meddling in their children's lives. Why is that automatically funny? No matter what the husbands say, the wives just refuse to "let go." Who really cares? The show has some good moments, but works mostly in spite of its own premise. Ironically, the best actor here was the one who got replaced. Roger C Carmel was a standout. At one point, he is suddenly gone and we have Richard Deacon. Deacon was a fine actor, but not suited to this role. In closing, I must mention an episode in which Deborah Walley wears a short, short skirt. Best thing in the whole series! Her pretty legs made up for everything I've criticized!

To be accurate, this "unaired" pilot contains scenes which also appeared in two Season 1 episodes. The episodes were The Reluctant Stowaway and There Were Giants in the Earth. This pilot establishes how mediocre the show would have been without Dr Smith and the Robot. It's interesting how that silly "bloop" creature was in the pilot, but not Smith or the Robot. There is one scene in the pilot which deserves proper credit. Will Robinson is chasing an ostrich-like creature, and yells: "Come back here when I say 'come back here.'" Only Billy Mumy could have made that scene work.

A gold star to anyone who figured out that "Dan Travanty" was Daniel J Travanti of Hill Street Blues. Travanti is quite annoying as the leader of a group of space hippies. His fake long hair was ahead of its time, I'm sure. The story is OK. The hippies are dedicated to destroying the planet, while Dr Smith takes on the persona of Hercules.

Lynne Moody (Maggie) was actually the original Jenny Willis. This episode was Lynne's only appearance on The Jeffersons. She played Jenny on an episode of All in the Family. In this episode, she's very good as Maggie, except that they messed up her pretty face with a black eye. Maggie convinces Louise and Helen to stay with the Help Center. They both mention that Maggie "got to them." She got to me, too. Lynne Moody was always that kind of actress. She made her character come across as real. It's interesting to think of how The Jeffersons would have played, if Lynne had continued as Jenny. She could have. However, if she had been Jenny, I wouldn't have gotten to see her in that sexy short skirt. Lynne could reach my heart, and also catch my eye.

Guy Williams was fun to watch when he went outside of his John Robinson persona. The story is pretty silly, but it's all good fun. One major problem: there are anti-matter versions of Prof. Robinson, Major West, and even the Robot. Why not an anti-matter Dr. Smith? That would have been quite interesting. Mark Goddard was excellent as the slimy anti-matter West. Again, a fun episode-but there should have been an anti-matter Smith.