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Netflix Remaking Lost In Space (ew.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Classic sci-fi show Lost in Space is making a comeback. Netflix is developing a new version of the series, according to Kevin Burns, the executive producer in charge of the project. "The original series, which lasted three seasons and 83 episodes, is set in a futuristic 1997 and follows the Robinson family's space exploration. After the villainous Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) sabotages the navigation system, they become helpless and, yes, lost. (The robot tasked with protecting the youngest child, the precocious Will, utters "Danger, Will Robinson!" — a phrase that still tortures this reporter.)" Burns has been trying to bring the series back for more than 15 years, and it looks likely he'll finally get his chance.
The bottom of the barrel, we scrape it here.
What next, "My Mother, the Car"?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
if you are over eight years of age.
The shows Netflix makes are of little value. I use the service to get quick, legal access to the umpteen series other people have made.
There was an attempted remake in 2004 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt07... but the pilot was so terrible it was never picked up. You can find some clips on Youtube but it's painful to watch.
Space 1999, U.F.O. (The British show).
A TV season was ~27 episodes? Now, they have the audacity to call a dozen episodes a season. Somebody turned the incredible grocery shrink ray on Hollywood.
Only once in the third season did The Robot say "Danger, Will Robinson"
other times he said "warning, warning" or "danger, danger"
I remember the awesome Queen soundtrack. The movie, not so much.
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I hated that movie, I am so glad that Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris wanted nothing to do with it. The only bright spot was that they brought back Dick Tufeld to voice the robot. Well, that and the skin-tight uniforms on Mimi Rogers and Heather Graham.
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God I saw this as a kid and I WANTED it to get good but every episode was driven by Dr Smith being an a-hole and the Robinsons forgiving him and taking him to the next episode free as a bird to screw them again. Talk about a lazy writing staff. This could be an interesting idea if they tried to take the original start and create something imaginative with challenges and resourceful responses. If they just reanimate the corpse it would have to stink pretty bad now because it stunk horribly before they buried it.
They said the same about Battlestar Galactica. While I hate the BSG remake as a remake, it was a good series in-and-of-itself. If it is done with care and treats the premise with dignity, it has the potential to be a good series. It doesn't need to be a "gritty reboot", it just needs to take itself seriously.
That was the major problem with the original series, and a good portion of other series from the era, it was just too campy for it's own good.
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Jeannie did a lot more.
I was a little kid when I saw that show, and even then, it was obvious it was a piece of crap.
A little kid in the 1960s when it originally aired, or later decades when it was in syndication? The special effects and such need to be viewed in that context. We were barely putting people into orbit at the time, viewers had little reference for "space". Silver spray paint on army surplus boots was pretty common, even in feature films. At least until Kubrick's 2001 increased consumer expectations.
The 1970s Battlestar Galactic had special effects and production values and plots that we laugh/cringe at today, however look at what was done with that remake.
I liked the movie. sure, there were problems. But you get an appreciation for it after watching Star Wars episode I.
Suddenly, Lost in Space doesn't seem so bad...
I often wondered why there is such a tendency for reboots in TV and movies. Why re-make something when you could make something new? Then I realized something. In today's society of perpetual copyrights it is nearly impossible to create something new that would not be considered derivative of some existing work. The path of least resistance is to license a known entity to shield the show creators from a nearly inevitable barrage of lawsuits from people with rights to any movie, show, novel, comic book, or whatever, seeking to get a piece of the profits.
The creators of the reboot can then derive freedom to re-invent the premise with even wildly variations on the theme so long as they retain enough of the character names, plot elements, and so forth that they can logically claim it is still a derivative of the original. The ability to bring in fans of the original work no doubt allows for some insurance of success for the series.
This is why, IMHO, we can't have anything new. We've built up such a history of copyrighted works that anything that is not completely foreign to a potential audience will no doubt be considered a derivative of some existing work. Anything that is so foreign to be considered truly novel is so unlikely to be successful that the chances of finding someone willing to fund the effort would be very small.
Lost in Space sounds like a basis upon which someone could build a very entertaining universe. It could also turn out as badly as the original and the movie.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
Dear Lord, why?
Wuddooeyeno? IITYWYBMAD? Like nuts? eclecticallyincorrect.com
1. One character will be black.
2. One character will be gay.
3. Female characters won't be feminine
4. The robot's voice will be femaie.
5. They will be escaping the Earth's man-made climate change.
6. Half the cast will be jewish (the best paid half)
Sometimes we simply can't understand things, one of the reasons being age.
I never quite got Batman with Adam West at the time, I actually find the series boring. Now, as I recall the past, I can see plainly the flower power spirit in that series. How they mocked some serious principles, how they painted grave danger in a slapstick way, how morals were passed to us without the obvious agenda, but rather with a clean naïveté -- totally in opposition with the cold war climate.
Lost in Space OTOH was very fascinating, even for the 8-year old me. Things like allowing a villain to share the community (otherwise it would be death for him), his Machiavellian nature, his total cowardice in using a boy as a shield from danger -- and yet, when almost grasping whatever he wanted, the intelligence to perceive and learn that success is not so good when you're alone, the sadness of such perception and the decided way he usually reverted all harm he did.
I'm sorry to say it, but it will be very hard to remake Dr. Smith. He's as complicated, no, he's way more complex than Dr. Spock.
This not to mention the equally challenging mission to depict a growing boy like Will, asking childish questions like "but Dr. Smith said...".
There's also an opportunity to further develop minor roles like the female ones. We also have better AI today, perhaps not so advanced like the original robot, but also not so dumb like the recent remake.
I have such fond memories of this series. Man, I just hope they find someone like me as advisor, not one of these idiots saying it sucked... Alas, I don't know whether the same stories can be transported to these days.
We now enjoy watching CSI and drug dealers.
Tsk.
The movie was a flop and nearly bankrupt Long John Silvers because they dumped so much money into merchandising it.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir?
'Lost' was an alright show (although I hated its slow slide from sci-fi to spiritualism), but why are they remaking it in space? It's such a new series to remake, too. /s
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Back in the 60's, Star Trek had to compete with Lost in Space as some viewers and a lot of TV execs considered them basically the same. Which is silly. Star Trek rarely had costumed monsters of the week. Lost in Space never missed them.
Both shows shared some writers, directors, guest stars, and even monster props by the same people. So the two shows DID have some things in common. But not premise or most content.
And now, Netflix is remaking Lost and CBS is launching a new Star Trek series. They shall compete again.
Nothing changes.
Sig for hire.
+1 Dick Tufeld. One of the coolest voice people ever. He adds megatons of drama to everything he reads. It's amazing. His intro for Thundarr is epic.
Sig for hire.
They will think it is a spinoff of Lost. In space.
Oh man, that would (well could) be awesome!
A commercial spaceliner crashes somewhere. There's a radio broadcasting a mysterious repeating sequence of numbers, and a hatch leading to a Cold War era lunar base. And what the hell is a polar bear doing on the Moon?
Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe not.
-- Alastair
The pilot for LIS, which lacked both the robot and Dr Smith, was very promising. Guy Williams stood out very well in the pilot and was grossly underutilized in the series. I would go so far as to say the pilot for LIS was better than the original pilot for Star Trek (the one with Christopher Pike).
I could go either with respect to Dr Smith in a new series - the pilot had a hokey run-in with "asteroids" causing the Jupiter II to go off course, which was part of the plot for an episode in the third season - the one where Dr Smith does time travel and DOESN'T board the Jupiter II, which leads to the J2 being destroed when hitting uncharted asteroids.
A Shadeless room is a brighter room.
I like the series.
I don't like most of the over the top Dr Smith episodes, and despite everyone hating the carrot episode, it was amusing to and pretty cool to see Smith do the sublime thing.
The original show didn't contain Dr Smith , and I think it was a mistake to bring him in. He wanted to stay in the show and mutated the character into a buffoon- and that sorta limited the show. He wouldn't of been kept around if he was just plain evil - cause he would of been tossed off the ship.
The science behind the writing made me cringe. Going past the speed of light was possible when Smith traded off controls for things , but they routinely sailed thru galaxies and had to fear mobile supernovas. And for the first season, they sorta forgot about the orbit of the planet they were on.
So if they fixed it. Made it into a family survival thing without "oh the pain, the pain", kept some science in it, made sure to actually follow a plot (Think how awesome "Lost" would of been if they had a storyline predetermined), and kept the "make it cute for kids so they buy toys" out f it?
I think it would be an awesome show.
I do have all the DVDs for the original show - store-bought. So I am a fan.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
I suppose to older folks LiS was a little hokey, but to the 5 and 6 year-old me it was the most bestest thing on TV ever. I wanted to be Will Robinson. And I didn't even mind the snow; the station it was on was a bit too far away for our rabbit ears. So if Netflix wants to host a reboot, I'm good with that. They've got a decent track record.
Well, that and the skin-tight uniforms on Mimi Rogers and Heather Graham.
Booooobs... in... spaaaaaaace.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
I used to like Airwolf as a kid. I mean, what's not to like? High tech (for the time) super-fast chopper zipping around blowing up the bad guys!
Then I went back and watched it again years later. Oh man.
Let your childhood television shows live in your mind as pleasant memories. Don't try to relive the moment. The truth is not pretty.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
As an actual, certified bad-ass, I doubt he'd care about a ridiculous remake of a ridiculous show in which he was once a part.
I don't know 'bout that. Watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood at 18 while stoned was a hoot.
Oh sure, Jeanie portrayed the doctor as a bumbling idiot. Hagman as a nincompoop and his best buddy as slightly more intelligent. Yep good portrayal for NASA aspirants.
So very relatable characters, that is after all why we come to /.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
My brother named my nephew William. :-))
An engineer who ran for Congress. http://herbrobinson.us