99 Fun Facts About Lost in Space

Which 1812 novel inspired the original Lost in Space?

The Swiss Family Robinson also inspired a 1962 comic, Space Family Robinson, which got to the idea first and forced the show to find another title.

Which producer, later nicknamed the 'Master of Disaster', created the original Lost in Space?

Irwin Allen went on to make The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, and swapped monster suits between Lost in Space and his submarine series.

On which network did the original Lost in Space air from 1965 to 1968?

CBS bought the series before Dr. Smith or the Robot existed: both were added after the pilot, which had neither.

What is the name of the Robinsons' saucer-shaped spacecraft in Lost in Space?

Jupiter 2 goes astray because Dr. Smith sabotages it and is then trapped aboard as a stowaway.

Which star system is the Robinsons' intended destination in Lost in Space?

Alpha Centauri was to be reached with the family frozen in suspended animation, and the colonists of the 2018 reboot are bound for the same star.

What was the Robinsons' ship called in the unaired pilot of Lost in Space?

Gemini 12 flew in a pilot that had no Dr. Smith and no Robot, and that was never broadcast during the show's run.

What set Lost in Space's first season apart from the later two?

It was in black and white, and it is the season the makers of the 2018 reboot say they took as their model.

Which earlier movie robot, from the same designer, turned up in an episode of the original Lost in Space?

Robby, the star machine of Forbidden Planet, plays a rival in 'War of the Robots' that wins the family's trust before the Robinsons' own Robot has to fight it.

Dr. Smith's best-known insult for the Robot in Lost in Space was 'Bubble-headed' what?

Booby: Jonathan Harris rewrote his own lines, and his stream of alliterative insults for the Robot turned a short-lived villain into the show's star.

Which Dr. Smith line did Jonathan Harris later reprise as a praying mantis in A Bug's Life?

'Oh, the pain ... the pain!' is moaned by Manny the mantis in the film's climax, an in-joke for parents in one of Harris's last roles.

How was regular cast member Jonathan Harris credited in every episode of Lost in Space?

As 'special guest star', because star billing had already been assigned by contract when he joined, so he negotiated the unusual credit instead.

Which actor, previously TV's Zorro, played Professor John Robinson in the original Lost in Space?

Guy Williams found his warmest welcome in Argentina, where Zorro had made him a hero, and he later settled in Buenos Aires for good.

June Lockhart, who played Maureen Robinson, was already famous as the mother on which other series?

Lassie had made her a familiar television mother, and after Lost in Space she joined Petticoat Junction to fill the gap left by the death of its star, Bea Benaderet.

Angela Cartwright, Penny in the original Lost in Space, was also one of the children in which film?

The Sound of Music cast her as Brigitta von Trapp, and decades later she came back to Lost in Space, playing the mother of Dr. Smith in the 2018 reboot.

What is the name of Penny Robinson's chimpanzee-like alien pet in Lost in Space?

Debbie is better known as 'the Bloop', after the sound it makes, and joins the family in the third episode, 'Island in the Sky'.

Which composer wrote the theme music for the original Lost in Space?

John Williams, then billed as Johnny Williams, wrote it more than a decade before Star Wars, and came back with a new theme for the show's third season.

On which planet are the Robinsons stranded for the first season of Lost in Space?

Priplanus, as Will names it, is torn apart by earthquakes at the start of season two, which forces the family back into space.

What was 'the Chariot' in the original Lost in Space?

An amphibious tracked ground vehicle, it was in reality a converted Thiokol Snowcat, a snow tractor with a Ford engine.

Which rival show, launched in January 1966 in the same slot, pushed Lost in Space toward campy humour?

Batman arrived on ABC as a camp sensation, and the second season of Lost in Space answered with bright costumes, broad comedy and outlandish villains.

In the Lost in Space episode 'The Great Vegetable Rebellion', the planet's ruler Tybo is a giant talking what?

Carrot: actor Stanley Adams played Tybo, who accuses Dr. Smith of murder for picking a flower.

How did early Lost in Space episodes usually end?

A frozen cliffhanger with a caption set up the next week's story for two seasons; the third swapped it for a preview voiced by the Robot.

Which Boogie Nights star plays Dr. Judy Robinson in the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Heather Graham made it straight after Boogie Nights, in a cast that found cameos for four stars of the 1960s series.

Which actress plays the 2018 reboot's version of Dr. Smith in Lost in Space?

Parker Posey's Smith is a con artist who steals a doctor's identity, a female take on the role Jonathan Harris made famous.

Which Lost in Space catchphrase did the Robot use to warn the youngest Robinson of a threat?

'Danger, Will Robinson!' became the 1998 film's advertising slogan, and even the address of its official website.

Which future film star, then a teenage actor, guest-starred in Lost in Space as an alien ruler's son?

Kurt Russell played Quano, a warrior ruler's son who picks Will as his opponent in a contest of strength, in the 1966 episode 'The Challenge'.

Who plays Dr. Zachary Smith in the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Gary Oldman's villain earned a Saturn Award nomination, even though critics panned the film around him.

Which sitcom star plays hotshot pilot Major Don West in the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Matt LeBlanc made it during his Friends years, as a fighter pilot drafted in at the last minute to fly the Robinsons' ship.

Which Oscar winner plays Professor John Robinson in the 1998 Lost in Space film?

William Hurt's professor leads a family mission meant to save humanity from a dying Earth, in a film that opened at number one in the US.

Which future Mean Girls actress plays Penny Robinson in the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Lacey Chabert took over a role created by Angela Cartwright, who turns up in the 1998 film herself, as a reporter.

The 1998 Lost in Space film's opening weekend ended which movie's 15-week run at number one in the US?

Titanic finally lost the top spot to a $20 million opening, but Lost in Space held it for just one weekend before City of Angels took over.

In the 1998 Lost in Space film, what does Penny name the colour-changing alien creature she adopts?

Blawp echoes the 'Bloop' of the 1960s series, and the creature had its own animation unit among the film's 700-plus effects shots.

In the 1998 Lost in Space film, what does the future Dr. Smith mutate into?

A spider-like creature, the result of a scratch from one of the alien spiders that attack the crew aboard a derelict ship.

Which effects house built full-size animatronic robots for the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Jim Henson's Creature Shop built the robots physically, while a string of London effects firms handled more than 700 digital shots.

Which streaming service released the 2018 reboot of Lost in Space?

Netflix succeeded where a 1998 film and an unaired 2004 pilot had failed: its reboot ran for three seasons.

In the 2018 Lost in Space reboot, what is the name of the colonists' interstellar mothership?

The Resolute is attacked by an alien robot, and the families who flee in smaller craft spend much of the first season trying to signal it.

Which actress plays Maureen Robinson, the aerospace engineer and mission commander, in the 2018 Lost in Space reboot?

Molly Parker's Maureen leads the mission as a brilliant engineer, where the 1960s character was mostly seen cooking and tending the garden.

In the 2018 Lost in Space reboot, what is the real name of the con artist who poses as Dr. Smith?

June Harris pairs the first name of June Lockhart with the surname of Jonathan Harris, the Maureen and the Dr. Smith of the 1960s series.

Which original-series cast member appears in the 2018 Lost in Space reboot as the real Dr. Smith?

Bill Mumy, the boy hero of the 1960s series, returns as the doctor whose identity is stolen, so the old show's hero becomes its villain's namesake.

What lucky animal travels with smuggler Don West in the 2018 Lost in Space reboot?

A chicken is Don's lucky charm, and it takes its name from Penny's alien pet in the 1960s series.

How does Will first befriend the alien Robot in the 2018 Lost in Space reboot?

Saving it from a forest fire makes the Robot imprint on Will, and it follows and obeys him like a loyal pet.

Toby Stephens, John Robinson in the 2018 Lost in Space reboot, is the son of which Harry Potter actress?

Maggie Smith and the stage actor Robert Stephens were his parents; he played the villain in the Bond film Die Another Day, then James Bond himself on BBC radio.

Where was the first season of the 2018 Lost in Space reboot primarily shot?

Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the first season in 2017, just as other series shot there, such as Legion and Lucifer, were leaving for California and its tax breaks.

Which Hong Kong action director made the unaired pilot The Robinsons: Lost in Space?

John Woo's pilot cost about $2 million and was never picked up, though its sets were reused for the new Battlestar Galactica.

What fictional substance fuels the Robinsons' ship in the original Lost in Space?

Deutronium has to be drilled for on alien worlds, and Dr. Smith once tried to steal the family's supply to buy himself a ride back to Earth.

Which actor played Major Don West, the ship's pilot, in the original Lost in Space?

Mark Goddard returned in the 1998 film as the general who commands the new Don West, his own old character.

Who provided the voice of the Robot in the original Lost in Space?

Dick Tufeld was already the show's narrator, and his lines were dubbed on afterwards while Bob May performed inside the costume.

Who designed the Robot for the original Lost in Space?

Robert Kinoshita designed the Robot two decades after his Hollywood career was derailed by wartime internment in an Arizona camp.

Which publisher's comic Space Family Robinson predated Lost in Space and later took the show's name as a subtitle?

Gold Key got there first: the show was to be called Space Family Robinson until the clash with the comic forced a new title, and a later deal put 'Lost in Space' on the comic's covers.

A 1990 three-part comic co-written by a Lost in Space cast member crossed the show with which franchise?

Star Trek's Enterprise crew meets a Robinson-like family in 'The Return of the Worthy', a DC Comics story with the names changed.

Lost in Space's Will Robinson actor had earlier terrorised a town with psychic powers in which anthology series?

The Twilight Zone cast him as six-year-old Anthony, the boy who rules his town by thought in 'It's a Good Life'. It was one of three episodes he made for the series.

Jonathan Harris, Dr. Smith in Lost in Space, voiced an elderly repairman called the Cleaner in which animated film?

Toy Story 2 gave him one of his final roles, as the old craftsman hired to clean and repair Woody. He had also voiced an insect for the same studio the year before.

The 1998 Lost in Space film set an April opening-weekend record that which sci-fi hit broke a year later?

The Matrix took the April record in 1999. The remake had taken it from Indecent Proposal a year earlier with a debut of just over $20 million.

Which 1960s youth tribe arrives to blow up the Robinsons' planet in Lost in Space's 'Collision of Planets'?

Hippies in orbit was the idea: a spaced-out gang, one of them played by a young Daniel J. Travanti, turns up with planetary explosives because the world is in their way.

The creator of Lost in Space went on to produce which star-packed 1974 disaster blockbuster?

The Towering Inferno, led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, won three Academy Awards. He directed its action scenes himself, as he had on The Poseidon Adventure.

Which actor, Grandpa on The Munsters, guest-starred as the magician Zalto in Lost in Space's 'Rocket to Earth'?

Al Lewis played the self-promoting wizard in 1967, the year after his vampire sitcom ended. At first Dr. Smith is the only one who can see him and fears he is going mad.

Lost in Space's Will Robinson actor played the alien aide Lennier through all five seasons of which 1990s series?

Babylon 5 put him in prosthetic makeup for the role. For a later Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest spot his character was human, partly to spare him the makeup chair.

Sets built for an unaired 2004 Lost in Space pilot were bought and reused by which other sci-fi series?

Battlestar Galactica's producers bought the pilot's sets, redesigned them and used them the following year for scenes aboard a second warship, the Pegasus.

At the start of Lost in Space, what about stowaway Dr. Smith knocks the Robinsons' ship off course?

His extra weight was never in the flight plan. Trapped aboard at launch, the saboteur sends the saucer towards asteroids hours before the Robot he reprogrammed starts wrecking the controls.

Which real flying device, built by Bell, did Professor Robinson occasionally strap on in the original Lost in Space?

A jet pack carried Professor Robinson aloft: the Bell Rocket Belt was a real invention, though its fuel lasted for only about 21 seconds in the air.

Which Hogan's Heroes actor, TV's Colonel Klink, played the lawman Bolix in Lost in Space's 'All That Glitters'?

Werner Klemperer chased a fugitive across the galaxy as Bolix in 1966, during the first season of the prison-camp comedy that would win him two Emmys.

Which fairy-tale test does Penny pass in Lost in Space's 'Princess of Space'?

Feeling a hidden pea under a mattress is one of Captain Kraspo's tests of her identity. Another princess in the episode is played by Angela Cartwright's real-life sister, Veronica.

Lost in Space's Professor Robinson actor retired to which country, where his earlier Zorro role made him a hero?

Argentina revered him: stores there sold Zorro costumes and action figures, and he spent his final years walking and drinking coffee in the cafes of Recoleta in Buenos Aires.

June Lockhart went straight from Lost in Space to which rural sitcom, joining for its final two seasons as a doctor?

Petticoat Junction brought her in as Dr. Janet Craig to fill the void left when its lead actress, Bea Benaderet, died during the run.

Which animation studio made a 1973 Lost in Space cartoon in which Jonathan Harris voiced Dr. Smith once more?

Hanna-Barbera made it as an hour-long pilot for ABC's Saturday Superstar Movie. Smith became a passenger instead of a stowaway, and no further episodes followed.

In Lost in Space's 'My Friend, Mr. Nobody', the shiny crystals a cave voice gives Penny turn out to be what?

Diamonds are all Dr. Smith needs to hear: he tricks Major West into blasting the cavern open, and the formless being inside threatens everyone with its wrath.

In Lost in Space's 'Trip Through the Robot', what lets Will and Dr. Smith walk around inside the Robot?

He grows huge when strange gases swell him as big as a house, so the pair climb in to stabilise his power systems and bring him back to normal.

Monster suits on Lost in Space were often repainted from its creator's earlier series, set aboard what kind of craft?

A submarine, the Seaview, carried the crew of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Its sea-monster outfits got a coat of spray paint to play aliens, and alien suits went back the other way.

Which Norwegian-born actress, seen in Beach Blanket Bingo, played eldest daughter Judy in the original Lost in Space?

Marta Kristen was born in Oslo to a Finnish mother and a German father, spent her first years in an orphanage, and was adopted by a couple from Detroit in 1949.

Which actor and stuntman spent Lost in Space sealed inside the Robot costume while another man supplied the voice?

Bob May was promised the part if he could fit in the suit, and he could. He came to describe the costume as his home away from home.

What model designation, rarely spoken on screen, belongs to the unnamed Robot of the original Lost in Space?

B-9 was his model and YM-3 his class: an environmental control unit that was never given a name of his own.

From what kind of alien device does Dr. Smith accidentally order the servant android Verda in Lost in Space?

A vending machine delivers her, and a celestial department-store manager soon arrives to say the payment is past due. Smith refuses to pay, calling her defective merchandise.

During a heat wave in Lost in Space's 'The Oasis', how does Dr. Smith use up the last of the drinking water?

Taking a shower with it is typical Smith. The desperate search that follows turns up an alien fruit, which he also eats before anyone can check that it is safe.

What does Dr. Smith build in Lost in Space's 'Ghost in Space' to contact his late Uncle Thaddeus?

A ouija board and a seance are his answer to an invisible prowler he takes for his uncle's angry ghost. The Professor suspects something real: a being that feeds on raw energy.

When the Robinsons reach their destination in Lost in Space's 'The Promised Planet', who seems to populate the colony?

Teenagers are all the travellers find there, and they urge Will and Penny to rebel against their elders. They are really aliens in human guise whose minds never mature past adolescence.

In the final episode of the original Lost in Space, the planet where the Robinsons land is one enormous what?

A junkyard covers the whole world, and its metallic junkman steals the saucer with the doctor aboard. It was never meant as a finale: talks over a fourth season broke down when the budget was cut.

Which cable mogul revived Lost in Space reruns in 1979 by buying the show for his WTBS 'superstation'?

Ted Turner stepped in after many stations had dropped the show or moved it to poor slots. Viewers responded, and it stayed a WTBS mainstay for the next five years.

Much of Lost in Space's first season reused a 1951 film score by which composer, famous for Psycho?

Bernard Herrmann's eerie cues for The Day the Earth Stood Still were recycled for the unaired pilot as well. The man who wrote the show's main title scored just four episodes himself.

Which star of The Day the Earth Stood Still played the alien collector in Lost in Space's two-part 'The Keeper'?

Michael Rennie, the film's visitor Klaatu, was reunited with an old colleague: he and Jonathan Harris had co-starred in the television version of The Third Man.

What is Dr. Maureen Robinson's profession in the original Lost in Space, though she is mostly seen preparing meals?

Biochemist is her title, yet the 1960s scripts kept her cooking, tending the garden and offering compassion. The 2018 reboot recast her as the engineer who leads the mission.

First seen as a flight surgeon, Lost in Space's Dr. Smith is later called a doctor of intergalactic environmental what?

Psychology of the intergalactic environmental kind is the grand title he is given, alongside a talent for cybernetics that suits a man who reprograms the Robot.

Jonathan Harris, Lost in Space's Dr. Smith, earned a real university degree in which subject before turning to acting?

Pharmacology was his 1936 degree from Fordham, after a boyhood job as a pharmacy stockboy. The Bronx native had also swapped his accent for an English one copied from imported B-movies.

The actor who played Major Don West in Lost in Space later left Hollywood for a long second career in what?

Teaching occupied him from 1991 at a Massachusetts school, where he also ran an acting class. He had finished college 30 years after starting and gone on to a master's degree in education.

Angela Cartwright spent seven seasons as the TV stepdaughter of which comedian before joining Lost in Space?

Danny Thomas headlined the long-running sitcom that carried his own name, and she played his character's stepdaughter, Linda.

In Lost in Space's 'The Space Vikings', a pair of magical gloves leads to Dr. Smith being chosen to replace which god?

Thor has lost his nerve, so his wife Brynhilda declares that the hammer has picked Smith instead. Will and Smith must coax the god's confidence back before a band of Titans attacks.

In Lost in Space's 'West of Mars', Dr. Smith's exact double Zeno follows which outlaw trade?

Gunslinger Zeno forces Smith to swap clothes and has him arrested in his place. On another planet the coward enjoys the mistaken identity until a rival turns up to challenge him.

Which colour is the lovestruck alien girl Athena, who returns to woo Dr. Smith in season two of Lost in Space?

Green from head to toe, she had first hypnotised Smith under the name Lorelei as the ship flew past. On her return a jealous suitor turns Will the same shade.

In Lost in Space's 'All That Glitters', a cursed collar turns whatever Dr. Smith touches into which metal?

Platinum is the twist on the Midas legend: the collar will not come off, and Smith accidentally turns Penny into a statue.

Which director of Predator 2 and The Ghost and the Darkness made the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Stephen Hopkins began shooting at Shepperton Studios in March 1997, with more than 700 visual effects shots planned across several effects houses.

Which screenwriter, later an Oscar winner for A Beautiful Mind, wrote the 1998 Lost in Space film?

Akiva Goldsman was also one of the film's producers. Critics were mostly unkind, and the film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry as worst remake or sequel.

Which studio, later home to The Lord of the Rings films, hoped the 1998 Lost in Space film would launch a franchise?

New Line Cinema planned animated and live-action television spin-offs and signed toy and novel deals in advance, but no sequel followed.

Which network, home of Smallville and Gilmore Girls, commissioned the unaired 2004 pilot The Robinsons: Lost in Space?

The WB paid for a pilot in which Will had built the Robot himself to ward off school bullies, then left it off the list of series pickups later that year.

In the 1998 Lost in Space film, the actresses who first played Judy and Penny appear in cameos as what?

Reporters number one and two are their credits. June Lockhart also turns up as a school principal, while Jonathan Harris refused the small part he was offered.

In the 1998 Lost in Space film, what is the ship falling into when the crew gamble on the untested hyperdrive?

The Sun is dragging the sabotaged ship in, so the crew jump blind through hyperspace and come out in an uncharted part of the universe.

Which Night Court star hosted the 1998 TV special Lost in Space Forever alongside the Robot?

John Larroquette ends the special by pressing a button on an alien amulet and vanishing, replaced by the first Will and Dr. Smith actors playing their characters decades older.

In Lost in Space's 'Return from Outer Space', an alien device beams Will back to Earth, landing him in which state?

Vermont townsfolk help the boy but refuse to believe he comes from the missing mission, and he is nearly stranded when Dr. Smith gives the Robot another task.

In Lost in Space's 'The Astral Traveler', a revolving door in a cave takes Will to which place on Earth?

A Scottish castle awaits, complete with a monster and a mischievous ghost who follows Will home. The ghost then learns that an ancestor of Dr. Smith was behind his curse.

Which instrument does the Robot occasionally play in the original Lost in Space, alongside his singing and laughter?

Guitar strumming was one of the human touches written for a character of superhuman strength, along with sadness and mockery.

Showman Farnum B. returns in Lost in Space's third season to recruit Judy Robinson for what kind of contest?

A beauty pageant called Miss Galaxy has a catch in the fine print: the winner must be handed over to its sponsor, a sinister being made of flame.

Which games company released the first official Lost in Space tabletop game in 1965, the year the show began?

Milton Bradley got there first. A year later Remco, whose toy pistol had been modified into the crew's laser gun, issued a 3D Action Fun Game.