Trivia for
"Lost in Space" (1965) More at IMDbPro »

• Originally titled "Space Family Robinson", but changed as CBS was concerned that the title was too close to the title of the Disney film Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
  
  
• Carroll O'Connor was considered for the role of Dr. Smith.
  
  
• The first season was shot in black and white.
  
  
• The majority of the footage from the original unaired pilot was fleshed out with new scenes featuring Dr. Smith and the Robot and expanded to make up the story lines of episodes 1, 3, 4 and 5. Episode 2 did not feature footage from the pilot but contained all new material which took place during the course of the events featured in the pilot.
  
  
• The Robinsons find themselves stranded on the planet Preplanis.
  
  
• The Robinsons' robot was created by Robert Kinoshita, the same man who designed Robby the Robot for Forbidden Planet (1956). Indeed, Robbie the Robot makes a guest appearance in 1x20, "The War of the Robots".
  
  
• The robot was never verbally named on-screen. Irwin Allen reputedly liked Rodney as its monicker, whilst an intriguing hint can be seen in "The Time Merchant", where the Robot's shipping crate is stamped "General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental ROBOT" (capitals highlighted in red) suggesting that the machine's name was Gunter. It referred to itself with the above title (adding "Control" before Robot) during the second season.
  
  
• Jonathan Harris was the first actor to receive a Special Guest Star status on a TV series.
  
  
• Irwin Allen pitched his idea for the series to CBS programmer James Aubrey, who immediately snapped up the idea. A couple of weeks later Gene Roddenberry pitched his idea for "Star Trek" (1966) to Aubrey, who turned him down as he felt that "Lost in Space" was the more commercial of the two.
  
  
• The budget for each show in the first season was $130,000, a modest amount for such a series. This was fortunate as the Jupiter II set had cost $350,000, making it the most expensive TV set at the time.
  
  
• June Lockhart had the biggest parking space on the 20th Century-Fox lot because she would often drive her favorite vehicle to work - a 1913 fire truck.
  
  
• Jonathan Harris was responsible for coming up with a lot of his sarcastic comments to the robot himself.
  
  
• The robot cost $75,000 to produce and weighed in excess of 200 pounds. Two of them were made for the series.
  
  
• The robot's chest lights and motorized feelers were powered by an electrical cord which can occasionally be spotted.
  
  
• The pilot episode was budgeted at $400,000 and was largely filmed in the Mojave Desert.
  
  
• Although the Robinsons take off in the Jupiter II, they take flight in the Gemini XII in the pilot episode (the name change meant that the original pilot could never be aired).
  
  
• Debbie the Bloop (a dressed up chimp) makes her debut in 1x3 "Island in the Sky".
  
  
• Episodes 1x16 and 1x17 "The Keeper" Parts I and II comprise the only two-parter in the run of the series.
  
  
• The entire cast has a radical costume change in episode #1.19 "Ghost in Space".
  
  
• The space ship was originally named "Gemini XII", but was changed to avoid confusion with the then-current NASA program.
  
  
• The props used in this show, (such as the computers and guns) also were used in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964), "The Time Tunnel" (1966), "Land of the Giants" (1968) and "Batman" (1966).
  
  
• The computer used in the series is the Burroughs B-205. This computer, with its flashing light console and large reel-to-reel tape drives, would appear multiple times in 1960s' motion pictures and television. Among its screen credits are The Angry Red Planet (1960),"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964),The Time Travelers (1964),Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965),"Hogan's Heroes" (1965), "The Time Tunnel" (1966), "Batman" (1966),Fantastic Voyage (1966), "The Green Hornet" (1966), "Land of the Giants" (1968), The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), The Towering Inferno (1974), The Right Stuff (1983)and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999).
  
  
• There were actually two pilots filmed for the show. The original didn't have Dr. Smith, but the network executives wanted an antagonist so they added his character for the second pilot.
  
  
• It has long been rumored that Dr. Smith was only supposed to be on for a few episodes and then get killed off. This was never true, just a probable scenario imagined by Jonathan Harris, who was listed as special guest star throughout the run of the series. This billing occurred because the billing of the other six actors was already contractually set before the show went into production as a series. "Special Guest Star" was Harris' request and producer Irwin Allen eventually agreed.
  
  
• The series takes place in the future of 1997 (specifically the Jupiter II, en route for Alpha Centauri, blasted off on October 16th 1997); the film based on the series, Lost in Space (1998), began production in 1997.
  
  
• The third season episode Fugitives in Space featured two ape-faced aliens and another alien (Creech, who was more pig-faced than simian) used the simian makeup by John Chambers that became famous in the movie, Planet of the Apes (1968), and its sequels.
  
  
• The space pod didn't show up until the show's third (and final) season.
  
  
• In some scenes where the Robot is seen in close-up, only the top of the robot is worn by the actor.
  
  
• This is the only show produced by Irwin Allen to appear on a network other than ABC.
  
  
• The character 'John Robinson' was ranked #38 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).
  
  
• The character 'Robot' was ranked #14 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
  
  
• Jack Elam and Victor Buono were some of the other actors considered for the part of Dr Zachary Smith.
  
  
• Irwin Allen was very keen to enlist the help of NASA. The space agency was equally interested in using the TV series to promote what they do. However, after several conversations with Allen, NASA realized that the producer had no interest whatsoever in scientific accuracy and so they distanced themselves from the project.
  
  
• Dick Tufeld provided the voice of the robot as well as the opening narration "Last week, as you may recall.."
  
  
• CBS Chairman William Paley, who prided himself on the fact that CBS produced quality, thoughtful programming, hated the show and couldn't understand why it was so popular. He instructed his executives to cancel it the minute its ratings dipped.
  
  
• For the pilot episode, actor Dawson Palmer was dressed in a fur suit to portray a giant monster. A doll of John Robinson in a jet-pack was held up by wires around Palmer's head and he was told to take swipes at it. This proved frustrating for Palmer as he was completely unable to see out of his suit. When filming stopped, Palmer angrily ripped off his suit and grabbed the doll, tearing it to pieces, screaming "There, you little bastard!" at it.
  
  
• Due to their uncontrollable laughter during filming of the infamous "Vegetable Rebellion" episode, Guy Williams and June Lockhart were written out of the next two episodes.
  
  
• The show was canceled after the third season and the Robinsons never returned to earth.
  
  
• As the series progressed, kissing scenes between John and Maureen Robinson were toned down - not out of any censorious demands but to avoid boring, embarrassing or alienating the more juvenile audience members.
  
  
• In the preview screening for the pilot episode, Irwin Allen was horrified when CBS executives started laughing. Allen was ready to bolt from the screening when story editor Anthony Wilson told him to sit it out, as he believed that they really liked it. Wilson was right. The laughing was because the executives realized that they were on to a real winner.
  
  
• In Season one, some episodes used incidental music utilizing a "Theremin", an electronic instrument incorporating two heterodyne oscillators. This music was used to create an atmosphere of suspense and impending terror. The Theremin music used in these episodes was from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) composed by Bernard Herrmann.
  
  
• The Robot identifies itself in Episode 32 (#2.03) "The Ghost Planet" as "Robot Model B9, designed and computerized as a mechanized electronic aid for Earth voyagers engaged in astral expeditions." in answer to the ID query from Supreme Prototype of all Cybernetic Machines. This is the only time the model number "B9" (a homophone for the English word "benign") is ever used in the series, but many of not most toy collectors, modelers, blueprint makers and other fans refer to their creations as Robot B9 or B-9.
  
  
• The Robot identifies itself in Episode 54 (#2.25) as "I am a Robot of the Class M3, programed to provide information and support to all Jupiter personnel" in reply to a query from the Noble Niolani. This has taken by many to a model number, not the least of whom was the Japanese toy company Masudaya, which called its 1968 LIS robot toys "Robot YM-3" (Y being a prefix for prototype aircraft using by the USAF), but it's more likely a sly dig at Star Trek, which rated Earth-like planets as Class M, with Earth itself being Class M3. The LIS Environment Control Robot was designed to help replicate and maintain an environment as similar to that of Earth as possible, so it too would be optimized for Class M3 environmental control.
  
  

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