jon_j_rambo Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 "Dr. Smith, I didn't know all these old people play SC, I'm shocked" --- Billy Mumy as Will Robinson. "Yes Will, I am old, but watching the robot play has stunned as both" --- Jonathan Harris as Dr. Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konstantin V. Kotelnikov Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 I just had gotten back from doing the Red Army thing up in Minneapolis. Thank you for the mention. I didn't even know anyone paid attention to my ramblings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyJohn Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Konstantin You underestimate your influence. There are those of us who base our lives upon your Teachings! General Rambo Great still and posting! Around ten years ago I finally saw the early b&w episodes of that show. They said Irwin Allen's worst problem was he didn't have a real sense of humor. It wasn't till people began writing in telling him how funny Smith and the robot were that they realized it was really a comedy. Anyway, getting back to those early shows, Dr Smith is a bonafide villain who wants the Robinsons dead. He's much straighter than he is later on and actually disposes of an Air Force AP with a karate chop, dropping the hapless sentry into a disposal shute, presumably killing him! You'd never think him capable of something like that in the later episodes. Jonathon Harris was also a good dramatic actor and surprisingly played a lot of badguy roles on 1950s television shows. In Lost in Space I always got a kick out of the scenes where he uses Billy Mumy or Angela Cartright as shields against danger! The Captain, Guy Williams was very talented but never got the chances he deserved, probably due to having his contract controled by Walt Disney -- Fess Parker (Davey Crockett and Daniel Boone) had a similar problem. Williams highpoint was playing Zorro in a very popular 1958 TV series. June Lockhart was an outstanding TV actress in the fifties and sixties. I think she also played the mother in the early 60s Lassie cast; that show went back to the early-50s and evolved by then through three sets of players! Jon Provost originally showed up as an orphan to replace Tommy Retting, he was being adapted by the farm family. Then the grandfather, George Cleveland died (for real) and Provost out of nowhere became the son of a young married couple who were taking over the farm. Jeff and his mother, played by Jan Clayton, were supposedly moving to the city so Jeff could go to college. Her father (the now late George Cleveland) was supposedly keeping the apartment warm for them. Lassie, who'd been given to Jeff in an old man's will, passes on to Timmy when she (played by a he ) didn't want to leave the farm. The Second Farm family settles in and everything is going well for a couple of episodes. In real life, however, those two actors decided to take other offers -- a movie role and broadway -- and were replaced by Lockhart and a new father whose name I don't recall. By then Timmy must have been one very confused kid! Tommy Rettig, whose name in the show was Jeff, never wanted the job! As a child actor he was pretty busy making movies and had to be dragged to the audition. As an act of defiance he didn't even look at the lines they gave him, instead he got on the floor and played with the dog. A short while later the producers called him and his mother into their office and said he'd won the role because he had such a magic chemistry with Lassie! I don't mind saying I'm very pleased that the Animal Planet has been airing both shows for several years now at the best hours for my viewing, around two or three a.m.! Sure, they're kids shows but it's good to have something from your own childhood that you can actually tune into while dozing off. Meanwhile, doesn't anybody remember the old TV show called Strategic Command? [ July 29, 2003, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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