‘Lost In Space’ series reboot in the works

How many references/homages to the original series has anyone noticed? Some are subtle and others pretty obvious. Of course the very first reference was having Billy Mumy play Dr. Smith which was a very nice touch indeed. Another is having an animal called "Debbie" lol and the real character name of the fake Dr. Smith is June Harris (June Lockhart & Jonathon Harris!) highly doubtful that is a coincidence. I'm sure there are other one's I've missed. Anyone spot any others?

 

A couple I noticed:
- Angela's helmet has "Goddard" on it (tip of the hat to Mark Goddard who played Don West in the original series). I assume the character's last name is "Goddard," but I don't think it's been officially stated.
- "Angela" is also the name of Angela Cartwright who played Penny Robinson in the original series)

 

She's playing 18 and looks it but is really 23. Certainly too young to be a believable doctor unless she's Doogie Hauser.

 

And they used "Harris" as the real last name for "Dr. Smith"'s true identity. Parky Posey is the creepiest, weirdest sociopath in TV history, expect maybe for Dexter.

They established early on she was a medical student, not a doctor.

 

I must have missed that. When someone asked who the doctor was she stated that she was. Obviously I missed the humor. Maybe they went in a different direction when they found the actress from this.

Biography
From the Casting Brief:

Judy is Maureen's biracial daughter from her first marriage.

Athletic, confident, her edge comes from her willingness to push herself harder than anyone else.

She never knew her biological father, and John adopted her as his own.

She took her parents' breakup harder than anyone, and resents John for it.

She’s the only trained doctor amongst the surviving Colonists.

In a coming of age journey, she finds herself struggling to live up to her responsibilities.

 

After watching all the episodes I rate it good & not great. I will watch the next season to see if it improves. I don't want to give anything away until everyone here sees it.

 

It's not in the show that way. Judy doesn't have a doctor degree, and one reason is that no matter how young you graduate from medical school, you still need 3 years of residency before you can be a medical doctor in the United States. Doogie Houser was about a teenager who graduated from high school very early and had 4 years of medical school at 14, but then had to endure 3 years of residency... and hilarity ensued when patients found out the age of the doctor checking them out.

The more interesting character by far is Dr. Smith, particularly when we find out just how many people she murdered so cavalierly on her way to join the Alpha Centauri group (at least 3 or 4). Scary, scary, socipathic woman. And the unanswered question is where did the robot comes from and who really controls him...

I like the show and think it's much better-acted, better-written, has far better production values, and more actual danger and mayhem than the original show. The original show had a lot of charm as a borderline comedy, but this new show has some grim moments that I thought were fairly gritty.

 

I agree about Smith. I like the revisionist approach here. It works pretty well. Yeah, it sounds like they went ina different direction from the original description which, I think, makes it a bit more interesting I do find it interesting that they did keep a couple of ideas like that from the movie reboot like having Judy have a medical background. I think that someone gave the show’s producers a reality check about becoming a doctor. I also think that, perhaps, they were at first going to go for someone a little older when that description was first published. I wasn’t sure about the Don West character redesign at first but it seems to be working. Remakes can be a tricky business but I think they’ve largely (despite some minor misgivings) done a good job.

 

I can't really agree with that (well, the production values are clearly better, but that's to be expected).

If we're comparing just the first season of both shows (never mind that the new show has fewer episodes), then I'd say the original series was just as creepy with much less comedy/campiness than it would eventually turn into. Posey's Dr Smith doesn't hold a candle to Jonathan Harris' portrayal in that first season (or even subsequently, even as the tone changed). I didn't find her characterization or motivation at all convincing. As for the 'grim moments', I thought they were 'meh' - many times comically unearned.

 

Indeed, the first season of "Lost in Space", like "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", was better done. It always seemed to me that everything after the first season was more problematic for any Irwin Allen TV series.

I think comparing the take on the two characters does a bit of an injustice as we haven't seen as much (ten episodes compared to 20 plus episodes) opportunity but I do like the direction that the new show is taking the character. Smith's character in the original series was initially played with menace but also with a more traditional take on a villain. I do think that Posey's character is a little more complex and hard to pin down compared to the original Smith character hence making it more difficult to compare the two especially given the limited amount of time to develop the character compared to a full season of the original series.

As far as production values go there's really no comparison--the original series was shot in the infancy of visual effects, convincing looking sets, etc. and it was a transitional period between more realistic both of those. I do think, though, that the different take on the characters makes it difficult to compare the acting although the kid in the show, like Bill Mumy in the original, does a great job of selling his character.

 

My wife, daughter and I absolutely loved it. Just for fun, I showed my daughter an episode of original series after we had finished this...she cracked up laughing. Especially how the robot used to flail it’s arms up and down. She was all over that.

 

We watched the first two episodes last night and I generally like it, but the wall to wall dramatic music gets to be a bit much. There is scarcely a moment without music.

There's also a maudlin undertone to all the family interaction, which I can do without. A friend years ago observed that most drama in movies and TV is actually melodrama, and this show certainly fits that description. What saves it is that it looks really good and moves along fairly briskly. I'm very interested to see what they do with the Dr Smith character, too.

So for the moment, I'm hooked!

 

Finishing this series up...only a couple episodes left.

I thought it was pretty good, but I don't think I have ever watched a full episode of the original...or the movie, so not really comparing it to anything.

 

Wow, just got to the final episode tonight and it was a rip-roaring adventure from start to finish. I loved the show. I think it was just silly enough to retain some of the fun and energy of the old shows, but sophisticated enough to appeal to modern audiences. And I was amazed that they went through quite a few cases where they dealt with reasonable scientific explanations of stuff that had never been explained on the old show before: like where America would get the technology to get the Alpha Centauri (and back) at faster-than-light speeds.

And damned if they didn't carve out pretty decent characters among all the cast members. I looked for an opportunity to nit-pick the little stuff they got wrong, but ya know... I just didn't care. The show was such a surprise to me, I enjoyed damn near every minute. The surprises with the Robot and Dr. Smith towards the end just came outta nowhere... no spoilers, but DAMN.

 

I think if you just go with it and get swept up then it's easy to overlook the problems. I enjoyed the series, but there's SO MUCH TALKING and family drama. The Robinsons all seem to be very emotional about everything, with Molly Parker in particular appearing to be on the edge of weeping in every scene. There are some silly contrivances and clichéd writing, too.

But I watched to the end and I'm glad I did. I agree that the characters all have clear personalities, which is a big plus, even if they're often speaking in bland platitudes. It just looks so damn good, though, and when the action kicks in it's a lot of fun. I'm hoping season 2 has less talk and more rock.

 

I enjoyed it too despite a few issues. But in the end it IS a family drama. It has always been about the Robinson family..

 

...the family paralleled family values as in 1964 even though they were in 1997...

 

Watching it with My youngest. It is a good family show, nicely under control for Kids to safely watch. A little tame for adults, possibly

 

I'm going to check this out. : )

 

Great acting job by Parker Posey playing Smith.

 

3 shows in and I'm going to finish it...was there any announcements of future seasons?

 

There is no official word, but the co-creators are working on Season 2 anyway (which means there probably will be more seasons).

‘Lost in Space’ Team Teases that a Second Season Would Be ‘Wild’ and Avoid The Bad Movie Remake’s Biggest Problem

 

OK, thanks...

 

Just watched it. I'd give a 6/10. Definitely not bad, but not really good in any way, either, IMO.

I didn't find any of the characters to be all that interesting, and much of what happened seemed kind of formulaic. I think it should either go lighter or more serious - the middle ground it's trying to have isn't doing it any favors.

 

And the second season for Lost in Space has just been picked up by Netflix. No date as to when the new shows will air.

Lost in Space is coming back for a second season on Netflix

It's rare that Netflix gives a renewal this fast, so I'd say this is an indication the show did pretty well. Netflix is unusual among most networks, studios, and channels in that they know within a week of release exactly how many people watched the show and how they watched it.