Retro : Space Family Robinson

A year before NBC premiered the cult fave “Star Trek” in the fall of 1966, CBS hooked young audiences with its outta-sight series “Lost in Space.”

Now 30 years after the spacey adventures of the Robinson family debuted, Columbia House Video Library is presenting “Lost in Space: The Collector’s Edition.”

Each volume ($20), available by calling 1-800-638-2922, contains two complete, uncut and unedited episodes transferred from the original masters. The first volume (a special $5) contains the rarely seen original pilot “No Place to Hide,” which CBS never aired and is unavailable anywhere else. The pilot is deliciously awful, complete with scenes of the women washing clothes and ironing while the men folk are away fighting a gigantic alien.

“Lost in Space” was created by Irwin Allen, the master of such disaster movies as “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno.” The catchy theme music was penned by Johnny Williams, who, later as John Williams, became the Oscar-winning composer of “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Though the series was not a critical favorite, “Lost in Space” was and still is a camp delight filled with silly aliens, odd creatures and childish dialogue.

Guy Williams, late of “Zorro,” played the dashing Prof. John Robinson, who, with his wife Maureen (June “Lassie” Lockhart) and three children, Judy (Marta Kristen), Will (Billy Mumy) and Penny (Angela Cartwright), were sent on a five-year voyage on the spaceship Jupiter II to explore a planet in the Alpha Centauri system.

Piloting the Jupiter was handsome Maj. Donald West (Mark Goddard) who had his eyes on Judy. Also on board was the Robot (Bob May, voice supplied by Dick Tufeld), a wise and friendly ‘bot. The Robot bore a close resemblance to the beloved Robbie the Robot from 1956’s sci-fi film classic “Forbidden Planet.” Whenever Will was in trouble, the Robot would yell, “Danger! Danger! Will Robinson!”

However, the Jupiter II mission was thwarted at the outset by the evil but cowardly Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris), who, working in cahoots with a foreign power, sabotaged the control system, which prevented the ship from functioning properly. Since Dr. Smith was a bumbling idiot, he managed to find himself trapped on the Jupiter II during takeoff.

For three seasons, the ship was hopelessly lost. Each week, they traveled from planet to planet encountering monsters and other assorted oddities. Of course, the conniving Dr. Smith was always up to no good.

Despite its enduring appeal, “Lost in Space” never cracked the top 25 in the Nielsen ratings. (It faced fierce competition from the NBC Western “The Virginian.”) On Sept. 11, 1968, CBS grounded “Lost in Space.”