Fantastic interview with the original Lost In Space's Dr. Zachary Smith, Jonathan Harris

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/16/fantastic-interview-with-the-o.html

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For those like me who remember watching the original series as kids, he is almost even better in reality now than he was then as Smith. Mesmerising.

(Thanks for another truly wonderful thing.)

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Loved the original show. Hated the 1998 movie. Haven’t decided whether to give the reboot a go. Is it any good?

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I lasted five minutes before I realised the kids were going to drive me nuts and that I had better things to do - like watch ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ where the kids are fantastic, the set design is spectacular and Neil Patrick Harris is a National Treasure.

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I’ve watched the first 3 episodes and it suffers from too much meh. The backstory of Dr. Smith is intriguing, and the alien robot and it’s not-yet-told backstory is intriguing. But mostly, it’s pretty mediocre writing and acting. I haven’t decided whether to continue or not, tbh. The fact that they crashed on a planet that is remarkably earth-like (including the atmosphere!) is, imo, disappointing.

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Always a pleasure to see someone who truly enjoys his work without romanticising it. Thanks.

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So far I’ve seen the first two episodes and love it. I love The Expanse, but can’t obviously watch that with kiddos. This one is the space opera for families I’ve been waiting for.

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I can hardly wait, Neil Patrick Harris in the Nation Treasure reboot!

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Wow - he’s wonderful. :slight_smile:
Watched the new Lost in Space series. For a PG series, it’s really good. Parker Posey is scary detestable as Dr Smith, which means she is also wonderful.

The new robot is fantastic! My impression is that the designer was inspired by Dan Simmons’ robot character The Shrike.

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The prospect of NPH and Nic Cage out camping one another? I’m buying tickets now!

I’ve enjoyed the first three episodes of the new series enough to want to finish the first season, but not blown away. I thought the acting was okay, the writing about average for any sci-fi series these days. Standouts are Parker Posey as the new Dr. Smith, the interplay between Judy and Penny which alternates from snippy hatred to caring sisters, and the really fantastic special effects. Could have done without the sloppy addition of the marriage difficulty sideplot, and the usual “It’s not my fault!” spaceship tropes (plus Han Solo level piloting skills).

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Sounds about right. I’m enjoying it, but I’m not seeing anything extraordinary.
Except for one thing:

If you’re out in a winter landscape wearing a nice and thick winter coat, but don’t feel the need to cover your ears, neck or face, then it’s actually not very cold. And if its that warm, there is absolutely no danger that water might do what it does inn that episode. None at all.

And this is not some smart, nit-picky science that only nit-picking science nerds will know. In any country that has such a thing as “winter”, this is basic intuitive knowledge of the outside world that every five-year-old should have.

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i was saying the same thing while watching the first episode last night, haha – “well, if it’s warm enough to be RAINING, you’re fine!”

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Yep, you’re right on.The wife and I were joking about that and it was sort of included in my “average writing” comment. When it’s the really basic stuff like humans reacting to the cold, there’s no reason to be lazy. Accurately handling the stuff we all know to be true provides grounding for us to suspend disbelief on all the otherworldly shit.

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FUCK YOU, ANNOYING COMIC RELIEF MONKEY.

And I didn’t care for that CGI character either.

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Nothing against Mr. Harris (absolutely great as Dr. Smith), but… for me… the only thing the 1998 film “got right” was the scene where Major West back-fisted Dr. Smith unconscious; that’s something the original series came close to many times (West furious with Smith) but never delivered on. I’d think even fans had had enough of Smith’s “we’re all going to die!!”

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My understanding is that the 1998 production was running out of money at that point which explains the dicey CGI quality of the Bloop creature. Low bucks also explained one or two continuity issues (CGI-driven scenes had to be cut).

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I think they just rendered a hairless version of that terrifying Honeycomb Cereal mascot from the late 90s.

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I missed that one… thank goodness!

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