“Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies, Earth creature!” the Robot sasses in “The Ghost Planet” (Season 2), inasmuch as an affectless “tintinnabulating tin can” can sass. His comeback zings started subtly - “What do you want from me, blood?” is a breakthrough moment from “A Change of Space” in Season 1 - and by Season 2, it is an all-out volley of invective. Smith’s insults ranged from “addlepated armorer” to “wobbling weakling,” and at first the Robot merely blurted, “Danger!” or “Warning!” in response.
But Harris rewrote his own scenes, and his alliterative barbs against the deadpan, baritone Robot (voiced by Dick Tufeld) harmonized beautifully with the optimism of the Robinson kids.ĭr. The early dialogue with the Robot has a call-and-response rhythm that isn’t far removed from telling Alexa to dim the lights. He wore a white T-shirt a lot for someone in outer space. It was piloted by Major Don West (Mark Goddard), an underdeveloped love interest for Judy. (They were headed to Alpha Centauri, which is a star and not a planet, but let’s not get into that now.) The Jupiter 2 featured light speed capability but also the galaxy’s slowest elevator. The Robinsons left earth aboard their circular ship, The Jupiter 2, in a fictional 1997, in hopes of becoming the first family to colonize another planet. With them was their eldest daughter, Judy (the Norwegian actress Marta Kristen, best known for playing a mermaid in “Beach Blanket Bingo”) their middle child, Penny (Angela Cartwright, recognizable from “The Danny Thomas Show” and “The Sound of Music”) and the kid genius, Will (Billy Mumy, whose later endeavors include forming the band Barnes & Barnes and recording the novelty hit “Fish Heads”). Professor John Robinson (the “Zorro” star, Guy Williams) and Maureen Robinson (June Lockhart from “Lassie”) were strong Great Society stand-ins.