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this show went through the greatest change of any show out there, it started out as a pretty good sci-fi show and slowly turned into the dr.smith/robot comedy hour.
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
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Didn't he used to day something like "MY DELICATE BACK " whenever there was manual labor to be done? I just remember his screaming too...
Funny show......
Anyone who saw the 60's TV series knows what a potential fatal disaster he was to the mission between causing the ship to crash many times, using up all the water, destroying vital pieces of equipment through carelessness or neglect, disposing weapons to gain personal favor, upsetting diplomatic relations, and attempted murder....at least.
Okay, in the modern TV world, that's "acceptable"; just look at any night time soap.
Watching the show recently, however, I've noticed and now recall other more devious things which in our more knowledgeable world, I wonder if Professor and Mrs. Robinson would be so forgiving.
He manipulates children to get them to do his bidding or even worse, tries to sell them into slavery in order to gain some comfort for himself. About the only thing he isn't doing is anything sexual.....but this was the 60's, sex didn't exist back then (on TV).
It is said that the actor Jonathan Harris realized that, normally, his character wouldn't survive for long, so he had to change the character to be something that the audience wanted. That might be an interesting study to see if attitudes existed back then to make his actions, if only in character, against children so "acceptable"....................but could such a portrayal work today? Who in their right mind would want to take on such part of such an elder?
Dr Smith would be part of a "protected class" in the modern world and would be untouchable by the authorities.
I recall reading somewhere that Irwin Allen told Jonathan Harris to keep haming it up more and more, especially during the second season when the show changed from science fiction to cartoon style of campiness. I found Dr. Smith to be quite annoying and irritating and when the show started focusing on him and Will, I got fed up. The just got too silly, even for a kid. Somehow, they didn't seem to be able to pull it off like Batman did.
Blame CBs. They're the ones who insisted that both the Smith character and the series change in tone.
Anyone who saw the 60's TV series knows what a potential fatal disaster he was to the mission between causing the ship to crash many times, using up all the water, destroying vital pieces of equipment through carelessness or neglect, disposing weapons to gain personal favor, upsetting diplomatic relations, and attempted murder....at least.
Okay, in the modern TV world, that's "acceptable"; just look at any night time soap.
Watching the show recently, however, I've noticed and now recall other more devious things which in our more knowledgeable world, I wonder if Professor and Mrs. Robinson would be so forgiving.
He manipulates children to get them to do his bidding or even worse, tries to sell them into slavery in order to gain some comfort for himself. About the only thing he isn't doing is anything sexual.....but this was the 60's, sex didn't exist back then (on TV).
It is said that the actor Jonathan Harris realized that, normally, his character wouldn't survive for long, so he had to change the character to be something that the audience wanted. That might be an interesting study to see if attitudes existed back then to make his actions, if only in character, against children so "acceptable"....................but could such a portrayal work today? Who in their right mind would want to take on such part of such an elder?
That's kind of a hard question to answer because Dr. Smith was basically a double agent whose goal was to sabotage the Jupiter's 2 flight, and which would result in the deaths of the whole crew. Therefore, his disregard for Will and Penny was in line with his disregard for the entire crew.
Also, I think that the only reason why Professor and Mrs. Robinson were so forgiving of Dr. Smith was because Smith had found himself in a very unexpected situation, and along the way, he started to care about the people he had tried to murder. But I think that the Professor and the Mrs could see that, and therefore, I think that that is the reason why they were willing to put up with him. However, if he had remained as bad as he was initially, I think that the Professor and the Mrs would have agreed with Don West's assessment of the Dr and would have probably put him in suspended animation or would have put him in some other sort of captivity or restraint. However, they probably would not have went as far as killing him.
However, I had always liked the Dr. Smith character as he was one of the great villains of television history. Also, I had always liked him standing on the borderline of caring for the Robinsons(because of finding himself in a situation that he was trying to make the best out of) and only caring about his own safety and comfort, and finding a means to going back to Earth.
But when they started to change him from being a conflicted nefarious villain to an insufferable television buffoon, they ruined the show and demonstrated that they really didn't understand what made the show work.
I think he'd be an old rich queen keeping company in the hot humid air of Savannah Georgia.
He'd be surrounded by cads of rather young men, hanging on his every word.
Dr. Smith would be rocking on his front porch chair with a fan and mint julep nearby.
He'd spin stories and reminisce about a young man named Will and his strapping, intelligent, brave father.
He would eventually leave his gazillion dollars made from his autobiography of living in space to his "nephew who is his live in".
Dr. Smith would be just grand.
I think he'd be an old rich queen keeping company in the hot humid air of Savannah Georgia.
He'd be surrounded by cads of rather young men, hanging on his every word.
Dr. Smith would be rocking on his front porch chair with a fan and mint julep nearby.
He'd spin stories and reminisce about a young man named Will and his strapping, intelligent, brave father.
He would eventually leave his gazillion dollars made from his autobiography of living in space to his "nephew who is his live in".
Dr. Smith would be just grand.
Well, I can't say that you're lying.
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