The Robinsons: Lost in Space (and in a drawer somewhere...)

I recently came across the unaired pilot for a proposed reinterpretation of the classic 1965 series Lost in Space called The Robinsons: Lost in Space, and I finally sat down to watch it this morning.  (Go visit IMDb, here, for more info) I went into it with limited expectations, which helped me get through the first 30 minutes of clunky exposition and teen angst.  It wasn't until I had already started watching that I looked up anything about the show. My first concern was trying to find out why Penny Robinson was replaced by an older sibling named David. The answer was pretty clear when, at the end of the pilot, (Here there be spoilers! Highlight ahead to view...) David was either killed or taken hostage by attacking aliens. Wrong though it may be, it's more acceptable culturally and easier to watch a male get killed/captured.  Anyhow, in the process of my investigation, I learned that the pilot was directed by John Woo, explaining the slick look (other than some of the missing effects that were never added because the series wasn't picked up), and written by Douglas Petrie, from the Joss Whedon brain-trust, explaining why, despite the initial clunkiness, the pilot was able to hold my attention.

So, we have the Robinson parents, who are not changed to the point that they aren't recognizable, and Will Robinson, who is pretty much the same brainy kid.  The remainder of the cast illustrates the departure from the plot of the original show, which is why I'm referring to this as a reinterpretation rather than a remake. First, there is no sign of Dr. Smith in the pilot.  There's no sabotage and, when we briefly see it, the robot is a creation of Will's, designed to protect him from bullies at school.  Judy appears to be a 19 or 20 year old girl (returning to canon,  after Heather Graham played an older version in the 1998 movie).  Instead of aging Judy, this production chooses to make Don West younger, reducing the age difference in order to focus on the romance that was prominent in the movie but never developed in the original series.  Unfortunately, Mike Erwin, who was 26 at the time, looks like a high school kid and just isn't believable as a seasoned military pilot.  So, that leaves Penny who, as mentioned above, is rewritten as a boy and renamed David.  It's not clear to me whether he's the oldest sibling, a year or two younger than Judy, or maybe Judy's twin. (I like to think twin because they get along far better than a pair of teenaged siblings ever should.)  Penny is just gone, unless the random baby that Maureen (Mom Robinson) is schlepping around through the later half of the show happens to be named Penny...

So, I have a pet peeve with remakes that pretend that they are the same as the original but then make random changes for no apparent reason.  This extends to television shows being remade, TV shows that are turned into movies, movies turned into TV shows, and books made into movies.  I don't think that I'm unreasonable about this.  If the changes make sense in the context of the show then, hey, awesome. (The Battlestar Galactica reboot is an example.  I loved Dirk Benedict in the original, but the whole 'Starbuck is a girl!' really added to the Apollo/Starbuck dynamic.)  However, if you change character names for no apparent reason or make gigantic changes to the main plot that turn it into a completely different story, well... change the name of your final product. (For example, the Angels & Demons movie should have been renamed to "A Very Loose Interpretation of Angels & Demons That Eliminates Major Plot Points And Is Unquestionably Inferior, But Could Have Been An Acceptable Summer Movie If It Had A Different Title.")

Oops, I digressed.  The point that I was tap dancing around like an over-caffeinated squirrel is that, in spite of some crazy plot changes, this show actually worked.  The Robinsons are not alone on the Jupiter 2 initially, and they aren't in charge of the trip to colonize another planet.  They are part of a group of civilian colonists.  Dr Smith and Robot - and the whole sabotage plot - are replaced by an alien attack on the "main ship".  In the process of evacuating, the Robinsons and Don West find themselves on the Jupiter 2.  Yes, a main character was completely reconceived but, as noted above, it makes sense with the plot.

So, if you happen to stumble across the unaired pilot for The Robinsons: Lost in Space, I wouldn't discourage you from watching it. (Unless you have a serious problem with cliffhangers because, let's face it, we're never finding out how it ends.)