Review Irwin Allen

[michaellevenson]

Okay, someone had to mention this guy. What do we think of his work?
David Hedison said Allen was a great ideas man but should never be let loose near a camera!
Land of the Giants is my favourite, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is OK for two series, Lost in Space was watchable at first and then deteriorated. All his series started okay then dropped off. Time Tunnel is ok too but Doug and Tony sure need a change of clothes!

 

[alpha128]

All his series started okay then dropped off.

I agree with your statement above.

I had never watched "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" before, but I bought the first season (both parts) when it was released on DVD. I watched Season 2 and part of Season 3 on-line.

I also bought the first season of "Lost in Space" several years ago when Amazon.com had a DVD sale right around Christmas.

The first season of VTTBOTS was consistently good, but LIS was already in decline before its first season ended.

 

[Mad-Pac]

Hello, hello. I guess we meet again. Guess what, we're here now. We'll be starting Twin Peaks next Friday, the 16th. You're welcome to join us!

Anyway, I grew up watching Irwin Allen shows. At the time that was what we had, so it was what we watched and enjoyed. That was what Tv shows were meant to be. They were good at the time, but mostly didn't age well. But concepts like miniature people trying to survive on a planet of giants, or a family in outer space trying to keep together are still ground-breaking concepts that haven't been properly explored. Even the regular adventures of a submarine crew is a relatively unexplored topic (the only other one I can think of is Seaquest DSV). Time Travel, on the other hand, has been done to death.

 

[Mad-Pac]

The first season of VTTBOTS was consistently good, but LIS was already in decline before its first season ended.

I think Lost in Space could be seen as a disappointment if you start from the pilot and expect a serious, dark show. But back in the 60s, you'd never catch something from the beginning. You'd catch it in the middle, then watch the same episodes again in reruns through the years. One day you'd see the pilot by some random chance, and think how weird it was, but wouldn't give it another thought later.

Basically, Lost in Space was almost like a sitcom, like Batman. the appeal of Lost in Space was mostly, "How is Dr.Smith going to screw things up this week? How is his cowardice and avarice put the Robinsons in danger? What is he going to complain about this time?" it was basically the Jonathan Harris show.

Legend has it that it was Jonathan Harris who started to push his character into another direction, as Dr. Smith was originally supposed to have been killed by episode 5. And Irwin Allen supported the character's change, as he realized Harris was a very talented actor, and the character had great potential.

There's also another detail. The Brazilian dubbing of Jonathan Harris, made by Borges de Barros, was considered the best in the world, and Jonathan Harris even came to Brazil in 1969, and complimented his Brazilian fellow actor. From then on, Barros was Harris's Portuguese voice any time Harris would appear in a dubbed TV show or movie in Brazil.

 

[Gavin]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any attempt to remake any of these series. Especially something like Lost in Space which would easily lend itself to a darker style re-imagining (in the style of Battlestar Galactica). They did try to go for that style with the movie but screwed it up by including the time travel aspect which just made it confusing. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would also have significant potential as a new series. Land of the Giant, I'm not so sure about. I enjoyed watching it but I'm not convinced that it would work as a concept today.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Mad-Pac]

Doug and Tony sure need a change of clothes!

If your clothes were magically washed and pressed after each adventure and instantly rematerialized on your skin, why would you ever even consider changing your outfit? Basically you'd be wearing the same like-new clothes forever!

 

[Gavin]

If your clothes were magically washed and pressed after each adventure and instantly rematerialized on your skin, why would you ever even consider changing your outfit? Basically you'd be wearing the same like-new clothes forever!

Perhaps the time tunnel "reset" their clothes (and their general cleanliness) to the initial state as part of each trip. I don't recall we ever saw any indication of them showering either.

 

[Mad-Pac]

Perhaps the time tunnel "reset" their clothes (and their general cleanliness) to the initial state as part of each trip. I don't recall we ever saw any indication of them showering either.

Resetting "their general cleanliness" reminds me of a funny Woody Allen short story in which he makes fun of supernatural mysteries citing (I'm paraphrasing what he wrote) the "incredible case of twins in which one brother took a shower and the other one, on the other side of the world, got cleaned."

Yeah, that part was one the TV-logic contrivances we were supposed to accept, but believe me even in 1969 that seemed to me like a pretty shoddy solution. The fact is, even back in the day viewers would soon realize that the writers needed Tony and Doug to start each episode looking the very same way they always did, so episode order would never be an issue. Otherwise you'd have continuity problems and suddenly The Time Tunnel would've become a serialized show, a format which producers would never ever even consider back in 1966.

By the way, now I remember how people would wear the same clothes for several episodes in Lost or still do in The Walking Dead. If a character had a knife hole on his shirt, for instance, it would be there in the following episodes. My conclusion is that the actors at some point had to be sick of wearing the same dirty-looking clothes for a season and more (though I doubt they were *actually* dirty), and that Rick Grimes stinks.

 

[Doctor Omega]