Cancelled Before It Began: The Robinsons Lost in Space (2004)

The Robinsons: Lost in Space offered a dark take on the ’60s Irwin Allen camp-classic but never went to series because its network was struggling.

What Is It?

This 2004 pilot delivered a second attempt to reboot the infamous Irwin Allen series from the 1960s (after the 1998 feature film misfired) and it went for a darker approach similar to Ronald D. Moore’s spin on the campy ’70s series Battlestar Galactica which was just getting started on the Sci Fi Channel.  It takes place in the late 21st century after Earth has fought off an alien invasion and humans are setting out to colonize the stars. Col. John Robinson (a decorated hero from the alien wars) leads the charge as one of the many to take his family into deep space and find a new beginning. But a second alien attack preempts these plans and Robinson and his family find themselves lost in space after averting disaster. Somewhat grim in tone, this show was definitely not going for the light, family drama angle and it also lacked a Dr. Smith character (who became the focus of the original series). It added another son for the Robinsons, David, who was captured by the aliens in the pilot and who presumably they would try to rescue in the series.  And it did have a robot character which was voiced again by veteran Lost in Space actor Dick Tufeld.

Aired: Never Aired

Developed By: Kevin Burns

Starring: Brad Johnson, Jayne Brook, Adrianne Palicki, Dick Tufeld

Why Didn’t it Fly?

This pilot was directed by John Woo and starred a young Adrianne Palicki as Judy Robinson, and it showed some promise, though it definitely had some kinks to work out (as do many pilots).  But The WB was struggling and on the verge of merging with UPN to become The CW. The network decided to pass on the project, probably because it would be too expensive for them to keep going on a weekly basis (and reboots weren’t all the rage on television at that point).  Interestingly, the set of the Jupiter 2 spacecraft created for the pilot was then sold off to the BSG production and was retooled as the Pegasus in that series.

Would It Have Worked as a Series?

As mentioned above, the pilot was somewhat uneven, but with a few tweaks it could have turned into a good sci fi TV series that might have rivaled BSG.  The biggest problem for the show was its the network, which would be gone by 2006.  If the pilot had gone to series, would it have survived the merger or would it have ended up cancelled because it was considered too expensive to continue on The CW?  Hard to say at this point, but it would have been interesting to see where this series would have gone.  Netflix would later revisit the property with a show that ran for three seasons and twenty-eight episodes (a typical run for an original from the streamer) and that took a more family-friendly approach

Where Can You Watch It?

The pilot never received a DVD or Blu-ray release, but it is available on YouTube at this link (broken into five parts).  The video quality is not great, but it is worth a gander for curiosity’s sake at least.

Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.

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