Warning: Nerdgasms ahead. It looks like the Lost in Space remake has taken a huge step forward. Unlike the Robinson family, the reboot is no longer lost- they’ve found their home. And it's on Netflix.
Deadline has reported that Lost in Space is being developed as a Netflix original series. Furthermore, the pilot is being written with the intention of a straight-to series order happening quickly. This is great news for fans of the original cult classic, as it most likely won’t be trapped in development hell.
Besides the announcement of Netflix’s involvement in the reboot, some of the team behind the new Lost in Space has been public as well. Namely, Dracula Untold writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will be writing and executive producing, and sci-fi director Neil Marshall is expected to direct.
The original Lost in Space aired a whopping 50 years ago in 1965 on CBS. The series revolved around the family Robinson, whose scientific mission was to explore and colonize a deep space planet. Unfortunately, the mission goes awry thanks to the evil and slightly silly Dr. Smith, resulting in the whole group being, you guessed it, lost in space. Oh, and there’s the robot. He’ll totally let you know when you’re in danger if you’re a small child on a space mission.
The series only ran for 3 seasons before cancellation, but its cultural impact has been significant. It was a groundbreaker in bringing sci-fi to television, being quickly followed by the famed Adam West Batman series. Additionally, the character of Dr. Smith, who seemed to speak only in alliteration, as well as the Robot’s famed “Danger Will Robinson” line, became pop culture icons we still reference today.
Sadly, we lost the original Dr. Zachary Smith in 2002 at the age of 87. Lost in Space proved to be a star-making moment for the actor, and unfortunately he passed right before a reunion was to be filmed with all of the original cast.
I personally couldn’t be more excited for a new Lost in Space after the thoroughly mediocre 1998 feature film starring Matt LeBlanc that was, well, thoroughly mediocre. It failed to capture the magic that the sitcom had, and suffered a plot and ending that were a bit bizarre. Fans of the original were disappointed, despite cameos by TV cast.
What should be interesting as development moves forward, is how the reboot will handle tone. The sitcom had many very light moments, and comedy wasn’t lacking. We saw the opposite in the 1998 feature film, which took itself a bit too seriously. Will the Netflix series be a drama, or will they be able to put some of the fun of the original?
Well, if the new Lost in Space ends up not being enjoyable at least we are sure to see plenty of “Danger Will Robinson!” tweets and facebook statuses. So win-win.
