User Reviews

The show is one of the few that features Penny (Angela Cartwright) prominently as she befriends an alien lad (Lou Wagner) who hitches a ride on the Jupiter Two as it makes its way back into space. During the journey, the ship and its crew end up on a space station, manned by an eccentric old man, played by Woodrow Parfrey. During the time on the station, mysterious things happen, which are the result of the lad's secret abilities.

Though the show is not a classic it does have its moments, one of which is Dr. Smith's interaction with another guest star.

While Smith's ability to "swoon" the ladies might be questionable, "The Haunted Lighthouse," like year one's "Space Croppers," features the good doctor trying to get "familiar" with the Zaybo (Kenya Coburn) when it appears in female form.

The other plus of the installment is Mullendore's highly original and memorable score, more poignant and fanciful than any other written for the series.

This being another in the list of Lost In Space episodes I hadn't seen in awhile, a situation not helped by a ruinous house fire last year, to find it in my recent DVR recordings occasioned an "Oh!" of delighted surprise. So I set about getting reacquainted with it - & the "delight" factor quickly petered out. Thus it became "reduced (more than) 2 steps in rank!" from my original rating, & it's lucky I didn't go lower. This glot of continuity failings, scenic warmed over leftovers, an absolutely thudding original score & a serious mistake in casting is now 1 of my least liked outings for that Robinson party. It joins rare company in that I had to go skip to mah Lou (Wagner) over vast tracts of the production, unable to tolerate its glaring flaws. These howled in this fashion:

1. The recycled takeoff of the Jupiter 2, tucking in her legs as she goes, from S3 E1 "Condemned Of Space" (1967) only 6 episodes hitherto, itself only a modification of their dramatic fiery departure from the 1st planet (S2 E1 "Blastoff Into Space," 1966). How they came up with this impossible diversion, since except in rare cases the marooned ship ended up thus after a crash landing, without her legs out which would've been obliterated had that been the case, is an Olden Days mystery that will endure until some old rusty Irwin Allen files are somehow uncovered.

2. The screechy to thumping charmless original background score, dredged up by a complete hack who I can only hope hadn't been engaged before this; its inclusion on the official CD #2 release, over worthier examples & in light of the miserable output of the material, was ridiculous. Had Johnny Williams gotten on somebody's bad side that this "Mullen(b)ore" individual was instead engaged to provide material more weightless than the famous "Waltz" in "The Reluctant Stowaway" (S1 E1, 1965)? Way (not) to go there, "Joe!"

3. The Robot must likewise have been put in the penalty box because he played *no* significant part in this. Given the sorry state of the affair, though, this is hardly something to cry about.

4. The "haunted lighthouse" itself was a laugh on its original presentation decades ago, being instantly familiar as the floating gas station they docked at (S2 E2, "Wild Adventure," 1966). They didn't even bother to change the "F-12" signage, but significant upgrades were made - it gained an intricate interior (save for the cheap control panel the alien boy opened up to solve the out-of-control problem), & despite the "Colonel's revelation about being out for 11 years (1988 according to the lighthouse's gloriously inaccurate Jupiter 2 9/18/97 launch date), it knows John Robinson & the mission's status - which in its entirety, being 9 years later, it could have absolutely no information on. And while as the floating gas station sent out "the year before (they) left" the Jupiter 2 wasn't able to board enough 993 octane fuel from it to encompass both a course change to save Dr. Smith & another to get back to Earth, being upgraded to a lighthouse - with presumably less capacity - the "Colonel" was able to say that, even though the Robinsons had only gotten further out in space, there was enough fuel in his tanks to spare to get them back home. (Note the lack of any directional details.)

5. Last but hardly least is the "guest alien." This Lou Wagner person, on only his 2nd screen job, cut way less than an imposing/intimidating figure as a starving miniature 19-year-old arguing with a 13-year-old boy, of both greater maturity & aiready 10-year work history at the time. His wide-eyed, barracuda-mouthed, chest-heaving overacting was not helped by the fake Spock ears, To Wong Foo makeup & grating voice. It was quite the surprising discovery that the most significant appearance in all his unremarkable resume was a longtime stint as the whiny annoying little put-upon highway patrol employee in CHiPS. Never saw a detailed cast list there & he was hardly recognizable without being dolled up as Jay Five, though I had seen some of the programs he had other scattered 1-time appearances in. Whatever betide of any reairings there, outside of the Frank & Ponch Show this will ever remain to me his most indelible performance - though not in a good way.

And that's it for this, for me; not a single aspect of it other than its unique title credits opening - the bit of "action" including the frozen frame of Penny & Jay Five escaping from the cave while John turns to face the unseen danger - is in any way noteworthy on a positive tip. Lucky for us cast-titanium faithful of Lost In Space, among the remaining 17 episodes are nuggets of better quality, & the previous 2 seasons as well - including Jackson Gillis's writing high point, "My Friend, Mr. Nobody" (S1 E7, 1965). Wish I was or knew a darts player, because the 1 lasting great contribution to culture this meager episode could perform is as a rich source of dartboard covers with that ridiculous creature's mug on them.