No Place to Hide
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| No Place To Hide | |
| |
| Prod No: | 6023 |
|---|---|
| Season: | N/A |
| Air Date: | Un-aired in initial series broadcast |
| Writers: | Irwin Allen, Shimon Wincelberg (Teleplay) |
| Director: | Irwin Allen |
| Principal Cast: | John Robinson (Guy Williams)
Maureen Robinson (June Lockhart) Penny Robinson (Angela Cartwright) Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) Robot B-9 (Bob May Dick Tufeld (voice)) |
| Supporting Cast: | TV Announcer (Don Forbes), The General (Hal Torey), General Squires (Byron Morrow), Sergeant Rogers (Hoke Howell), Brett Parker, Tom Allen, Fred Crane, Cyclops (Lamar Lundy) |
| Preceded By: | None |
| Followed By: | None |
No Place To Hide is an episode of Lost In Space.
Synopsis
On October 16, 1997, the Robinson family launches into deep space to colonize a planet around the star Alpha Centauri. Their ship was the flying saucer named the "Gemini 12".
Plot
Notes
- After the poor reception of the "No Place To Hide" pilot screening by CBS executives (they laughed at it), Anthony Wilson (story editor) suggested including a "recurring villain to create story conflict" - an antagonist (the Dr. Zachary Smith character). Ref: The History of Lost in Space, Part I (by Mark Phillips).
- The Gemini 12 (and probably also: Alpha Control, the Launch Tower, the Chariot, the Jetpack, the Astrogator, the Freezetubes, the Lighted Ship Rib-Arches, the SAGE Panels & B205 Readout Units, the Forcefield Projector, the Clothes Washer, the Remote Weather Station, the Silver Flightsuits & EVA Equipment, and the 1st-Season Lasers) was designed by William J. Creber, before the arrival of Robert Kinoshita (designer of the Jupiter 2 and the B9 robot) on the LIS production art department. The ship was a single-deck (no living quarters), sub-lightspeed, flying saucer (and probably had no Space Pod and no landing gear). It did carry the disassembled Chariot ATV and a Jetpack personal flying device - as evidenced by the finished work.
- The Gemini 12's voyage to Alpha Centauri (4.2 light-years distance from Earth) would have required "ninety-eight earth years" - as stated by the TV Commentator in the story.
- Main character introductions differ from TV series version:
- John Robinson - here introduced as: "Doctor John Robinson, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Stellar Dynamics".
- Maureen Robinson - here introduced as: "Doctor Maureen Robinson, the distinguished biochemist of the New Mexico College of Space Medicine".
- Judy Robinson - here introduced as: "Judith, age nineteen, who has rather heroically postponed all hopes for a career in the musical comedy field for the next two centuries at least".
- Penny Robinson - here introduced as: "Penny, age eleven; I.Q., 147; hobby, zoology".
- Will Robinson - here introduced as: "Will, who recently was graduated from the Camdo Canyon School of Science at the age of nine, with the highest average in the school's history".
- Don West - here introduced as: "Doctor Donald West, graduate student at the Center for Radio Astronomy". Don was further described as a (mission) 'assistant', rather than a 'ship pilot'.
- This conception of "Lost In Space" had no Dr. Smith, and (unfortunately) no B9 robot crew members.
- This conception displays the intent of Irwin Allen to create a 'serious' adaptation of "The Swiss Family Robinson" novel (by Johann David Wyss) to a space-age alien-planet-oriented TV series drama. This differs from the eventual TV series becoming a continual planet-hopping and 'campy' content. Irwin's initial concept was to have the Gemini 12's hull breached by a meteoroid impact while in spaceflight, and leaving a large 'un-repairable' hole in the rear of the ship. Thus forcing the Robinsons to remain on the unknown alien planet they landed on. It might also have explained why the atomic-powered ship could not provide adequate shelter from the great cold of the planet's extreme eleptical orbit. Thus forcing the crew to abandon the crashed ship, and venture toward the planets equator for warmth during that phase of the planet's orbit. For unknown reasons, the 'ruptured ship-hull' plot concept was discarded. Substituting in a 'temporarily' disabled ship, that could eventually be repaired and reused for additional spaceflight.
- This concept pilot provided source film footage for many scenes in the first 5 episodes of the TV series to save budget expenses of re-shooting them.
No Place To Hide was the original pilot presented to CBS for consideration as a proposed network broadcast TV series. It had a production budgt of $600,000 provided by: CBS, Red Skelton, and 20th Century Fox. The pilot was originally entitled: "Space Family Robinson". Principal photography for "Space Family Robinson" began late in 1964. The William Creber designed sets: Alpha Control, the alien planet, and the Gemini 12 (interior and exterior) were also completed at this time. Pilot contains recycled music from prior FOX classic movies: 1951 "The Day The Earth Stood Still" and 1959 "Journey to the Center of the Earth".
References
- The 2004 release of the "Lost In Space" TV series DVD's
- The (UNRELEASED PILOT) "NO PLACE TO HIDE" screenplay draft (REVISED FINAL - 1/6/65) from ScriptCity.com
External Links
- IMDB Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773736/
- "NO PLACE TO HIDE" screenplay draft (REVISED FINAL - January 6, 1965): http://www.scriptcity.com/details.asp?search=lost+in+space&ID=10672
- The history of "Lost In Space" - by Mark Phillips
- The Lost in Space Pilot - No Place to Hide - By Bruce Fedow September 4, 2005