The original un-aired "Lost In Space" pilot. No Robot, no Dr. Smith, just the Robinson family and Doctor, not Major, Don West. Note, the Jupiter II is called the Gemini XII in this episode. Of further note, the familiar, haunting score is Bernard Herman's masterpiece from "The Day The Earth Stood Still."
The first pilot was built on a foundation of adventure, as was the second pilot, which featured the addition of a sinister Dr. Smith and the iconic robot. So went most of the first season, with none of the camp that became a hallmark of later seasons. And while Trekkies cast the Flaming Eye of Scorn upon the short sighted CBS execs who passed on Star Trek in favor of L.I.S., the first two "Lost In Space" pilots hold up rather well against "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
I'm not suggesting that either episode of "Lost In Space" is better than its NBC rival. I'm just saying that with a solid start and nothing but potential ahead of it there was no way to know which show would be better, smarter, or more successful. If Irwin Allen had followed followed the early track of the program rather than to try to out-camp "Batman" which it was opposite, then perhaps we'd hold "Lost In Space" in the same esteem we hold "GOOD TV Sci-Fi" like "Star Trek," and "Twilight Zone," instead of as a guilty little pleasure. But even the elites have their skeletons in the closet. "Spock's Brain," anyone?
