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"The Prisoners of Space"
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LiS episode
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2x06 / 35th of 83 aired
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Production #
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9506
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First aired
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Watch online now
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Written by
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Directed by
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Last week, as you recall, we left Will and the Robot watching Dr. Smith's secret experiments in winemaking - unaware that, within moments, they and their entire space family would be hopelessly imprisoned by mysterious unseen aliens...
Summary[]
Dr. Smith, Will, and the Robot are at the Doctor's winemaking apparatus a short distance from the Robinson campsite when a hairy grunting creature suddenly appears carrying a sophisticated electronic box. The monster follows them back to the campsite where it sets the box down just outside the camp perimeter. The box reveals itself as a combination of communications device and jailer, as it announces the Robinsons are under investigation by the Galactic Tribunal for crimes they allegedly committed in space. The camp is then surrounded by an energized fence that traps everyone inside of it.
Prof. Robinson is the first to be called before the tribunal where he learns of how his actions in "The Derelict" have affected the bubble creatures that were inside of the ship. Major West then testifies next where he is accused of leaving a contaminated wrench floating in space. As each is testifying Dr. Smith wonders why he hasn't been called, knowing full well that he is most likely the true cause of all of the crimes the others have been accused of. After WIll testifies the aliens decide to call Dr. Smith to the stand, causing Smith to panic and with help from Will and the Robot to escape to his winemaking lab. The alien judge threatens everyone with imprisonment when Smith is found to have broke jail, but Will convinces the judge to let him go and get Dr. Smith. The Robot goes along as well to help Will, which is useful as WIll cannot convince Dr. Smith to return but the Robot manages to do so under threat of dragging Smith back to camp forcibly.
In the courtroom Smith lies and panics, insulting the judge by calling his race "slimy, bubble-like creatures." He is returned to the Robinson camp where Prof. Robinson has drafted a petition to the court stating that Smith is mentally disturbed and thus cannot be held accountable for his actions. Although Smith raves that "I'd rather go to prison for a hundred years!" he relents after Major West suggests the tortures that the aliens might be capable of. The court accepts the petition under the condition that Smith have a court-appointed guardian to keep him out of trouble. They give this role to the Robot, who tells Smith that he must now "get up early, work hard, and speak only when spoken to." The episode ends with Smith pleading to the aliens to take him to jail rather than let this be his fate.
Background Information[]
- Footage is shown from previous episodes.
- Why a civilization that has mastered matter transmission needs to have a grunting monster deliver its communications device is never explained.
- The cardboard tubes used to make the energy fence posts clearly show their seams on close-up but the plastic wrap used to make the fence itself holds up well during filming.
- Smith's wine-making lab contains old-fashioned wooden barrels and apparently no grapes..
- When the Robot tells Dr. Smith that because the Memory Machine will reveal the truth his fate is sealed, Smith replies "And the voice of doom is heard in the land!" This is a paraphrase from a verse in the Song of Solomon in the Bible -"And the voice of the turtle [dove] is heard in the land"
- Among the aliens in the courtroom is a bubble creature from The Derelict, the enormous bug from the final scene in The Keeper: Part 2, and the large flies who appear later in The Galaxy Gift.? Apparently humans are the only intelligent species in the galaxy to wear clothes.
- In the area of the fence that is opened to let Will and the Robot leave the camp to search for Dr. Smith, a bush is later in that place to the left of the alien communication apparatus in a later scene on the outside of the fence.
- Apparently no one thought about using the jetpack to leave the camp.
- The large spider like creature present in the courtroom was also used in "The Pigeon" episode of Gilligan's Island.
Links and references[]
Starring[]
Co-starring[]
- Mark Goddard as Don West
- Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson
- Bill Mumy as Will Robinson
- Angela Cartwright as Penny Robinson
Special guest star[]
Guest star[]
- Dawson Palmer as the One-eyed monster
Uncredited co-stars (alphabetical)[]
- Bob May as The Robot
- Gregory Morton as Judge Iko (voice)
- Dick Tufeld as The Robot (voice)
- unnamed performer as Judge Iko
- unnamed performer as the Bog monster
- unnamed performer as the Bush creature
- unnamed performer as the Cybernetic Leader / Supreme Brain
- unnamed performer as the Spider creature
- unnamed performer as the Spiny creature
- unnamed performer as the Winged creature
References[]
alien; Alpha Control; angel; audio unit; bird; breakfast; bubble creature; bubble creatures' spaceship; cabbage; coffee; coleslaw ; colonization; corned beef; court; Earth; electricity; fence; Galaxy Tribunal of Justice; garden; inertial guidance scanner; Jupiter 2; lamb; meal; meatloaf; memory machine; meteor; molecular transfer beam; oil; physical exam; spaceship; tape recorder; truth serum; vegetable; water; wine; wrench