Castles in Space

A frozen princess is found.

This episode looks different and it sounds different.

It sounds different because it was scored by the gifted Gerald Fried, a composer best known for Star Trek season two (1967-68), but a guy who did music for everything from The Man From UNCLE (1963) to Dynasty (1981).

It looks different because the regular alien planet set is given a nice paint job.

In childhood what struck me about this hour is that the Robot gets drunk...very funny back then...and I admit to still getting a laugh out of it..."will this dizzy feeling ever leave me?"...."I may have talked too much", says The Robot. Love it.

Since the Robot doesn't eat or drink, who would have thought he could get drunk? Amazing! Seeing the Robot drunk is the most interesting thing about this episode. The story of an ice princess being pursued by a silver-skinned alien was disposable. The ice princess was, at least, nice to look at. The Chavo character was annoying. He wasn't funny, and the character was unlikeable. The "Sloop John B" duet (between Billy Mumy and Marta Kristen) was great! This scene was obviously included as a time-filler. That was fine, though. You had this, and Robot B9 getting drunk. Not much else of interest.

It is a pity that the few episodes in which Don (Mark Goddard) is given prominence have been quite weak, this is the worst of all. An ice princess without thanks, a villain with a Mexican accent and silver skin. A script lacking in wit. It is worse than the famous The Great Vegetable Rebellion.

First: The highlight of the episode is the duet with Bill Mumy and Marta Kristen. They both were obviously enjoying the singing.

I thought I had seen every episode in the original run, or in the many re-runs, but I do not remember this episode.

I know we should not be viewing 1960's shows through "modern" lenses, but how was the characterization of "Chavo" allowed?

I suppose, given that there were cartoon characters at the time like Speedy Gonzales, and the Frito Bandito (both voiced by Mel Blanc!) someone thought "Chavo" was OK.

It is unfortunate, because outside of the "Chavo" character, this was not a bad episode.

On the plus side, Marta was given more to do in this episode, although possibly at the expense of Guy, June and Angela, who were barely in this episode.

I wonder if "Chavo" giving the Robot alcohol was intended to be part of the episode, or an homage to Earl Holliman's "Cook" character giving alcohol to Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet (1956)? Or is that giving Peter Packer too much credit?

A note to the trivia writer, Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer did not form the music group "Barnes & Barnes" until 1970, after Lost In Space had ended.

-10 points for the "Chavo" character, +4 points for the duet and non-"Chavo" lines, +2 points for more good lines from the Robot - Interpreting the language of windbags, indeed!

The Robinsons discover first a frozen princess, then an extortionist who plans on kidnapping her to hold for ransom. The episode starts reasonably well (albeit highly derivative of 1951's 'The Thing') and Corinna Tsopei is quite appealing as the silent, frightened princess but then falls off a cliff into vapid silliness as the villainous Chavos (Alberto Monte), a chrome-plated Frito Bandito complete with crossed bandoleers and a silver sombrero, shows up. By now, the show was essentially fluff for the kids, primarily focussing on the 'comic' antics of Smith and The Robot (with Will as straight man) and this episode features the Robot getting drunk (apparently by having tequila poured into his housing) and later suffering from a hangover (and treating it with the classic 'ice bag on the head' routine). Apparently, the character of Chavos was such an offensively over-the-top Mexican stereotype that the episode, which was broadcast around the same time as the vocal criticism of the aforementioned Bandito was heating up, was yanked in some parts of California. The trajectory of this series over three years, from a reasonably adult sci-fi drama to a juvenile 'camp' comedy, may be unique. I loved the show as a kid but it's a bit hard to watch now (especially if I take of the nostalgia glasses). Judy and Will's duet of the folk classic 'Sloop John B' is a highlight (and boosts the castle-less 'Castles in Space' 1 rating point).