Pod Stallions 38: Irwin Allen 1

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This month's show starts off with Jason talking a little bit about his BAFTA Flash Gordon event but then segways into the works of Irwin Allen, primarily his TV work of the 1960s.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Time Tunnel as well as the busted pilot "City Beneath the Sea" and "The Man from the 25th Century".

Along the way we talk about Aurora Model Kits, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Nathan Juran, Gerry Anderson, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Space Academy and Brian's preoccupation with Amazon Women on the Moon.

We also want to keep the conversation going on the Pod Stallions Facebook page, please drop a line as to your favourite Irwin Allen show and toys. We anxiously await your thoughts.

Download the Show Here



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Show notes:

• The Man from the 25th Century Pilot
• Time Tunnel Pilot from 2003
• The terrific 12" Lost in Space figure by Executive Replicas.
• The Awesome Trendmasters Jupiter 2 toy
• The Land of the Giants box set mentioned
• One if the weird Lost in Space toys by Remco
• This Land of the Giants Space Sled is actually Gerry Anderson's Super Car!
• Remco Seaview toy
• Mattel Lost in Space Roto-Gun

Plenty more content on the PodStallions Facebook page!



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[MIB41]

THAT was a great episode! A few thoughts I would like to share... What I loved about Irwin Allen productions was the love he gave to the production of these projects. It was clear he was a big kid inside by the way he gave all of these ships and their tech this charm and larger than life presence. Plus we have to remember the times and the strict budgets he was glued to. I think it's fair to say Irwin Allen did the most with the very least and that's a talent right there.

With regards to Lost in Space, it's my humble opinion that the first season was the best sci-fi ever made for television up to that point. The production quality is fascinating even by today's standards. The general mood and tight scripting for these episodes really shines. Of course so much of that has to do with the fact it was mostly a incredibly long and involved pilot broken up and reedited for individual episodes. When you see how they seamlessly wrote in Dr. Smith and the Robot, it becomes an even greater achievement. Note too the creative involvement of "Johnny" Williams who beautifully scored this series. Lucas was a fan and took not of his contributions. The rest as they say is history.

The robot DID have a model name - B-9 (as in benign), which I think went over the heads of many even to this day. I thought Dr. Smith's relationship with Will was fascinating. I think Dr. Smith was first and foremost a cowardly con, so he gravitated towards those who were most impressionable. Will was sympathetic to his complaints which allowed him to build himself up to be more than what he really knew he was. It actually had something of a moral lesson to it, if you really watch their discourse with one another. Will would let him have his bravado moments of self-expression, but had no problem shaming him when he crossed the lines of greater principle that no one was permitted to violate. Something sadly missing in today's society. Sorry, I digress. But I think the subtext in that relationship was well intended.

Congrats to Jason for being invited to have such a creative and meaningful presence for the Flash Gordon 35th celebration. Being hand picked by Sam Jones had to be the dream of a lifetime. I LOVE that movie and always will. That film came out at such a strange time too. Everyone was very much in the midst of the Star Wars revolution with their incredible effects and here comes a little film called Flash Gordon that some how, some way, takes all of these old school ideas on the optics and makes it a unique and one-of-a-kind film that stands out in the middle of all this new innovation. Of course Flash was not the hit it would go on to become, but allot of us caught that magic the first time and understood it was something unique. Glad the rest of the world caught up with us. Great episode guys!! Looking forward to part II.

[palitoy]

I hope I conveyed that appreciation for Irwin Allen when I compared him to Gerry Anderson, that was my intent. Some of his shows got schlocky over time but the majority started out on the right foot and are classics.

As for LIS, I adored season one as a kid, I still think it's great. The later seasons are also fun but they reached a nice plateau during those initial 12 episodes.

[MIB41]

I think the main reason Lost in Space changed it's tone is because of the success of Batman. If you look at the about-face in production tone and mood, it closely resembles the campiness of Batman. Imagine what that series could have been if it wasn't competing with Batman.

[JRT!]

LOVE LiS! Always have,always will. And I even look forward to the reboot that they're doing. Not that it will be anything like the original,which in this day and age would probably fail,but an updated version could actually work. And yes,I'm that ONE person who enjoyed the movie,and even the unaired pilot from a few years ago. lol. Hope they'll do Land of the Giants as well,which I also loved.

J-R!

[jacoblb]

I've downloaded it and the episode will be queued inside my MP3 player for work Monday. I haven't missed an episode ever. I've also noticed the conversation has gradually become better balanced so both voices are heard over time so I hope that stays the course.

I've never missed an episode of Geeks Shall Inherit too, but there's been dead air since July, is the podcast that was formerly a weekly thing back in the day gone for good?

[Falstaff13]

As always, I enjoyed the podcast.

I agree about Lost in Space. I came rather late to Irwin Allen, and what I did know in the 1980s when I first started becoming more aware came from the negative reputation of the shows and the claims they either over-used recycled footage or that they were camp. I finally got to see LiS when USA aired it, and it definitely went from a fairly atmospheric and dramatic adventure series to a rather silly affair that, at times, recalled the worst of Gilligan's Island. It was amazing to think how many aliens could land and meet the Robinsons, but the Robinsons remained stranded, and it fell into a sort of "monster of the week" method. I remember a Starlog interview with Guy Williams where he acknowledged the change and referred to the show getting what he called "the cutes," and he insisted that was worse than being campy (as campy suggested they were all in on the joke, but he felt the tone was out of the right hands with what happened). Even with those negatives, I enjoyed quite a few of the "cute" episodes because of the guest stars (Allen might have been cheap with some things, but he still managed to bring in talent)--though the plot is silly, there is an episode I vividly recall with Malachi Throne as a space pirate (he and Williams end up in a duel), and Ted Cassidy is his henchman. And the main cast from the show was excellent, starting with Guy Williams, an underrated but always superb leading man, but including all of the regulars. Jonathan Harris' performance here is actually quite different from what he did earlier (and what did on Space Academy), showing his range. (Though it would have been better to keep him as the deadly saboteur, that also would have been fairly difficult plot wise to maintain on a show that didn't use long-running story arcs.)

I never quite got into Land of the Giants (though it did run on USA at the same time), as I have never been that "into" the shrinking man type of story, and, as best I can recall, I've never seen more than the original movie for Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, but I did enjoy Time Tunnel when I saw it on SciFi Channel some years back, and I've always had a soft spot for what Irwin Allen produced. I look forward to hearing part two, and I just hope you manage to work in the Alice in Wonderland mini-series he produced in the mid-80s!

[Mr.Marion]

I've downloaded it and the episode will be queued inside my MP3 player for work Monday. I haven't missed an episode ever. I've also noticed the conversation has gradually become better balanced so both voices are heard over time so I hope that stays the course.

I've never missed an episode of Geeks Shall Inherit too, but there's been dead air since July, is the podcast that was formerly a weekly thing back in the day gone for good?

You should check out the Legion of Dans podcast. It has Daniel Pickett on it

http://www.legionofdans.com

And of course the fire and water podcast with our own Rob Kelly

http://fireandwaterpodcast.blogspot.com/?m=1

Love Irwin Allen I watched every episode of the Time Tunnel I agree it wasn't essential viewing and the episodes set in the future were very blah and the Aliens all looked the same. The Billy the kid and Machiavelli episodes were my favorites.

[palitoy]

I've downloaded it and the episode will be queued inside my MP3 player for work Monday. I haven't missed an episode ever. I've also noticed the conversation has gradually become better balanced so both voices are heard over time so I hope that stays the course.

Yeah, I've gotten some better software in the last few shows that is pretty fantastic. Both Jason and myself are also purchasing new equipment, he's starting a music based pod cast in the coming months and I want to make more video shorts.

[jacoblb]

To clarify, I do listen to the Legion of Dans. In my opinion, I think 3 voices are plenty, but that's me even in social circles. There are exceptions though, the Aw Yeah pod is fine with distinct voices from: John, Art, Franco, and Scott. I feel the same way about convention panels, unless the moderator is really good about getting everyone involved and talking in a conversation, I've seen and heard many where a talented contributor to a (say, Nerdist Writers) panel was simply a warm body in a seat because of too many guests.

I mean no disrespect to Jason, he has a great mind and always brings good discussion (and I support BBP when I can) , I just think, in retrospect, he talks more than his fair share compared to his co-hosts. That's what I was getting at, not about being unable to hear to hear J or B from a software/hardware POV. I know conversations can never go 50/50 at any given time. And I realize it's often unfair to compare podcasts but I would cite how Daniel P often seemed to use an outline for talking points and many of the latter episodes he would shrug and wouldn't get to the remaining content because...well, another voice dominated the discussion and ate away time. Obviously, I'm not privy as to why episodes ceased to exist since July, I'm sure they're more scheduling issues, rather than behind the scene politics, but I often wondered if DP felt he can't get a word in edgewise. Again, no disrespect intended. It'd seem liked a dozen bullet points on the outline were planned and after an hour only 3 items got addressed. Again, I don't think PS has had this issue of late. Um, am I the only one who thought most GSI discussions are like 80:20 or some weird split? I hope I haven't come across as a rude jerk, I am a fan of the shows, but I know too well I make unusual observations most might not...or would keep to themselves.

[palitoy]

Not my place to discuss another show, I don't personally know all parties and have no insight.

I don't know how people feel about our show but I really enjoy making them and how they turn out. They are made for fun, I'm satisfied with what Jason and I do and I have no thoughts past it being a positive outlet in my life.

Sometimes J's more involved in a subject than me and he steers the ship, I'm grateful. I know that feeling is mutual.

[Mr.Marion]

To clarify, I do listen to the Legion of Dans. In my opinion, I think 3 voices are plenty, but that's me even in social circles. There are exceptions though, the Aw Yeah pod is fine with distinct voices from: John, Art, Franco, and Scott. I feel the same way about convention panels, unless the moderator is really good about getting everyone involved and talking in a conversation, I've seen and heard many where a talented contributor to a (say, Nerdist Writers) panel was simply a warm body in a seat because of too many guests.

I mean no disrespect to Jason, he has a great mind and always brings good discussion (and I support BBP when I can) , I just think, in retrospect, he talks more than his fair share compared to his co-hosts. That's what I was getting at, not about being unable to hear to hear J or B from a software/hardware POV. I know conversations can never go 50/50 at any given time. And I realize it's often unfair to compare podcasts but I would cite how Daniel P often seemed to use an outline for talking points and many of the latter episodes he would shrug and wouldn't get to the remaining content because...well, another voice dominated the discussion and ate away time. Obviously, I'm not privy as to why episodes ceased to exist since July, I'm sure they're more scheduling issues, rather than behind the scene politics, but I often wondered if DP felt he can't get a word in edgewise. Again, no disrespect intended. It'd seem liked a dozen bullet points on the outline were planned and after an hour only 3 items got addressed. Again, I don't think PS has had this issue of late. Um, am I the only one who thought most GSI discussions are like 80:20 or some weird split? I hope I haven't come across as a rude jerk, I am a fan of the shows, but I know too well I make unusual observations most might not...or would keep to themselves.

Yeah over 3 people is over doing it and you lose track of who the players talking are sometimes.
I don't think personal obscure interest podcasts are meant to be dissected for perfection but rather delivered for interested parties to hear.