Lost in Space Design: 'No Place to Hide'

by Robert Rowe, Jack Hagerty (Editor)

Industry insider Robert Rowe was given unprecedented access to the Fox Television archives when he started researching Lost in Space in the mid 80s. For over a decade, he continued to pore over production documents and interview the craftsmen responsible for creating the show. The result was the 'Jupiter 2 Repair Manual,' a guide on the workings of the ship for the writers of the stillborn LiS reunion TV special. Fans of the show will be eternally grateful for Robert's efforts since those archives are no longer accessible, and most of the people responsible for the series are no longer with us. To make this invaluable information available to the show's fans world-wide, Robert has expanded the J2RM into a series of Lost in Space Design books. This first one covers the creation of the original pilot episode, 'No Place to Hide.'

80 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

Reviews

[Jim Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost in Space Design: No Place to Hide is a detailed look at the pilot episode of Lost in Space. The book lightly covers every aspect of production of the Lost in Space pilot from pre-production and Irwin Allen’s vision of it as a Swiss Family Robinson in space to the screenplay, to second unit filming, and interior diagrams of the Jupiter 2 (also see my review for Lost in Space: The Jupiter 2 Technical Guide).

I was born during the space race, it was part of my childhood to see the real-life lift-offs and splash downs of the space program from the Gemini program (the earliest I can remember) through Apollo, and I was also watching man’s leap into space on TV through Lost in Space and Star Trek. In reading the analysis of the screenplay included in Lost in Space Design: No Place to Hide it’s clear the writers of the show needed a basic course in science fact, such as, they didn’t even know the escape velocity a rocket needed to escape Earth’s gravity. But then, I’m sure to the average viewer of the time, the speeds and millions of miles in distance sounded right to them so it didn’t matter. One thing I found interesting is that Irwin Allen thought he WAS creating a scientifically sound show until a studio executive laughed during a screening, it was then that Allen fully committed to the entertainment value and left facts to the more Earthly space race.

Filled with production stills from the show, (including behind the scenes pictures), diagrams and color illustrations are enough to satisfy the die-hard detail oriented fan. Author Robert Rowe even goes to Red Rock Canyon in California to track down some of the actual locations used in shooting No Where to Hide.

For Lost in Space fans it’s a natural starting point to their discovering more about their favorite 1960’s space opera.

[Christopher Obert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting account of the script and set designs behind “No Place to Hide”, the pilot for the TV series “Lost in Space.” The book includes many great photos and images taken behind the scenes, many of them in full color. The book lists the name of the instruments and systems on the Gemini 12 (aka Jupiter 2) and how the lower deck came to be. The book has a few wonderful surprises including three color cover images from the Gold Key Space Family Robinson comic books, as well as an image of the snow cat that the Chariot was made out of. There were a few items I would have liked to have seen included in the book, such as a full script and images of the original studio drawings.