Product Description

This second volume covers Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Return of Catain Nemo, Man From the 25th Century, City Beneath the Sea, and The Time Travellers. Each show is explored in depth with articles and reviews, comprehensive notes on every episode of each series, actor biographies, interviews with the stars, coverage of never-before-seen episodes, a review of Irwin's career, an Irwin Allen Collectables Guide, and more. 240 pages, over 100 photos, perfect bound, full color cover.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #777004 in Books
• Published on: 1992-01-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

decent episode/trivia guide
This book is not as insulting to Lost in Space as the previous review says, however fans of Land of the Giants may want to steer clear of this book as the author continually makes reference to it being, in his view, the worst of Irwin Allen's series. (I myself have never viewed the show and have no idea). Also, it is correct that a number of irrelevant comparisions to Star Trek are made, but unfortunately these are inevitable given the rivarly between the two shows. (However LIS fans know the right choice)

This volume contains reviews of all the episodes of both series along with a notes section which has interesting little behind-the-scenes or continuity tidbits which are useful to fans. There are also extensive interviews with some of the cast members for each show- there were some pretty nice ones with Johnathon Harris and Billy Mumy.

There is further information on a number of failed projects Irwin attempted later on in his career, most of which would not have been heard of or forgotten -City Beneath the Sea, Man from the 25th Century, The Time Travellers. There are also notes for two series that were really in the wrong place and the wrong time- Return of Captain nemo and The Swiss Family Robinson- the former would have done very well in the 60s, the latter, sadly crushed by 60 Minutes after two series despite being a very good show.

There are no color illustrations or text throughout the whole book but there are some very nice full page b/w photographs as well as smaller ones dotted throughout.

A good enough book for those who want to learn more about the shows, but the die-hard fans of LIS should get a copy of the magnificent Lost in Space Handbook to get more techinical and in-depth information.

Lots of information, lots of photos, lots of fun
I got this recently, and I'm glad I did. This book has extensive coverage of both Lost in Space and Land of the Giants, including interviews, photos, episode guides, and so on. Also covered are some of Irwin Allen's other projects, such as the seldom seen "City Beneath the Sea," "The Man From the 25th Century," and "Swiss Family Robinson."

I especially liked the coverage of Irwin Allen clooectibles. I had some of that stuff when I was a kid, but most of it I'm seeing for the first time.

My interests are mainly in LIS, but the LOTG section is just as interesting, to the point that I'm hoping that AFL decided to rerun the show again, just so I can see the episodes.

My favorite thing to do with this book is to flip through it at randsom and start reading. I keep finding out things I didn't know before.

As for the comparisons between LIS and Trek that another reviewer whined about, the two shows are linked. Both had similar histories: an unaired pilot that was later cut up and edited into other episodes, and both lasting exactly three seasons. Both shows placed scientific accuracy on the back burner: with both shows, rousing good entertainment was first and foremost. And both shows succeeded.

This is a great book, and a definite must for fans of either LIS or LOTG.

WARNING! WARNING! DANGER! DANGER!
Why would anyone write a book about Lost in Space just to insult them? The Author says that Star Trek, never a rival to Lost In Space, was a better show, a lot better show, dispite production values that made it look like a high school production and special effects that bordered on the amateurish. If you're going to write a book with the intent of making money, why insult the reader and your customer? Why would anyone want to own a book that insults what they like? Star Trek books rarely if ever mention Lost In Space, and its usually a derogatory, one paragraph attack, so why should a book on Lost In Space even mention Star Trek? Its no secret that CBS liked Lost In Space better than they liked Gene Roddenberry's ideas for Star Trek, which was really just an updated version of Space Patrol. So Star Trek was not an original idea any more than Lost IN Space was. But CBS wanted a family show, a show that presented a REAL close knit family facing the elements alone in outer space, not a crew composed of racial and gender quotas. Its no secret either that Star Trek was a failure on commerical television too, while Lost In Space had no trouble maintaining its popularity for three successful years and was only canceled due to CBS wanting the budget reduced. Lost In Space, unlike Star Trek's extremely poor production values, was a very expensive show to produce. Irwin Allen had to take on four partners to produce the show, unlike the bare bones production of Star Trek in which Desilu productions financied the show. The only reason why Star Trek became popular was due to the reruns of the 1970s which resulted in a successful movie franchise. I didnt think this was a book that compared Star Trek to Lost In Space, but if you're a fan and want to own a book that insults what you like, than buy this book. There have been other authors like Gary Gerani, and John Peel and John Javna who were successful in writing and selling books that fling their venom at Lost IN Space and this book is really no different.