Kimberly, my intent was to draw a distinction between a "pilot" and a "first episode". A "pilot", saith the dictionary (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pilot), is "A television program produced as a prototype of a series being considered for adoption by a network." Clearly, this is exactly what "No Place to Hide" was -- and "The Reluctant Stowaway" was not. Furthermore, even if one rejects the factor of intent and holds that a pilot and a first episode are synonymous, one runs into several complications here. First is the general problem that there can be only ONE first of anything (excluding the case of ties, of course!); hence it makes no sense to speak of there being two pilots (= first episodes). The second problem is that when you write of "NPtH" first airing 9/8/1965 (and both that and "TRS" airing in the 1960s), you are, to employ the technical term, wrong -- and so is Hulu, which I'm guessing was your source for that assertion. The only audience per se "NPtH" had in the 1960s was the group of CBS bigwigs who decided to buy the series if a couple tweaks (Smith, the Robot) were made; the result was "TRS". Finally, consider this: would even someone as notoriously disdainful of logic and continuity as Irwin Allen allow "NPtH" to air one week and "TRS" -- with (1) two entirely new characters, both integral to the plot, (2) a quite different and indeed contradictory plot, (3) a plot that corresponds to only the first few minutes of "NPtH", so that viewers would presumably then have a pretty good sense of what to expect for the next few weeks of episodes, (4) a differently named spaceship, and (5) different theme music -- to air the VERY NEXT WEEK? In a word, no. "NPtH" finally saw the light of day (officially, anyhow) only in 1996 when aired on the Sci-Fi Channel and also made available on VHS from Columbia House (I forget which came first).Q.E.D., then? If you still have any doubts, just ask Bill Mumy! :-)   See 5 other replies

No there were two pilots and both air in the 60's. No Place To Hide Aired 9/8/1965 and The Reluctant Stowaway aired 9/15/1965   See 5 other replies

I think Lost in Space suffered a buget problem after season one. Notice that they reused alot of the props just gave them new names. Yes season one was much better then 2 or 3   See 5 other replies

Just to clarify: there was only one pilot, the never-aired (at least in the 1960s) "No Place to Hide"; "The Reluctant Stowaway" is simply the first episode. The former was made exclusively to persuade network execs to buy the series and is more a rapid succession of spectacles than a well-plotted story. tombarna, above, correctly describes the rationale for adding Dr. Smith and the Robot. As for the show's decline into camp, that was a misguided (imho) attempt to compete with "Batman" after the first season -- well, that and the fact that Jonathan Harris had already mutated the Smith character into a comedic, rather than bloodthirsty, villain.   See 5 other replies

Yes....the series was picked up after the original pilot was made...but execs wanted to add an antogonist to help in future script (more interesting--more possible direction) as the original was just a bit too sweet. Also note the change in the sound track in the second pilot. And of course the robot made it all a bit more interesting---a kind of Frankenstein that later befriends a child (Will). The problem ultimately with the series--as is the case with all series is that the scripts went too campy and become uninteresting from a scientific perspective. The series evolved in to a fantasy blah which was too sad---as the original concept was more stimulating. Looked better in B/W than color. special effects aren't bad for a TV show of the mid 60s.   See 5 other replies

I agree the first season was very good the 2nd and 3rd seasons got campy and stupid, I like the villian Dr. Smith not the wimpy winey one that appeared during the mid point of season !   See 1 other reply

Does any one know why they did two pilots? I thought that episode one was more interesting. I wonder were the story line would have gone. Teaching Christianity to the bald headed guys? Who knows If the bald headed civilization didn't convert the Robinsons would have giving them small pox infested blankets.   See 5 other replies