"
You wrote a Episode of Lost In Space. Tell me about your experience on Lost in Space."
Ted Sturgeon: "I summited a idea about a planet that seem to be a paradise and then it turns out that the planet is a Amusement Park Planet.
Any thing that they image, can come to life
I hated the Character of Doctor Smith and the Robot so I had Doctor Smith see the first appearance of the Rabbit and Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Then He ran back to the ship and hid for the rest of the episode and The Robot starts to malfunctions and shut down."
"Professor Robinson and his Wife remember when they were first dating and the man that Maureen was dating before they were together. The Man shows up and Proffesor Robinson become jealous as Maureen seem to be overly friendly with him.
Judy meets a Young Man and fall for him. Don goes looking for Judy and find her but she behaving strangely .
And Will and Penny find them selves dealing with Pirates and a Don Quixote style Knight."
"Professor Robinson end up in a fist fight with Maureen's Ex Boyfriend .
Don discovers that the Judy he is with is not the real one. He find the real one and admits his feelings for her.
But then they see Will and Penny running away from the Pirates and suddenly Will get shot by one of the Pirates.
He dies in his Father arms. "
"As the Robinsons are dealing with the grief of Will's Death, His body disappears. They realize that the planet is some kind of a advance amusement park.
A old man shows up and tell them that they are right. Then Will appears alive again. The planet use it advance technology to bring him back. He also tells them that they have fix the Robot who try to interact with the computer that runs the planet and malfunctioned.
The Robinson have dealt with their suppressed feelings. They Leave the planet having learned something about themselves."
"That was the outline that I sold to the Lost in Space Show. It was a fun Script that developed the Characters."
"And the episode that was filmed was very different?"
Ted Sturgeon: " They changed just about every thing. The only thing in the episode that was in my Script was Dr. Smith see Alice and the Rabbit and then hiding in the Jupiter 2.
They titled the episode "The Space Amusement Park"
I describes the planet as a peaceful forest planet. They instead made the planet a abandon amusement part with broken down rides.
Instead of Maureen ex boyfriend and Professor Robinson dealing with old feeling of jealousy, they are attack by a evil Clown.
Judy does not find her idea boyfriend instead she meets a member of a circus.
The Judy double shows up wearing a circus style outfit and is clearly a Android. It clearly not Judy .
And instead of the Robot malfunctioning, It has a romance with a Female Robot."
"And there is no pay off. No one learns anything or deals with their emotions.
Don does not admit his feeling to Judy.
And Will is not killed. Instead he breaks his arm."
"
So There was nothing you like of the episode?"
Ted Sturgeon : "The only things that I like was that they keep the idea that Doctor Smith getting scared and hiding in the Jupiter Two and the fight between the Clown and Professor Robinson. The Director Don Richardson did shot the Fight on the Marry Go Round.
There was a feeling of things going out of control on the Marry Go Round as the fight happens and it speed ups. "
"It was so bad that I have never return to do any more writing for Television. Some Friends have try to get me to write for some others shows. George Clayton Johnson and Richard Matheson both encourage me to write for Star Trek. But I just did not want to deal with the trouble that writing for a Television show entails. It just not worth it."
Interview with Ted Sturgeon in Locus Magazine May 1984.
Matte Painting for the Lost in Space Episode "The Space Amusement Park." done by Wah Chang.
