We kids used to love to watch this guy. There is so much there to detest. Cowardice, greed, treachery, efficacy, opportunism, pretentiousness, laziness...
Dr.Smith: The man you love to hate
- Thread starter Arthur Frayn
- Start date
He was a man ahead of his time.
He was easy to hate. The woman in the new version was easy to hate as well. Sleazy and slimy.
And somehow, David Lee Roth now looks like him. 
Nice move. You managed to bring Van Halen into this.And somehow, David Lee Roth now looks like him.
Never did like him and his brothers cough drops. Ludens were better because they were made by luddites. (see? smart ass all the time here)
Interestingly David Lee Roth revolutionized how bands played large events.And somehow, David Lee Roth now looks like him.
He was extremely involved in all the logistics and set trends that are still in common practice.
Now back to hating that asshat Smith.
A detestable villain is a prerequisite for a good show. This is the basic tenet of professional wrestling.
Yes. That is so true.
It strikes me that the because the character's unique collection of loathsome qualities, he was a standard bearer for everything NOT to be a a young male in the 1960's. Greed, small mindedness, scheming, effeminacy, selfishness, cowardice, weakness, prissiness, squishiness, sloth, avoidance of all responsibility, etc.
Like all the 7 deadly sins rolled into one person, plus some. It's difficult to imagine the developers of today's programing creating such a scapegoat in a character. I suppose that type of social engineering worked to some extent on us. He was everything a boy didn't want to be seen as being.
It's interesting how much they changed the character. In the pilot he was evil and calculating. Following episodes turned him into more of an annoyance than a villain.
As a kid he was more amusing to me, now the “Bumble” in the maiden voyage of Rudolph when I was little or those flying monkeys in TWOO, which I have refused to watch since adolescence - scary stuff.
To this day, and after 50+ years of practice, my cousin - now aged 59 - can still do a spot-on, gut-busting ad-lib imitation of Dr Smith (Johnathan Harris) at the Thanksgiving table or whenever the mood strikes him.
I think the greatest evidence of the effectiveness of the over-the-top insanity of Johnathan Harris' talent, is when Irwin Allen tried to recreate the success of the same character and formula dynamic with the character of Mr Fitzhugh for his other 1960s Action/Adventure - SciFi series, Land of the Giants, with veteran Australian-American actor Kurt Kaszner - and the dynamic with the young boy character - played by Stefan Arngrim - it simply didn't play.
The difference? Johnathan Harris was essentially insane LOL!!
Being the more sophisticated actor does not make one the better Entertainer.
Proof? Compare the Mumy/Harris interplay on Lost in Space, with that of the Arngrim/Kaszner interplay on Land of the Giants.
It simply didn't come off as intended; BUT, "Never fear... SMITH, is here!!!", Saturday nights on MeTV as part of their Sci-Fi Saturday Night line-up, along with Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and even Kolchak, the night stalker.
I'm usually parked in my recliner every Saturday night from 10pm and onto the wee hours of the morning, smoking my pipe and enjoying all these old favorites. - Sherm Natman
I think the greatest evidence of the effectiveness of the over-the-top insanity of Johnathan Harris' talent, is when Irwin Allen tried to recreate the success of the same character and formula dynamic with the character of Mr Fitzhugh for his other 1960s Action/Adventure - SciFi series, Land of the Giants, with veteran Australian-American actor Kurt Kaszner - and the dynamic with the young boy character - played by Stefan Arngrim - it simply didn't play.
The difference? Johnathan Harris was essentially insane LOL!!
Being the more sophisticated actor does not make one the better Entertainer.
Proof? Compare the Mumy/Harris interplay on Lost in Space, with that of the Arngrim/Kaszner interplay on Land of the Giants.
It simply didn't come off as intended; BUT, "Never fear... SMITH, is here!!!", Saturday nights on MeTV as part of their Sci-Fi Saturday Night line-up, along with Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and even Kolchak, the night stalker.
I'm usually parked in my recliner every Saturday night from 10pm and onto the wee hours of the morning, smoking my pipe and enjoying all these old favorites. - Sherm Natman
Kolchak, the night stalker. Now that was an awesome show.