would a longer run have had producers build more sets

[Redfern]

If you think that a third deck on a ship that looks about 1 and 1/2 decks deep is amazing that third deck had a sort of a well that someone fell down into, implying an even lower deck below!!.

In the 90s, Bill Mumy worked with Innovation Comics (and indie firm that did not last too long) to print a "Lost in Space" title that takes place a couple of years after the end of the series. Mumy wrote it. One thing he did was to have the Jupiter program reverse engineered from alien technology , a "UFO" that crashed on Earth. This helped rationalize how Earth could have such advanced tech by the mid 90s. Okay, getting stupidly silly for a moment, maybe in addition to that "fusion core hyperdrive", maybe humans derived a limited form of "trans-dimensional engineering" (read: TARDIS tech) from the wreckage, thus explaining that impossible lower, crew deck and that "are you kidding me?!" engineering deck...with a chasm like "well".

 

[ZapBrannigan]

If you think that a third deck on a ship that looks about 1 and 1/2 decks deep is amazing that third deck had a sort of a well that someone fell down into, implying an even lower deck below!!.

The Space Creature did not necessarily fall down a "chasm" contained within the ship. He may have fallen into the open top part of the Double-talk Generator, whose super energies reduced his body to a mist, and flushed it out through the swirly lit thing on the underside of the Jupiter 2.

But it remains true that understanding the Jupiter 2's internal volume requires non-Euclidean, Irwin Allenian geometry. Allen was some kind of genius; most people can't do the math.

Another thing I'd like to say about "The Space Creature" is that it's a truly great episode of Lost in Space:

- The J2 interiors are featured tremendously, especially the less-often seen lower deck. The color photography is wonderful.

- The ship takes on a haunted house vibe, and the new Power Core adds to that, like creeping down to a spooky dungeon.

- Bill Mumy gets to act his heart out, and he was easily one of the most talented child actors of the era.

- Best of all, there's an extended sequence scored with John Williams' "Countdown" cue, and if you loved that music, you never missed this episode in syndication.

"The Space Creature" was great television regardless, but by the standards of Lost in Space, it was a masterpiece.

 

[Henoch]

Okay, getting stupidly silly for a moment, maybe in addition to that "fusion core hyperdrive", maybe humans derived a limited form of "trans-dimensional engineering" (read: TARDIS tech) from the wreckage, thus explaining that impossible lower, crew deck and that "are you kidding me?!" engineering deck...with a chasm like "well".

Maybe the lower "fusion core hyperdrive" section was normally retracted up into the bottom of the ship, but it was able to telescope down for repairs/maintenance. There was plenty of room under the ship when it was on its landing legs.

 

[Tenacity]

It was also largely cobbled together from stock components that appeared in many other episodes and other shows shot on the Fox lot.

The "control panels" on either side of the room look like they came from Time Tunnel

 

[Push The Button]

The Space Creature did not necessarily fall down a "chasm" contained within the ship. He may have fallen into the open top part of the Double-talk Generator, whose super energies reduced his body to a mist, and flushed it out through the swirly lit thing on the underside of the Jupiter 2.

But it remains true that understanding the Jupiter 2's internal volume requires non-Euclidean, Irwin Allenian geometry. Allen was some kind of genius; most people can't do the math.

I watched Forbidden Planet a few nights ago. The C-57D also appears to be larger on the inside than the outside, especially considering the size of the tractor and anti-aircraft guns that the ship carries.

 

[Talos IV]

"The Space Creature" was great television regardless, but by the standards of Lost in Space, it was a masterpiece.

Imagine this: Lost in Space is your favorite show in reruns growing up (the 1970s), but it's shown just once a week on your local station. "Space Creature" is one of the few color episodes I would get generally excited about when I knew it was coming back around. Maybe the most excited.

The power core ... that music ... the storyline. Too great.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The "control panels" on either side of the room look like they came from Time Tunnel

"The AN/FSQ-7 was a key component of the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system used to track and intercept enemy bombers in the late fifties and sixties."
http://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=73
http://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=73#689

Those huge SAGE panels were gorgeous but already-obsolete 1950s mainframe equipment. That's how 20th Century Fox could afford to feature them in so many productions. [Even more common was the winky-blinky B-205 console, three of which sit in the Jupiter 2's front windshield, and in the Batcave, and in many other things from Fox. They were completely obsolete and therefore pretty cheap in those days.]

Back to the SAGE panels, they looked great in The Time Tunnel, but they looked their coolest aboard the Cylon Base Ship in Battlestar Galactica. They were shot so the panel lights would blow out a little and flare the lens. That's when you really know a computer is powerful:
http://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=73#565

That's a fantastic website, by the way, if you like the real computer hardware in TV and movies.

 

[Tenacity]

But can I get one for my apartment?

 

[Henoch]

I just noticed when watching Whom Gods Destroy, that some of the Elba Two corridors/door/console sets pieces were reused from the Romulan ship in The Enterprise Incident. Building the Romulan ship interior on another sound stage must have been pricey. I thought it looked good in both episodes, even if it resembled the Enterprise slightly with different color paints and no curved corridors.

 

[Phaser Two]

I just noticed when watching Whom Gods Destroy, that some of the Elba Two corridors/door/console sets pieces were reused from the Romulan ship in The Enterprise Incident. Building the Romulan ship interior on another sound stage must have been pricey. I thought it looked good in both episodes, even if it resembled the Enterprise slightly with different color paints and no curved corridors.

Good catch! (The control room or whatever it was on Elba II was cool also. It didn't look like the Enterprise.)

Yeah, I thought they did the Romulan ship interiors quite well. I just pretend it wasn't a Klingon D7 since that - along with most of the episode - was so dumb.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I just noticed when watching Whom Gods Destroy, that some of the Elba Two corridors/door/console sets pieces were reused from the Romulan ship in The Enterprise Incident. Building the Romulan ship interior on another sound stage must have been pricey. I thought it looked good in both episodes, even if it resembled the Enterprise slightly with different color paints and no curved corridors.

Those episodes were filmed about 12 weeks apart, so they must have stored away the pieces for re-assembly later.

 

[Maurice]

From "The Enterprise Incident" shooting schedule you'd think the Romulan bridge was on Gower Stage 9 with the Enterprise sets, and the remaining Romulan sets on Stage 3, but the call sheets and production reports indicate all the Romulan sets were on Stage 3. Stage 3 was a smaller stage, located just a bit south of the dedicated Star Trek sets.

 

[publiusr]

Now as for the Jupiter II, I can one day see an aero shell that can splash down, and accordion itself, with bellows, into a tall cylinder. The fitting out? That sounds like Capsule Co tech from Dragonball