Fugitives in Space could have been excellent but is marred by too much "camp" and some Three Stooges level antics. With out that non-sense, this would have been a "10".
It starts out great: Dr. Smith is forced to help an escaped convict get away. When the warden arrives, he lies an implicates Major West. They are both tried and sent to prison for life.
The Positives:
The storyline is excellent; Creech the escaped convict (played by Michael Conrad) is excellent; The Planet of The Apes make-up is excellent; The back & forth between Dr. Smith and Major West is top-notch; The scenery is great; The Warden and his flunkies are actually pretty good minus the camp; The fighting between Major West and Creech are well done; And the finale works well.
The Negatives:
While Dr. Smith and Major West are in prison, The Robot acts like a buffoon while baking a cake. It then explodes all over The Robot (Three Stooges style).
The campy one-liners by the Warden don't fit.
When Creech wants to escape he pops Major West on the head with a sledge hammer and a little later he smashed a boulder the size of a basketball over his head! The sledge hammer was violent and certainly would have caused a concussion. However, the boulder would have probably killed Major West unless they are both assumed to be Moe and Curley antics!
If played straight, the sledge hammer scene could have worked, coming from a violent criminal, however the boulder smash is out of line.
PS: Prof Robinson and Mrs. Robinson are not in this episode or Space Beauty. Legend has it this is either due to Guy and June laughing at "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" (which was made directly prior to these two) and/ or Irwin Allen's "trail balloon" to see if he could continue without them and cut costs for a Season Four. Reference Marc Cushman's book for details.
It starts out great: Dr. Smith is forced to help an escaped convict get away. When the warden arrives, he lies an implicates Major West. They are both tried and sent to prison for life.
The Positives:
The storyline is excellent; Creech the escaped convict (played by Michael Conrad) is excellent; The Planet of The Apes make-up is excellent; The back & forth between Dr. Smith and Major West is top-notch; The scenery is great; The Warden and his flunkies are actually pretty good minus the camp; The fighting between Major West and Creech are well done; And the finale works well.
The Negatives:
While Dr. Smith and Major West are in prison, The Robot acts like a buffoon while baking a cake. It then explodes all over The Robot (Three Stooges style).
The campy one-liners by the Warden don't fit.
When Creech wants to escape he pops Major West on the head with a sledge hammer and a little later he smashed a boulder the size of a basketball over his head! The sledge hammer was violent and certainly would have caused a concussion. However, the boulder would have probably killed Major West unless they are both assumed to be Moe and Curley antics!
If played straight, the sledge hammer scene could have worked, coming from a violent criminal, however the boulder smash is out of line.
PS: Prof Robinson and Mrs. Robinson are not in this episode or Space Beauty. Legend has it this is either due to Guy and June laughing at "The Great Vegetable Rebellion" (which was made directly prior to these two) and/ or Irwin Allen's "trail balloon" to see if he could continue without them and cut costs for a Season Four. Reference Marc Cushman's book for details.
