As creative fuel, boredom is underrated.
Harris was a jobbing character actor, middle-aged, theater career and then a TV career.
(All quotes fromthis mesmerizing video.
Credit: Everett Collection; Netflix
Harris died in 2002, after a career that stretched from prewar to Pixar.)
Introduced as a straightfaced baddie, Smith got pushed toward comedy by Harris.
He was prone to insult outbursts Jabbering jackanapes!
an idea of evil too pitiful to seem believable.
Harris would usually credit himself with the full creation of the iconic version of Dr. Smith.
This sounds like actorly vanity, but nobody disagrees.
The shows producer, Irwin Allen, liked what he saw, told Harris to keep it up.
AndLost in Spacetilted its axis toward Harris gravity.
Any notion of the series as a believable science-fiction odyssey went out the window.
Ma and Pa Robinson are halfway divorced.
The robot was a talking trash can, and now it looks likethe Guyver.
And then theres Parker Posey.
Its not quite a good character.
Poseys Smith has a dark backstory, an origin which is also her main topic of conversation.
You get the idea here:Lets give our villain some MOTIVATION.
Fine, but consider: Maybe part of what made Jonathan Harris so delightful was Smiths lack of motivation.
He would betray the Robinsons on the spur of any moment.
His motivation was Harris motivation, and Harris motivation wasdont be boring.
(And why would they still let you live in close proximity to their children?)
Then she pairs up with Ignacio Serricchios Don West.
They go on a long walk.
(This newLost in Spaceis full of long walks, and is itself a long walk.)
Don keeps saying hes a bad person while constantly proving hes a decent person.
He rescues a human.
He rescues a chicken.
Parker still has that unexpected way of turning dialogue sideways.
But I know youre a good person.
Look how you saved this chicken.
Look how you saved this chicken!Its possible that Smiths joking at that moment.
(Much of her treachery across season 1 is explicable only because shes trolling every other character.)
Along the margins, Posey gets funky.
The show doesnt seem to know what to do with Posey.
But the originalLost in Spacedidnt really get Dr. Smith until Jonathan Harris created him.
If theres a season 2, I hope they let Poseys Smith run equally wild.
