Question: I was a big Lost in Space fan as a kid. Watching reruns, I realized there was a big difference between the evil Dr. Smith from the first episodes and the funny Dr. Smith who came along later. What was the deal with that?
Answer: Elementary, you lugubrious lump... you pusillanimous pinhead! (Sorry, my inner Smith got the best of me there, Kevin.)
The simple answer is the one behind so many developments on your favorite shows, both old and new: ratings. As the story goes, actor Jonathan Harris, who played the no-good doctor, and the powers-that-be behind the show, one of many from legendary producer Irwin Allen, realized early on that the truly evil Dr. Smith would wear thin in no time. So although the character was merely sinister when the series launched on CBS in September 1965 — it was his sabotage that got
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Question: A recent episode of The Night Stalker had a scene of a boy sitting on a chair in front of a TV watching cartoons and it reminded me of a similar scene from a movie. I think it was a girl sitting in front of a TV watching cartoons, in a creepy house, and when they showed the front of her, she had no mouth. But I can't recall the movie; it may have had several stories in it, but I'm not sure. Can you help?
Answer: I can. You're remembering the "It's a Good Life" segment of Twilight Zone — The Movie (1983). Adapted from a classic episode of the original Twilight Zone TV series and directed by Joe Dante, it revolves around a small boy (Billy Mumy in the original TV episode, Jeremy Licht in the movie
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