Netflix’s reboot of Lost in Space is coming this April (trailers inside)

(An update is available below, after the first trailer)

You might have been around as a kid when Lost in Space launched in the 1960’s, so many years ago (sorry, I had to say it), or like me, you might have been raised with all of the reruns many years after–the knowledge proudly passed down to you by your parents or someone similarly cool enough to do such a thing.

It was a fantastic series for its time, competing against the likes of similar space-themed shows like the original Star Trek (which premiered a year after Lost in Space’s first episode), Lost in Space offered a more campier approach to space that the whole family could enjoy. Kind of like a mashup between Star Trek and The Brady Bunch–only unlike the Brady Bunch, Lost in Space wasn’t terrible (I know, everyone has their own opinion).

One thing is for sure, if you haven’t heard of Lost in Space, you either have no interest in the classics, or have been living under a rock. I just hope that rock has been good to you all this time. Thankfully, if you have been under a rock, here is your chance to move out and see some of that light.

The show is back with a brand new reboot, bringing Lost in Space into the modern age of graphics and future theory. The 50th anniversary missed by only three years, the new series will make an attempt to create a fresh new image for the show (technically giving it franchise status now).

An attempt was made to bring Lost in Space to the big screen back in 1998, which sadly failed miserably, despite it being a fun movie in general filled with wonderful effects. The problem was that they deviated so far from the original content and got weird with it, losing the interest of the original fans (they even completely changed the design of the Jupiter Two ship, despite being warned not to do so). Again though, it was still a fun movie at least, with some really great quotes, wonderful special effects, and at least made for an attempt to bring back something great.

“Last one to kill a bad guy buys the beer!” — Maj. Don West

Now 20 years after the movie (and 53 years since the original show premiered), Netflix hopes to pull off what the movie could not. They seem to be leaning towards a more modern approach to the original series, combining some of the qualities of the movie (like effects and a slightly darker tone) into the mix. Obviously many things will be different when it comes to space and alien planets based on modern science.

Since this is a complete reboot of the series, they have taken the opportunity to change certain elements of the original. One of these was a bold move to change Dr. Zachary Smith’s character to a female, now being played by Parker Posey. They apparently didn’t want to chance replacing the legendary Jonathan Harris with a male actor that the audience would subconsciously obsess over by constantly comparing him to the original. Using a female character helps to completely reboot the position, allowing for a fresh canvas (while hopefully still sticking to all of those wonderful characteristics that made the Dr. who he was).

The trailer is now available and can be found just below. It is tough to say what the ship will look like in the new series, but based on the limited views we have in the trailer, it’s easy to assume that they will be leaning towards a design familiar to the original series. We don’t have any looks at the robot as it isn’t visually featured just yet, but you will get a chance to hear its new voice toward the end of the trailer (which definitely sounds more robotic this round), just after the chilling cameo of the familiar theme song at the point the series title hits the screen. Hopefully the robot will be comparable to the original and not rudely redesigned into something less likable or friendly. We also don’t get to see the new Dr. Smith just yet.

Get ready to get your excited giggles on, here is the first official trailer: (an update is available below)

Update: Netflix has launched the new trailer that finally shows the robot, Dr. Smith and the ship.

Based on what we can see, we can’t quite tell much about Smith, other than what she looks like, and has what appears to be the personality required for the job. The robot features a humanoid-like shape and will be alien in origin, and the ship seems to feel more like a cross between the movies and the series (hmmm).

No matter what, watching the new trailer does give the idea that the show might be quite entertaining. The pieces of the original score hinted throughout, can give a fan pleasant chills of nostalgia.

As for the robot, this is quite a change from the original in both design and background. A daring move by them, but at the same time, something similar to the original robot might have the new generations flipping to the next series wondering what the heck they were just watching–while at the same time, possibly offending the original fans. One thing is for sure is that there will be a lot of debate on this topic, just like the 2004-2009 remake of Battlestar Galactica, which seems to be the direction of change the creators (Irwin Allen, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless) are looking for.

And now of course, for the new trailer