Fav SciFi Duos: The Robot & Dr. Smith
If you’re going to put a comedy duo smack dab in the middle of a sci-fi kids show, what better straight man could you have than a cool, calculating robot? When Lost In Space first premiered on US television in 1963, producers soon realized they had a classic comedy team in Doctor Zachary Smith, played with scene chewing panache by Jonathan Harris, and the B-9 Robot, voiced by Dick Tufeld.
As the show progressed over its 3 season run, the relationship between Dr. Smith and the Robot turned from one of creator and progeny to that more akin to Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. The Robot served as the perfect straight man to Dr. Smith’s increasingly outlandish jibes and insults and viewers loved every minute of it.
I can’t count how many times Doctor Smith got himself and Will Robinson into trouble and how many times the Robot would have to come to the rescue. And no matter how many times the pair would verbally joust, Smith always seemed to have a new name to call the Robot. “Bubble-headed Booby” was one of the most beloved, but there were many, many more. I think one of the reasons why kids like myself always loved the duo was that no matter how badly they insulted each other, in the end, they would always have the other’s best interests at heart. Plus, the Robot was just plain cool.