LOST IN SPACE Newswatch
Welcome to my new website. I get a lot of LOST IN SPACE related news in my e mail box each week. I'll put up the most relevant updates here.
Update: 1/28/05
Variety had an article about an award that William J. Creber, art director for the LIS pilot, will be receiving. Read the entire text of the article here.
"HOLLYWOOD -- The Art Directors Guild has tapped three-time Oscar nominee William J. Creber to receive its lifetime achievement award. ..
"His TV credits include "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Lost in Space," "The Time Tunnel" and "The Last Brickmaker in America," which won the ADGADG Award in 2001 for a TV movie or miniseries."
Update: 1/27/05
An article in the Las Vegas Mercury about
actor Felix Silla also mentioned Vitina Marcus (Lorelei/Athena) from LOST IN SPACE.
"Marcus got her break as a showgirl on
"The Jackie Gleason Show," but is no doubt best
remembered for the two appearances she made on "Lost in
Space" as the so-called Green Lady.
"I think there were a lot of boys who
became enchanted with the Green Lady when they were very young,"
says Marcus, who briefly taught acting classes at UNLV. "Now
those little boys are 40-year-old men, and they still have that
same crush."
In 1969, Marcus and her daughter left
Hollywood to join a yoga ashram. Marcus, who now goes by the last
name Graham, eventually settled in North Las Vegas, where she
dabbles in real estate, homeopathic medicine and UFOs. She still
appears at the occasional science-fiction convention, but
generally keeps to herself, her pets and the "dark beings"
that have covertly intermingled with the human species.
"I couldn't stay in Hollywood,"
she says. "I'm weird, though. I wanted to get as far away
from it as possible.""
UPDATE: 1/7/05
PRESS RELEASE:
A VOYAGE OF A MILLION MILES...
Bubblehead Publishing To Complete Bill Mumy's Epic Saga In Time
For LOST in SPACE (r) 40th Anniversary
The classic cult TV show, Lost In Space will be reaching its
Fortieth Anniversary in 2005, and to commemorate this milestone
event in pop culture history, upstart publisher, Bubblehead
Publishing, is set to release a massive 360 page, full color
graphic novel collecting and completing Bill Mumy's epic twelve
part comic book adventure LOST IN SPACE: Voyage To The Bottom Of
The Soul, a mega-story originally published in serialized form by
Innovation Publishing in 1992-93 but left unfinished when the
publisher went out of business.
"It was a frustrating thing for me," says original
series editor, George Broderick, Jr. "This was a body of
work I was extremely proud to be working on... and then it just
stopped when the Comics Direct Market crashed after the
"speculator bubble" of the early 90's popped and we saw
the untimely demise of many publishers, Innovation among them. I
can't begin to imagine how Bill must've felt."
Broderick, Jr. continues, "This was a series that touched
all the bases with the fans. It had a tense, well-plotted
adventure story without all the 'silliness' of the TV series...
it had spot-on characterization by a writer who was there from
the beginning and knew these characters best, and it even
provided closure of a sort because the story begins with the
Robinsons finally reaching Alpha Centauri... their original goal
before they became 'Lost In Space'. Bill and I shopped it around
to other publishers, but the licensing rights became 'lost in
space' then, especially in light of the fact that the
merchandising rights to Lost In Space had just been transfered to
New Line Cinema. We finally had to admit defeat and put it behind
us."
That all changed in 2004 when John Severin, Jr., son of legendary
comic book and Cracked magazine artist John Severin, came into
the picture. John, along with business partner and sister Ruth
Larenas, had the notion to complete the remaining six chapters of
the story and, along with the original six issues, publish them
under one cover.
"It started out as my wanting to publish a retrospective of
my father's work," said Severin, Jr. "I'd worked in and
around the publishing industry for years, but had never dealt
with comic books per se, other than growing up with them as just
'something my father did for a living'. As I was researching
them, however, I happened to mention my plans to Bill Mumy, who
clued me in on the history of 'Voyage'. Something there resonated
with me, so Bill put me in touch with Kevin Burns and Jon Jashni
of Synthesis Entertainment who, in addition to being prolific
film and television producers in their own right, now controlled
the remake and licensing rights to 'Lost in Space' on behalf of
Space Productions and the Irwin Allen Estate. Kevin was a big fan
of the comic (having co-authored one of the earlier two-part
Innovation LIS stories with Bill) and was happy to make this a
reality. When we were able to reunite both the original editor,
George Broderick, Jr. and the original artist, Michal Dutkiewicz,
everything clicked and away we went."
"This sounded like such a fun project, I couldn't say
'no'," added Ruth Larenas, "and Bill, George and Michal
are such easygoing, fun guys to work with... and they have a real
passion for the material. We'd still like to do a project
celebrating my father's work, but as a first step into the world
of comics publishing, you can't get much better than Lost In
Space, especially when it's written by Will Robinson
himself!"
Current plans call for Bubblehead to release the graphic novel in
July 2005 at San Diego's Comic Con International, to coincide
with the Fourtieth Anniversary of Lost In Space, the TV series,
but advance pre-publication sales of the book will be available
on the company's internet commerce site www.lisvoyage.com.
Finally, writer/actor/musician Bill Mumy adds "I'm working
with some great people on this project. I'm so glad the original
team is back to finish "Voyage to the Bottom of the
Soul" properly. For over ten years fans have been asking me
how this huge story ended, wanting me to print the unpublished
second half of the scripts alone, but I didn't want to diminish
the piece that way. Michal's artwork looks great and I'm very
excited about it. I've always been proud of this story. You don't
have to be a fan of the old television show to get into this book
but those who are will especially enjoy it. It really advances
the classic arc of Lost in Space."
"Lost in Space"(r) is a registered trademark of Space
Productions. (c) Space Productions. Licensed by Synthesis
Entertainment. All rights reserved.
-30-
For additional information regarding Lost In Space: Voyage To The
Bottom Of The Soul, contact Bubblehead Publishing at:
[email protected]. Please include "LIS:Voyage" in
the subject line. Unidentified e-mails will be deleted unopened.
Update: 12/9/04
Cosmic family adventures abound in 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's four-disc Lost in Space: Season Two Volume Two ($39.98), collecting 14 episodes of the '60s space show along with rare cast interviews.
Update: 9/30/04
Shimon Wincelberg, prolific television writer, playwright,
dies at 80
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
AP
Shimon Wincelberg, a television writer and Broadway
playwright, has died. He was 80.
Wincelberg died Wednesday at a nursing home in Los Angeles
after a long illness, said publicist Fred Stuart.
Wincelberg wrote nearly 100 scripts for television series,
including "Naked City," "Mannix," "Police Woman," "Star
Trek," "Gunsmoke," "Have Gun - Will Travel," "Lost in
Space," and, more recently, "Law & Order."
He also wrote the 1959 Broadway play "Kataki," which was
inspired by his World War II service in the Army's 27th
Division, Combat Intelligence. His 1962 play "Windows of
Heaven" made its world premiere at Stockholm's Royal
Dramatic Theater.
Wincelberg, born in Kiel, Germany, started his career as a
short story writer for The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar and
Punch.
During his career, Wincelberg was a mentor to many Orthodox
Jews in Hollywood, Stuart said. He also wrote a segment of
"Have Gun - Will Travel" about a Jewish immigrant in the Old
West.
He is survived by his wife, Anita Marateck, three children
and seven grandchildren.
Update: 9/14/04
'Lost in Space' actor finds plenty of adult roles
"Many former kid stars played themselves in the has-been comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, but not Bill Mumy."
Coach Ingalls carries on after wife's death
"Bangor High School varsity girls soccer coach Jeff Ingalls has a secret passion... You see, Jeff is a "Lost in Space" aficionado."
Mumy Revisits Space
"As the second season of the classic sci-fi TV series Lost in Space gets ready to hit DVD, columnist Ian Spelling catches up with the original Will Robinson."
Update on the LOST IN SPACE TV Movie/Series
Extracted from TV Shows on DVD
"(Kevin) Burns is well-known among dedicated fans of Lost In Space, as both the producer of the similar "behind the scenes" Image DVD release Lost In Space Forever, and as the driving force behind a couple of as-yet unsuccessful attempts to revive the show concept: first in 2002 with a never-shot NBC telefilm that was called Lost In Space: The Journey Home, that was shelved when Jonathan Harris ("Dr. Smith") passed away. Then they moved on to the concept of a weekly series called The Robinsons: Lost In Space, which The WB Network had won the right to broadcast after competing with three other networks. John Woo directed, supervised the editing, and Woo's company, Lion Rock Entertainment, was co-Executive Producer. The pilot was produced and shot at the enormous cost of $5.4 million, and before it was entirely finished the series was shelved by The WB after a change in management that resulted in network executive Jordan Levin's departure this past June.
"With Lost in Space not working out - at least so far - for Kevin Burns' and Jon Jashni's production company, Synthesis, they are trying once more to revive an Irwin Allen property: they're now working with Fox on a new big-budget version of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Meanwhile, Burns' Prometheus Entertainment has been as busy as ever with behind-the-scenes documentaries, having just finished up the "Empire of Dreams" feature doc - running at 2.5 hours - that will appear as part of this Fall's Star Wars DVD box set. Burns both produced and directed this one."
LOST IN SPACE Lawsuits
Culled from Entertainment Law Digest.
New Filing � Lost in Space
Ib Melchior v. New Line, Prelude. Creator of original idea for "Lost in Space" TV series says New Line has not been paying him the 2% of gross he was promised for the rights to do 1998 movie. New Filing LA Superior.
Film
New Filing July 2000
New Filing � Lost In Space
Prelude Pictures v. New Line. Producer says "Lost In Space" would have been much bigger hit had New Line let him keep creative control; seeks $5 million in lost profits plus punitive damages. New Filing LA Superior.
Film
New Filing January 1999
New Filing � Lost in Space
Angela Cartwright v. Newline. Actress who in TV's "Lost in Space" and did one-day shoot on film, also did interview for documentary about the film but said rights had to be agreed with her agent. They weren't. New Filing LA Superior.
Film
New Filing April 1999
New Filing � Lost In Space
New Line v. Little Caesar. New Line says pizza chain backed out of commitment to do promotion for "Lost In Space." New Filing CD California.
Film
New Filing October 1997
Links!
LISFAN Press/LOST IN SPACE Fannish Alliance
LISFAN Press Products Page
LOST IN SPACE Links
The Information Edge
LOST IN SPACE Screensaver
Click here to download a LOST IN SPACE screensaver!
E mail me!
This web page's counter supplied by Digits.com