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A proud and stubborn proponent of style over substance, Allen had at least one sci-fi series on the air every year from 1964-1970. In 1966 alone, he filled three hours of network programming a week with his offbeat brand of whimsy. BUT
IT WAS THE SIXTIES It's interesting to note that the more sci-fi shows Irwin Allen produced, the less imaginative they got. Still, they were enjoyable to watch because of the flawless casting and colorful sets, props and nutty devices. The special effects were especially good for the time period.
Lost in Space started out as a straight drama revolving around an American family stranded on a hostile planet. In 1966, CBS execs insisted the show become more comedic and 'camp' to compete with the higher-rated Batman on ABC. Enter the interplanetary Vikings, space department stores and bizarro carrot people.
Time Tunnel was perhaps the best of the lot, at least the first episode was. But it too quickly degenerated into alien invasions topped off with laughable historical gaffes.
Land of the Giants was a one-hook premise - seven people trapped in a land of much bigger people surrounded by huge ferns. It was Gilligan's Island meets Lost in Space without the fun. ABC was naturally interested; after all, CBS had initially given the green light to a fourth season of Lost in Space in 1968. The show was only yanked from the fall schedule at the last minute. "The ratings were still quite good," Irwin Allen told a reporter. "There was no really good reason for the show to be cancelled."
A seventeen-minute pilot film was made to show what the program would be like, but this pitch looked more like a rejected episode idea for Lost in Space than a fully realized weekly series concept.
THE
SHOW THAT The Man from the 25th Century was to have starred James Darren (Time Tunnel) as an earthling stolen as an infant and raised by aliens for an evil purpose. John Crawford, who played aliens and weirdoes on all of Irwin Allen's previous series, was cast as Darren's interplanetary boss with the big head.
Inexplicably, the aliens spent decades training Darren, but neglected to tell him much about his mission. He is totally taken off-guard when he is instructed to drive into a mountain and discover his role on Earth's most top-secret installation. Project Delphi (shades of Time Tunnel) is a so-called 'Radial Umbrella' force field that is meant to protect our world from alien invaders - not unlike the current U.S. "Star Wars" missile shield scheme.
The show's bible suggested that, "Each week, the non-humans from Ando arrive in flying saucers and create havoc on Earth. Each week the earthlings, aided by the man from the 25th century and his weaponry, succeed in dissuading the enemy."
CBS ultimately did not pick up this series, for obvious reasons; not the least being that, besides ripping off his own shows, this premise also closely resembled The Invaders (ABC, 1967-68).
READ
PART TWO:
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Voyage to the Bottom Irwin
Allen Producer Irwin Allen (1916 – 1991) was nicknamed "The Master of Disaster." Irwin Allen was responsible for these TV series: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968), Lost in Space (1965–1968), The Time Tunnel (1966–1967), Land of the Giants (1967–1970) and The Swiss Family Robinson (1975–1976).
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Matte paintings were combined with actors to create the illusion of space ships and a Delphi complex for Man From the 25th Century.
FX
footage from Time Tunnel
was used in this pilot as well.
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Voyage
to the Bottom of the Sea was a genuinely dark, moody spy drama
blended with fantastic undersea scenes. Before long, werewolves, toy
robots and leprechauns roamed the halls of the Seaview.
After
Time Tunnel was cancelled in 1967, there was another
remaining season for Lost in Space and 
While
ABC was content renewing Voyage for a fifth season, Allen knew
the formula was well-worn. In
late-1967, he put together a 7-minute film to show ABC execs what
he had in mind for a replacement - Lost in Space lightly re-concepted
as Land of the Giants. 
To
further enhance the new show's obvious derivative nature, the
Land of the Giants promo film utilized stock FX shots
of the Jupiter 2 from Lost in Space, including exciting color
footage of the spaceship crash landing that was never before broadcast.
The presentation was slick and ABC liked what they saw. Land
of the Giants, possibly one of the worst sci-fi series ever, ran
for two years in the Sunday night at seven timeslot. 
With
Land of the Giants a solid player on ABC, Allen was hopeful
that he could replace the now-canceled Lost in Space with his
'new' idea for 1969-70 - The Man from the 25th Century.
In
the lightweight premise, aliens supercharge their human captive and
return him to earth to prepare for their coming invasion. The series
description adds, "It is the eerily horrifying tale of Ando,
our nearest planetary neighbor, who's source of power is being used
far more quickly than it can be created and whose need to attack Earth
and replenish such power is of the highest priority." What's
'eerily horrifying' is Allen's apparent lack of astrological knowledge
after a decade of producing science-fiction programs. 
The
pilot film begins with 
The
aliens instruct their super-powered drone that he must go forth and
stop Earth's Project Delphi. "If any seek to hinder you, they
must be destroyed!" People are never about to be killed
in 
Darren
arrives on Earth via the Jupiter 2 from Lost in Space; the
pilot utilized footage of the space craft from that series' first
episode along with new scenes using existing set pieces.
Safely
on Earth (one of the few times the Jupiter 2 didn't crash land, let's
face it), Darren drives out of the spaceship in his waiting banana
yellow Corvair convertible to cruise the countryside. If Allen had
stopped here, he might have had a decent show - a sci-fi version of
Route 66. But alas, there was more.
The
Delphi folks give Darren the grand tour, and, after another round
of hand-to-hand combat, Darren approaches
the outer door of the 
A
slightly modified Jupiter 2 interior was the setting for a round of
flying fists and computers that fitfully exploded when someone brushed
up against them. Can you imagine the daily fireworks spectacle if
Irwin Allen had gone to work for Bill Gates designing home computers?
Come to think of it, maybe he did...
Darren
is captured and the aliens, seeing this, immediately drop their plans,
sending a space craft to kill him and everyone in the complex instead.
Accepting his fate, Darren finally sees how heartless his alien captors
really are when they unnecessarily destroy a gas station on the outskirts
of town. "Now who are the cruel and ruthless children!?!"
the leader of Project Delphi cries.
The
commander yelled, "Activate! Activate!" with all his might,
but the Time Tunnel - er - Radial Umbrella failed to do the job. That
should be no surprise, Irwin Allen's machinery never worked properly
and very often exploded every damn time they were switched on! Probably
built by Haliburton, with spare parts from Tyco...
Remotivated,
Darren switches sides and easily defeats his alien masters. Suddenly,
everyone disappears and Darren is alone, facing an emotionless duplicate
of himself - that he must fight hand-to-hand, of course - accompanied
by a cacophony of exploding computer modules. After the two guys bounce
around the room to yet another fireworks display, everyone suddenly
reappears and Darren ominously warns of battles to come.
When
the Delphi commander asks what just happened, Darren can only reply,
"It's beyond your ability to comprehend." That seemed to
be the Irwin Allen attitude all too often when it came to plot resolutions.
Things just happened, that's all - and then they stopped happening.
By
blending familiar Allen themes (literally and figuratively, the musical
score was by Allen's longtime composer John Williams), The Man
from the 25th Century promised to be an unsatisfying mishmash
of Irwin Allen clichés with no coherent concept to hang the
whole thing on.
an continue this work!