The Thin Man (TV series) than token appearances. Since then some of the new shows just use girls as part of the scenery. Among the series guest stars was Billy Gray, who appeared at the same time he was cast as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr., in "Father Knows Best". Ann McCrea was cast as Billie in the 1958 episode, "The Lost Last Chapter". Of note is the "guest star" in the episode "Robot Client", none other than the original Robby the Robot from the 1956 film "Forbidden Planet". Ben Starr was the program's writer; Sam Marx was the executive producer. The series began airing on
Planet of Evil but name, the Id monster from the 1956 MGM feature film "Forbidden Planet"." Howe and Walker also praised the jungle set and the performances of Frederick Jaeger and Ewen Solon, but criticised Prentis Hancock's "poor" portrayal of Salamar. Ray Dexter's assessment of "Planet of Evil" also acknowledged the influence of the 1956 film "Forbidden Planet", which inspired the writers to include an invisible, murderous monster, as well as elements of "Jekyll and Hyde". Reviewing the serial in 1999, literary critic John Kenneth Muir drew attention to similarities between "Planet of Evil" and Ridley Scott's 1979 film, "Alien", in particular the