Lost in Space as a happy crew without internal conflicts. While many storylines in the later series focused primarily on Dr. Zachary Smith, a stowaway and saboteur played by Jonathan Harris, he was absent from the unaired pilot. His character was added after the series was commissioned for production. The pilot episode was first aired on television during a 1997 retrospective. CBS bought the series, turning down "Star Trek" in favor of "Lost in Space". Before the first episode was filmed, the characters Smith and the Robot were added, and the spaceship, originally named "Gemini 12", was renamed the "Jupiter 2" and redesigned.
Lost in Space during its original network television run. The more cerebral "Star Trek" never averaged higher than 52nd in the ratings during its three seasons, while "Lost in Space" finished season one with a rating of 32nd, season two in 35th place, and the third and final season in 33rd place. "Lost in Space" also ranked third as one of the top five favorite new shows for the 1965–1966 season in a viewer TVQ poll. The other top contenders were "The Big Valley", "Get Smart", "I Dream of Jeannie" and "F Troop". "Lost in Space" was the favorite show of John F.