Growing up I always loved running home from school and putting on my favorite shows I remember watching “Lost in Space” daily. I loved the Robinson family, disliked Dr. Smith tremendously and loved the Robot. Something about the family stuck together in a tin can – Lost in space.
We had this giant color TV built into this piece of furniture; just like the one pictured here. The only problem was it didn’t work. So my parents bought a small black and white TV that we placed on top of the big one. The antenna broke after a while and we placed a wire hangar inside the broken antenna. That didn’t always work so one of us, me most of the time, would have to hold it with your hand which for some reason made the reception much better. The reception always went bad in a pivotal part of a baseball game or a show – “Freddy, hold the antenna.”
As I grew older I graduated to “Star Trek” in or around 1976 or so. I loved Star Trek for the stories but mainly because I loved James T. Kirk. He was a rebel with an agenda to protect the crewmen of the USS Enterprise. He was a leader, wore mostly cool shirt (I never liked the wraparound one) and he always got the girls no matter what time or planet they were from. Plus he had his two best friends – Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy. Kirk, Spock and McCoy would grow old together and in a forgettable movie there is a great scene of the three of them singing a song.
There was also “The Odd Couple,” with Oscar and Felix – brilliantly played by Jack Klugman and Tony Randall – asking the question; “Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?” The answer thankfully was no – they would always drive each other crazy – but always with strong undertone of love for each other.
I sense the common theme throughout these shows – friendship, respect, adventure and life. But the most important theme that runs across these shows, between these characters is love.
Its what makes classic shows like, “I love Lucy”, “The Honeymooners”, “Seinfeld” (though they would never admit it, “MASH”, and so many more, timeless.
Freddy Zalta 