User Reviews

When cast as "Penny Robinson," Angela Cartwright was already a familiar television and movie face, having been featured as Danny Thomas's youngest daughter on his self-titled show and being in movies like "Lad: A Dog" and the blockbuster musical "The Sound of Music." It would seem that "Lost in Space" would benefit from a young actress of her stature and utilize her to its fullest. Unfortunately, that was not to be; for she, as well as the other female cast members, June Lockhart and Marta Kristen, were not given as much screen time as their male counterparts.

It appears that "Penny" averaged two episodes a season, which was better than Marta Kristen's almost nonexistent "Judy." "My Friend, Mr. Nobody" is the first of two from the first season that focused squarely on Cartwright's character - the other being "The Magic Mirror." In "Nobody," Penny makes the acquaintance of an entity that dwells in a cave. The being is in its infancy, so to speak, and Penny comforts and "teaches" it, becoming the creature's confidant and friend.

When Dr. Smith discovers that the cave is a "treasure trove" of diamonds, he drafts a plan to blow it up, releasing each and every precious stone. During a botched attempt, with the unsuspecting aid of Major West (Mark Goddard), a spectacular explosion knocks Penny out, much to the dismay of the entity. It then proceeds to wreck havoc on the Jupiter Two, thinking that they "hurt Penny." When Penny regains consciousness, she makes it to the ship just in time to reassure the creature that she is fine and that she "loves him." With those words, the creature leaves and joins its place in the heavens as a "cosmic force."

The fairytale-like quality of the story is heightened by John Williams' superb score that would find itself used throughout the three-year run of the series.

And actor William Bramley provides the voice for "Mr. Nobody."

A magical episode where Penny does a little growing up. Angela Cartwright later said that this was her favorite episode, and it's not hard to understand why. A huge improvement over "Welcome Stranger" that represents what this series could have been.

The episode begins with Penny being upset that nobody wants her to help. She storms off and finds a cave where a force who is never seen but only heard exists. The force befriends Penny, and the scenes between the lonely Penny and the force who becomes her friend showcase her acting talent.

John and Maureen don't believe that she has actually found a real friend. They assume he's imaginary. Again, Angela Cartwright's acting excels when she tries and gets frustrated at failing to convince her parents that she's telling the truth.

When Penny brings back some diamonds she found in the cave, the rock-hunter Will initially thinks she just picked up some common quartz. Dr. Smith, however, has the robot analyze the rocks and finds out differently.

The excitement builds when the greedy Dr. Smith secretly follows Penny to the cave. The same force that moves the rock to let Penny in moves it back over the entrance to prevent Dr. Smith from getting in. He unknowingly puts her in danger. The night he decides to blow up the cave to get at all the diamonds, she discovers his plans and enters the cave to warn the force that she calls "Mr. Nobody". She thinks the blasting is going to happen the next day, not right then.

The ending scenes of Smith blowing the cave up and endangering Penny are very dramatic. The powerful force is furious at the others for killing Penny (he thinks Penny is dead) and unleashes an attack upon the others.

This leads to an exciting ending in which Penny, who regains consciousness, pleads with the enraged Mr. Nobody to save the others.

All-in-all, a wonderful episode that lets us watch Penny do a little maturing as a person. Well worth a look!

Penny has a strange encounter in a cave.

One of the very best episodes of the series, wonderfully scripted, acted, filmed and scored (by John Williams).

Jonathan Harris as Smith is outstanding here.

I am guessing Irwin Allen played a big part in the direction of the stormy ending filmed with Robot claw-blasts.

That final act with special effects all over the place, wind machines and thunder is the sort of footage Irwin lived for. That ending looks like it took a lot of time to film...for a TV episode that is.

You could say this hour has a fine sister episode later on - The Magic Mirror - but My Friend, Mr Nobody is better.

I still feel the same way when I watch this episode, even 50 years after I first saw it as a little kid. There is something compelling and touching about Mr. Nobody. I'm left with a yearning I can't define. Truly, aren't we all sprung of stardust? I want to be a galaxy when I grow up someday.

Nobody on this planet is a bigger Lost in Space fan than I am. I have watched the episodes repeatedly, and I never get tired of watching! Reading other reviews, it amazes me that so many people cite this episode as one of the best. The focus on Penny only establishes how annoying she can be, and how mediocre Angela Cartwright's acting really was. Penny is upset because nobody else wants her hanging around, and getting in the way of what they're trying to do. I couldn't blame them. Penny discovers a cave, and a voice inside. She develops a friendship with this "voice." This girl has it together, right?! If her parents had more faith in Dr Smith, maybe they would have asked him to give Penny some psychiatric counseling! The genius reviewers who all praised this episode point out that this episode has a different dynamic from most of the series. This is true, but it's the reason that I do not think the episode is so great. Not enough focus on Will Robinson. Billy Mumy was one of the best child actors of all time. As Will, the only thing I didn't like so much were his occasional bickerings with Penny. However, Billy even managed to make that better, because he was so much better an actor than Angela. As for this episode, the best part was when Dr Smith pretended to be the voice in the cave. Penny's self-absorption (and Angela's overacting) didn't impress me.

My Friend, Mr. Nobody has always been one of my favorite episodes.

The story is focused on Penny. The other members are too busy with other activities to pay attention to her. Like any girl of her age she goes off in what others think is some type of day dream or fantasy, but is actual reality.

The others do not believe she has a friend "Mr. Nobody" which brings her closer to him. The story is a great fairy tale and Angela Cartwright shines as Penny.

Dr. Smith shows his greed when he may get his hands on some diamonds. He tricks Don into blasting and puts everyone in peril. This is a theme that will develop later in the series based on his buffoonery, but that is not evident at this point.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

I'm about to review a TV episode that aired before I was born. It wouldn't be the first time I've done something like this, though this episode aired the year I was born.

Penny Robinson is feeling bored and dejected. She nearly gets blown up while all the males are trying to mine for Deutronium, or whatever they use to fuel the Jupiter 2, and after her father rescues her, tells her to go off and play. Evidently, she already got the same response from Maureen and Judy. The trouble is, on a planet with only seven earthlings, it's extremely difficult to find anyone to play with... or so it seems. Walking off and mocking her family's conflicting orders, she suddenly finds some water near a mysterious cave with an echo that responds to her. At first, she's scared and runs off to tell Maureen and Judy who is trying to get a new hairdo with help from her mom. Whether it's for herself or to woo Major West isn't that important. What is important, is that the device designed to give her that hairdo was clearly swiped from "The Jetsons," and more than likely used by THAT Judy.

Being the friend to almost all living creatures that she is, she decides to do the same to this echo, and names him "Mr. Nobody." Whenever she arrives, she's greeted by the plants, offered a drink of water from a magical fountain, and gains access to the cave by moving a boulder only she can move. The pre-teen brunette beauty continues to tell her family and others from the ship about her discovery, but nobody believes that this "Mr. Nobody" is a real entity, even though they're on a planet where someone or something like him could exist. When she shows Will some of the rocks she got from Mr. Nobody's cave, Will chucks them aside and they land right in Dr. Smith's lap. He realizes they're diamonds, and will make him rich, which of course will only matter once he returns to earth.

Much of the episode involves Smith scheming to get the diamonds, while the rest of the crew has real work to do, as well as Penny who forms a stronger bond with this voice in the cave, and struggling to prove to the rest of the Robinsons that he exists. Realizing Smith is going to destroy his home, Penny flees to the cave and begs Mr. Nobody to reveal himself and leave before their stowaway villain kills him. Smith didn't know and didn't care that Penny was at the bottom of this cave, and due to his excessive use of explosives, she's now injured. Once Mr. Nobody realizes this, he's ready to destroy everybody and everything within their proximity, and not just Zachary Smith! Needless to say everybody flees to the ship and they send the robot to try all their might to defend themselves against this angry cosmic force. Only when Penny is revealed to be alive and begs this entity to spare their lives does he put an end to his rampage.

Something about Mr. Nobody reminds me of the not-so-friendly angel from the "Star Trek" episode "And the Children Shall Lead," but that was Melvin Belli. Mr. Nobody is voiced by William Bramley. Regardless of this it's a known fact among fans of the show that this episode was Angela Cartwright's favorite, and whether in spite of or because of her opinion, it's a fan-favorite as well. What makes the episode so great is Angela Cartwright's A-level acting in a B-rated kids sci-fi series. If you've ever seen the 1987 comedy "Outrageous Fortune," Shelley Long's terrified reaction to what she believes to be the sudden death of Peter Coyote is far above anything you might expect from such a fledgling comedy flick that has been panned more and more by critics and fans as the decades have passed. With all this praise over Miss Cartwright's acting, you would think that the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences would've considered her for an Emmy nomination. But alas, she was completely overlooked. And for that, you must ask why? Is it because she's a kid? She was already in the business for more than a decade at the time. Was it because the show was science fiction geared towards kids and families? Perhaps. Was it because the show was just starting out at time? That's possible too. Whatever the case may be, she made the show better than anybody could've imagined. It's hard to believe this is the same show that once had angry humanoid vegetables and creatures with chewed-up lollipop heads as villains.

"You blundering bag of bolts!" Dr. Smith declares in an insult to the non-emotional robot here marks the increasing use of actor Jonathan Harris's own sardonic sense of humor in adding humor to the series. This is not an episode that focuses on the evil Dr. Smith but on the underused Penny (Angela Cartwright), making an unseen friend who resides in a hidden cave, covered by a huge boulder that only moves for her. The nosy Dr. Smith wants to find out all he can about Penny's friend, especially when he gets his hand on what he believes is a diamond near Penny's friend's "home".

This is one of the rare episodes where Mark Goddard (Major Don West) and Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith) work together, although Major West quickly comes to realize that Smith was using him. Penny is injured in an explosion arranged by Dr. Smith and her unseen friend declares revenge which could endanger everybody thanks to Smith's greed. This is a thrilling, nail-biting episode that utilizes all of the characters equally, and opens everybody's eyes to Smith's greed and ultimately his cowardice. It's another episode that makes you wonder why they didn't exile him, but in retrospect of the series history, it's a good thing they didn't because half of the show's major memorable entertainment would have completely disappeared.