User Reviews

I enjoyed this episode the most. It has all of the successful elements all Lost in Space fans look for: humor, action, a good story, an interesting alien. The high point of this episode is the relationship between the children and the made-to-order android named Verda.

My son loves to quote the Robot's statement "She took my pointer!" As one watches this episode, it is so apparent the love that is felt. Emotionally well done. Smith's scheming is as terrific as ever.

Dee Hartford, first of three appearance, is given the best of her episodes here. Her design is really cool, with the silvery look and strange helmet. Fritz Feld, also the first of his three Zumdish appearance (Hotel Jupiter from the third season), is fine as the adversary. I still like doing his mouth popping sound.

I'm glad the Verda character does return in a follow up episode called Revolt of the Androids (IDAK for short). Too bad she doesn't appear in any other episodes. A very fascinating and well drawn out character.

The Android Machine is like a dream that makes little sense.

The drop in quality from the previous episode (The Prisoners of Space), is dramatic and may actually make it seem worse than it is.

I usually don't pick apart plot issues in LIS unless they are significant or true non-sense. This one meets that hurdle. The are major holes in the plot all over the place. And this is the episode that finally hit Batman camp level.

Dr. Smith stumbles upon a Mail Order Machine, pushes some buttons and orders an android named Verda. So far, we are ok. But then we have a mix of non-sense and LIS becomes Batman.

Just a few of the major issues:

"The Monster" looks like some kind of goofy Gumby.

The department store manager and his guard look like they came from a 1930's department store.

At Will's suggestion, the rest of the Robinson's and Major West are willing to trade their fuel to keep Verda! It's the first thought, to give away their prized asset and they all agree in a matter of seconds! Ironically, Dr. Smith actually demonstrates the most logic and votes against it. It is an idiotic moment.

And when the visitor's ship takes off, Will clings to his mother like he is 2. Completely our of character.

Ok, that's enough of the issues. This is a very poor episode.

Well, to say I have mixed feelings for the Lost in Space episode "The Android Machine" would be an understatement. If ever an episode divided me, it's this one. On one hand I like the idea of a female android evolving, gaining human feelings, bonding with the Robinson family, especially Will and Penny, but polarizing Robot (who is jealous of her) and Dr. Smith (who was sore at her for agreeing with Robot for the year Christopher Columbus set sail). On the other hand, the wonderful comedy character actor, Fritz Feld, as the owner/salesman of an "intergalactic store" belongs on Andy Griffith Show or I Love Lucy, not on Lost in Space, if it were serious sci-fi.

I know, Scarecrow you need to realize this show isn't science fiction, but a family comedy fantasy with sci-fi elements involved. I guess I should just accept this show has no believability or take it seriously at all, but Zumdish looks like a jeweler and his ship favors an elevator you see in swanky Ritz hotels, and despite trying my best to look at it from a juvenile perspective is flat difficult for me. I try to just say f$$k it and watch the show, but certain implausibilities and silly characters lifted from American stereotypes accustomed to audiences on comedies set in the United States have a tendency to irk me.

I know, lighten up, Scarecrow. Certain people will just sit back and enjoy, for me, dammit, the show is set in the future not 1967. Anyway, Smith finds a machine quite like a coke/food vendor, pushing buttons (yeah, that's Smith for you), accidentally ordering a female model android (that looks inspired right from Fritz Lang's Metropolis), with a dated look (actually she looks preposterous, silver costume and skin; you'd think the effects crew were from the 30s). She is to serve Smith, but certain incidents (like a foot washing mishap) cause him to reject her. Soon Zumdish (Fritz Feld; along with a brute android) answers a complaint from Smith regarding an exchange of clothes, Zachary stuck with a musketeer outfit (I couldn't make this up if I tried), his regular wardrobe elsewhere. Zumdish expects payment from Smith for the android, no return policy, the brute android about to harm the purchaser of Verda, but the dastardly doctor is able to weasel out of this by complaining that she is "bad merchandise". The rest of the episode is negotiations between the Robinson party and Zumdish over keeping Verda. Fritz Feld pops his mouth as a call to his brute to act on his order which many will be familiar with because it was always part of the actor's shtick.

I know this episode will undoubtedly work for certain viewers who embrace the show's camp nature, but for me it only adds sourly to the maligned reputation of Lost in Space, how it was nothing more than a goofy show aimed at children, not to be looked at as anything more than a silly series, no significance or quality whatsoever. I think that's a shame because certain episodes like "Invaders from the Fifth Dimension" show that when the cast, script, and direction are sincere about good storytelling Lost in Space could be so much more than its reputation suggests. I think that there is a sincere part in "The Android Machine", regarding Verda and the fact she's so much more than just an android to service a master who ordered her from a machine, but it is squandered by the need of the show's script and producers to instill 1960s characters of contemporary society of that era the viewing audience was familiar with, instead of exploring themes within a futuristic setting, not including aliens who look and talk exactly like a pirate or miner. The show gave good character actors roles that are fun to watch if they were on specific series set within the period they are known to inhabit. Sigh, I know, I'm a scrooge, Bah Humbug and all that.