Billy Mumy

Billy Mumy plays Will Robinson on Lost in Space, Allen’s 1960s space-opera of a family, a stowaway villain, and a clanking robot tumbling through danger. Williams and Lockhart headed the mission; Harris’s Dr. Smith stole it with glorious cowardice. Danger, Will Robinson — start straighter, stay for the coward. Will is the kid the robot reports to. Mumy makes a family voyage feel like a childhood, not merely a set of jumpsuits. 1965–1968 on CBS is the assignment. Lost in Space does not get a free pass for being famous; Will Robinson still has to finish the hour.

TV Flash starts him at s01e01. The Reluctant Stowaway is the mission contract: Robinson family, stowaway villain, clanking robot — start straighter than the later camp. The CBS run is the slot; Will Robinson is the pulse inside it.

For the hour that still shows the bruise, file s01e08. Invaders from the Fifth Dimension — early Allen danger still playing space opera, before the catchphrase ate the hour. s02e01 closes the listed map as Blast Off Into Space opens the color years: Guy Williams and June Lockhart still heading a mission Jonathan Harris keeps stealing. His job is the same in different lighting — Will Robinson as weather, not a stunt.

The robot is the folklore; the boy is the show. On TV Flash he is 1960s adventure craft — the Will who photographed as a warning and played as the reason the Jupiter still feels inhabited. Billy photographs as one job and plays as another. That gap is the craft. Lost in Space still needs it.