'Lost in Space' Reboot on Netflix Gender Swaps Dr. Smith; When Will it Air?
Netflix's reboot of "Lost in Space" is going to feature a gender swap. The role of Dr. Smith, originally played by Jonathan Harris in the 1960s series, has gone to a woman.
The streaming site announced Parkey Posey's casting as the new Dr. Smith in 2016. The gender swap hasn't been well-received by old-time fans of "Lost in Space."
"If you didn't want to make a true to form 'Lost in Space' why did you choose the name," one fan wrote in the report's comment. "I understand the need of a strong female character...but instead of swapping out one of the males, how about bolstering the regular females," another fan said. According to Ark Times, it would be better to kill off a conniving character like Dr. Smith in the show's first 10 minutes and it won't matter if a man or woman would play her.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Dr. Smith became a popular secondary character in "Lost in Space." Harris was initially listed as a guest star in the original show and Dr. Smith was supposed to be a threatening villain.
Harris, however, decided to play Dr. Smith as a comedic villain, which endeared him to viewers. He told DVD Talk several years ago that he thought series creator Irwin Allen was going to fire him because he improvised on his character. Fortunately, Allen liked what he did and asked him to stick around.
Meanwhile, details to the "Lost in Space" reboot on Netflix are scarce and it's unclear if there will be cameos from the original actors. Harris died in 2003, while the lead star, Guy Williams, died even earlier in 1989.
Aside from Posey, the new version stars Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Ignacio Serrichio (Don West), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson) and Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson).
As with the original series, the show will be about a family of explorers who have to survive in space. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless developed the new version.
Filming the reboot took place from January to June 2017 and it's currently in post-production. Netflix plans to debut the show in May 2018 with 10 episodes.
