Lost in Space is a science fiction television program created and produced by Irwin Allen, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between 1965 and March 6, 1968. The first season was shot with black and white film, the rest in color. In 1998, a film based on the series was released. The show focused primarily on Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith, originally an utterly evil would-be killer who as the first season progressed became a cowardly character, providing comic relief to the show (and causing most of the problems).The series is a space-age adaptation of the novel The Swiss Family Robinson. The astronaut family Robinson, accompanied by a military pilot and a robot, set out to colonize Alpha Centauri from overpopulated Earth. Their 1997 mission (official Jupiter 2 launch date of October 16, 1997) is immediately sabotaged by Dr. Zachary Smith, who slips aboard the spaceship Jupiter 2 and reprograms the robot to destroy the ship and crew. Smith is trapped aboard, saving himself by prematurely reviving the crew from suspended animation. They save the ship, but consequent damage leaves them in space. Eventually they crash on an alien world, later identified as Priplanis, where they must survive a host of adventures. Smith (whom Allen originally intended to kill off) remains through the series as a source of comedic cowardice and villainy, exploiting the forgiving (or forgetful) nature of the Robinsons.