Don Richardson Movies

Everyone at the station house joins forces to get even with Chet (Tim Donnelly) for his never-ending practical jokes. Elsewhere, the victim of a motorcycle accident is forced to rely on extremely limited communications skills, and a worker trapped under a boat proves surprisingly uncooperative with his rescuer. Olympic swimming star Mark Spitz and his wife Suzy Spitz make their TV dramatic debuts as a young husband and his pregnant wife, who has been wounded by a malufunctioning gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In her third Bonanza appearance, Mariette Hartley is here cast as Jennifer, the daughter of Ben Cartwright's old friend Harry Carlis (John McLiam). Slated to be wed to influential banker Tuttle Ames (Burr DeBennings, Jennifer leaves her intended at the altar and makes a beeline to the Ponderosa, insisting that she's been in love with Ben all her life. Even though Ben refuses to marry the girl, the vengeful Ames does everything in his power to destroy the Cartwright's financial empire. B.W. Sandefur's script makes a passing reference to Ben's son Adam, who hadn't been seen on Bonanza for nearly five years when "Is There Any Man Here?" first aired on February 8, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Bonanza debuted in 1959, its first episode was "A Rose for Lotta", guest-starring Yvonne DeCarlo as real-life musical peformer Lotta Crabtree. Written by Stanley Roberts, the series' March 1, 1970 episode "Return Engagement" found Sally Kellerman in the role of the fabulous Lotta. As indicated by the title, Ms. Crabtree has once again honored Virginia City with a visit, and both Joe and Hoss Cartwright are swept off their feet by the glamorous actress (Joe even begins entertaining notions of pursuing a stage career himself!) Things take a sinister turn when Lotta's leading man is killed and Hoss is accused of the crime. Joyce Bulifant, who later played Marie Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, appears as Bonnie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joe Cartwright is dumbfounded when his friend, bank employee Wade Turner (Gregory Walcott), abruptly leaves town before his marriage to his sweetheart Sarah (Sandra Smith). Wade's abrupt exit coincides with a shortage in the bank's accounts, prompting Joe to seek out his friend and demand an explanation. But no one knows the real reason for Wade's departure: he is slowly dying of a brain tumor. Featured in the cast is a young Dabney Coleman as Clyde. Written by John Hawkins, Jonathan Knopf and B.W. Sandefur, "A Darker Shadow" originally aired on November 23, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Melissa Murphy is cast as Jenny Winters, who claims she can identify the outlaw Logan gang as the men who robbed a stagecoach and murdered the driver. Hoping to protect Jenny from the Logans, Joe Cartwright and Candy offer the girl shelter at the Ponderosa. What neither the good guys nor the bad guys know is that Jenny is a chronic liar, whose "eyewitness" yarn is a total fabrication. Others in the cast include Stefan Gierasch as Orvil Winters, Connie Hines as Hilda, Alan Baxter as Jim, and Bo Hopkins as Stretch. First shown on September 21, 1969, "The Witness" was written by Joel Murcott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Jupiter 2 is virtually taken over by a huge, ever-growing plant which Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) has brought aboard against orders. Even worse, the Robinsons are denied permission to land on a planet occupied by Sobram (Abraham Sofaer), the last living descendant of a once-proud warrior race. The only way that Sobram will permit the ship to touch ground is for one of the Robinson party to agree to wage war against him--using high-tech weapons that could well destroy everyone and everything! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captured by the mysterious Captain Kraspo (Robert Foulk), Penny (Angela Cartwright) is told that she is not a member of the Robinson family, but instead the long-lost Princess Alpha of the planet Beta. As the plot runs along its Anastasia-like course, Penny finds that the duties of royalty also include vanquishing a horde of hostile computers! The supporting cast includes a pre-Laugh In Arte Johnson and producer Irwin Allen's actress wife Sheila Matthews--and as a bonus, Angela Cartwright dons a blonde wig to portray the real Princess Alpha in the final scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unable to recover valuable documents concerning America's missile system, the IMF must resort to a contingency plan. In order to convince enemy agents that the documents are worthless, Phelps and his cohorts work hand in glove with Susan Buchanan (Lee Grant), the wife of an American diplomat. Mrs. Buchanan's mission: To lure playboy-spy Roger Toland (Fernando Lamas) into a highly compromising situation. Originally broadcast on December 1, 1968, "The Diplomat" was written by Jerry Ludwig. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Future Hill Street Blues star Daniel J. Travanti (billed as "Dan Travanty") guests in this episode as Ilan, shaggy-haired leader of a band of space cyclists. Hoping to rise above their "misfit" status, Ilan and his fellow cycle bums agree to blow up a planet in order to keep it colliding with their own. Alas, the planet slated for destruction is currently occupied by the Robinsons--and the cyclists have no intention of letting them escape! The plot takes a bizarre twist when, thanks to a gaseous substance, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) is suddenly transformed into a green-haired muscleman--whose awesome strength keeps failing him at the most inopportune moments! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode marks the first appearance of the Space Pod, which allows the members of the Jupiter 2 party to travel "light" from time to time. Alas, no sooner has the Space Pod been activated than its mother ship is captured by menacing Androids, acting under orders from a huge, clocklike computer. In the course of ensuing events, the Robot is forced to become the leader of the androids, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) is transformed into a small boy--and horror of horrors, Professor John Robinson (Guy Williams) is killed! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A cosmic time warp takes Will (Billy Mumy back to Glamis Castle in 19th century Scotland. It so happens that the castle houses a ghost named McPherson (Sean McClory) and a monster named Angus (Dawson Palmer), both of whom remain imprisoned on earth until McPherson can fulfill a vendetta. Seeing the opportunity to return to earth, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) follows Will into the castle--unaware that McPherson is foresworn to kill Smith, whose ancestors were responsible for the angry ghost's current plight! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Will (Billy Mumy), Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris), and the robot encounter a super-powerful android, IDAK (short for Instant Destroyer and Killer) Alpha-12 (Don Matheson), who has been dispatched to destroy a runaway android. Having been damaged by his interstellar journey, and a little disoriented in dealing with humans, IDAK accepts their help in recovering his full strength and also their assurances that there are no androids among the Robinson party, just humans and one robot. But they're wrong -- Verda (Dee Hartford), the female android introduced earlier in the episode "The Android Machine", has returned to them. A policy change at the Celestial Department Store resulted in an order for all androids of her type to report for destruction, but she refused and ran, transporting herself back to the Robinsons' planet -- except that she's changed, and she looks and acts almost completely human. At first, unable to convince IDAK Alpha-12 to abandon his programming, she is able to convince him that she is human, and enough of what she shows him about being human rubs off, that he is able to resist his programming to kill her. When the CDS sends another, much more powerful IDAK Omega-17 model (Dawson Palmer), however, the first IDAK struggles between the new impulse for survival and the self-sacrifice that he sees in Verda, and finally joins together with the Robinsons to combat the threat. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Lost in Space meets The Munsters as former "Grandpa Munster" Al Lewis guest stars as Zalto, a somewhat seedy space sorcerer. In hopes of flying Zalto's spaceship back to earth, Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) offers his services as the sorceror's apprentice. Unfortunately, the combined bungling of Zalto and Smith ends up seriously imperiling the Robinson family. This episode is highlighted by a wheezy vaudeville routine between Jonathan Harris and Al Lewis, reportedly improvised on the set when the script came up a bit short. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide