Did the Robinsons from the Lost in Space franchise ever make it back home to stay? I know they didn't make it home and get to stay there in the original TV series, and I'm pretty sure they didn't in the movie, but what about the comics, or the novel?

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    Makes one think of parallels with other shows, both of its original period and later. "Gilligan's Island", where any apparent promise of rescue is ultimately shattered. "Time Tunnel", where they never make it "home" over the series run. More recently, "Star Trek: Voyager", where the series finale could really be not much other than a safe return home, and a safe return home could only be a series finale. – Anthony X Aug 8 '15 at 16:55

As cited in another answer, there were some episodes where they made it back to Earth, but only temporarily:

The first, from Season 1, is Return From Outer Space, where Will is beamed to a small town in Vermont. (Of course the transport device is irreversibly broken, thanks to Dr. Smith, after Will is returned to the planet.)

The second, from Season 3, as pointed out in the other answer, is Visit to a Hostile Planet, where they land on Earth in 1947. (There is never any explanation given about if the Robinsons ever make it back to their own time period.)

The third, also from Season 3, again also mentioned in the other answer is Time Merchant, where Dr. Smith ends up in 1997, just before the Jupiter 2 is launched.

Beyond that, as the question points out, there was a Lost in Space comic book as well as a book. The short answer about the book is that it was written and published in 1967, while the show was still on the air, so it could not resolve the story and return them to Earth or take them to Alpha Centauri, since that would conflict with the show, which was still on the air (in the third season) and the producers were either expecting or hoping for another season. The book is also discussed here, where one question that comes up is why there was never a sequel. If the Robinsons had returned to Earth, there would be no point in a sequel.

In the comic book, here is some good information about that. In short, Bill Mumy was heavily involved in the writing of the comic book and issue 13 was the start of a 12 episode story arc that he had written. The company went under and stopped publishing after issue 18, halfway though the story arc. So this arc was never finished, leaving the Robinson's not only lost in space, but in the middle of a story arc.

And, last but by far not the least, is in 1997/1998 the special Lost in Space Forever was produced and aired. This included clips and a look back, but it also included a short scene at the end of the show featuring Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris, in their old rolls, along with the Robot. The clip is on YouTube. In it, the Robot informs Will and Dr. Smith they are now "lost in space forever."

A little extra information: Both the book and comic took on a more serious tone than the later episodes of the series. (Most people tend to feel that after about halfway through the first season is when it went from serious to silly.) The comic portrayed Penny as older and created a love triangle with her, Don, and Judy. One of them (I can't remember which one) took a tone that the more serious stories are the ones taken directly from John Robinson's journal, but the comic ones had that tone because they were taken from Penny's diary, which had a different view of the situations.


Professor Robinson's stated goal was never to return to Earth but to go to Alpha Centauri and settle there.

Despite that, they actually visited Earth a number of times in the series.

The ones i remember best of all:

"Visit to a Hostile Planet" - where they go through a time warp to Earth in 1947, they find out that they aren't welcome

"Time Merchant" - where Dr. Smith gets the chance to change history and not be trapped on the Jupiter 2 when it launches


My understanding is that they will return on 9/15/15 when the 50th anniversary edition is released. Bill Mumy had written a made-for-TV movie plot back in 1979 but Irwin Allen refused to allow its production. Apparently his wife has now granted permission and surviving members plus Guy Williams' son and some others have made some sort of sequel. Bill Mumy and Mark Goddard both assured us on Facebook that "You won't be disappointed."

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    Interesting; do you have a source? – Jason Baker Aug 8 '15 at 12:50

protected by Valorum Sep 16 '17 at 22:17


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