THE LOBSTER MAN Airdate: Jan 21, 1968 Writer: Al Gail Director: Justin Addiss Guest Stars: Vic Lundin (Lobster Man)

By StuOz:

The Lobster Man, an alien from another planet, lands his little ship near the Seaview and tells Nelson that he is here in peace, and just wants the Seaview to re-power his ship. But Crane thinks Lobster is up to no good!

PS This episode is played 100% straight. Voyage year three had the most over-the-top story lines, but amazingly, the production staff were able to bring the monsters, aliens, etc, to the screen very well and everything fell into place. The aliens and monsters all looked and sounded (thanks Dick Tufeld, Jim Mills, etc) very good.

The Bernard Herrmann stock music scores really helped things. Turning Nelson into a werewolf in The Brand Of The Beast and giving The Fossil Man a too dignified voice were the only really memorable errors in year three. I get the feeling that one mind was behind year three, on a production level that is, and that one mind was Irwin. But something went wrong with year four, Irwin was busy on another sound stage putting together the most expensive tv series of that period!

  I think Irwin being away from Voyage on the Land Of The Giants sets, and Basehart being dis-interested in year four, did big damage to the final season of Voyage. Then again, Ray loves year four and the monsters of year four, so the following views are not of all fans. Year four had a few alien encounters - The Lobster Man, Journey With Fear, The Flaming Ice, The Savage Jungle, Attack! - that just did not work for me. Also, the spaced out Time Lock did not work for me.

The casting, costumes and crap musical scores killed them for me. Often they were just dull. Granted, new effects footage of the Seaview and FS1 was used. Granted, The Deadly Dolls, Terror, Blow Up, A Time To Die and No Way Back are classics. But the final year was a problem and I feel Irwin was not around to correct a few casting/ costume/ production mistakes that were made. However, I am very Irwin-minded in how I view Voyage, others may not totally agree, in fact, many would not even know what I am talking about here.The Lobster Man.

I read that Paul Z really loved this costume but I think it looks really silly. They should of covered up the actor inside the costume, not left his face on display, what the hell was Paul Z thinking? I also read that Irwin told Vic to speak the way he did but that also sounds terrible! What was Irwin thinking?

Maybe he had Giants on his mind and never saw the end product? This episode (and The Brand Of The Beast) were the ones where the viewer can't switch off the behind the scene dramas of Voyage. The viewer knows that the very distinguished Mr Basehart would of hated doing endless conversations with a Lobster! (in other shows, the aliens often talked to Crane instead)

. A lot of the story in spent talking about Lobster maybe being here in peace. We all know he is up to no good. And if here in peace the viewer does not want him on earth. One act ends with a false cliff-hanger. The music is mostly terrible. Basehart can't even lift the script.  However, the episode begins with a well scored action scene when the ship lands on earth. People react to Voyage in un-expected ways, and that is the point to my doing this review.

Ray is not big on The Terrible Toys but I love it. Another big fan I know hates The Shadowman costume, but I think the careful lighting on the set made that costume a classic. I will end with a comment on the writer of this episode. Al Gail went on to become the associate producer on just about every Irwin disaster movie (and television movie) of the 1970s, right up to When Time Ran Out (1980). Thank you.

Special Thanks To StuOz For Another Great Review.