Lights blinking, head swiveling, Robot boomed "Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!" as the "Lost in Space" crew touched down for a reunion on Saturday.
"My sensors indicate I am no longer in space," Robot said as he led the cast on stage to greet hundreds of cheering humanoid fans.Dozens of men lined up to have their picture taken with Robot and to get an autograph from the man inside the suit - Bob May, who called the outfit "my home away from home."
Why all the excitement?
"We gave them entertainment. We didn't try to lecture them. We just wanted to have fun with the family," May said.
The show about the Space Family Robinson is winning new fans in cable TV reruns despite its comparatively low-tech special effects, including alien monsters with prominent zippers on their costumes.
The reunion at a collectors' expo marked the 30th anniversary of the show, which predates "Star Trek" by more than a year.
Also in attendance were June Lockhart, who played Maureen Robinson; Mark Goddard (Maj. Don West), Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith), Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson), Bill Mumy (Will Robinson) and Angela Cartwright (Penny Robinson). Guy Williams, who played Professor John Robinson, died in 1989.
A fan wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt showed May his tattoo, which includes the show's title, the spaceship, a cyclops-like alien and a biceps-length portrait of Robot (not "the Robot," devotees advise).
Ted Kolianos said he plans to tattoo his chest with pictures of the space pod, the professor shooting a laser at a monster, and the family's planet-touring chariot - a sort of sci-fi mini-van.
"For back then, the special effects were really neat, and Robot always amazed you," said Kolianos, 39, who rode his motorcycle from Cincinnati to attend the show. "He was really unique."
Men like Robot "because it's the only thing on TV today that doesn't put down women, doesn't try to have an ego, and it's macho but not macho," May said. "It can talk to you about the baseball game, and it cooks. He's a buddy."