THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND SHOWRUNNER ZACK ESTRIN LOOKS BACK ON THE FAMILY JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME AS THE FINAL SEASON OF LOST IN SPACE COMES HOME TO ROOST

- DARREN SCOTT

ZACK ESTRIN IS blaming his children. The producer and writer was looking forward to a year off when the opportunity to revisit a beloved sci-fi franchise presented itself via Legendary and Netflix.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know, that cheesy 1965 series, I’m just not sure,’” he laughs.

A conversation around the dinner table got Estrin thinking. “My kids said, ‘Dad, what would happen if the four of us were lost in space?’ and I saw them get excited talking about what it would be like and would we survive.” He grins. “I definitely wouldn’t, apparently, but they said ‘We’ve never really been able to watch anything that you’ve written and this would be that chance.’ So that became what drew me to it. It’s actually my kids’ fault I ended up doing this show.”

Five years and three seasons later, with the final chapter hitting screens this month, as showrunner of Lost In Space Estrin has found an additional family in the cast and crew, and couldn’t be happier that the show resonates with family audiences.

“Oh, it’s been fantastic,” he beams. “It’s so rare that you’re getting a chance to do a deep dive on a story like that, for that amount of time. So often, especially early in my career, it’s like, ‘Turn out 20 episodes a year and just keep it going and cranking, it doesn’t matter what you’re telling as long as you can get it on the air!’ With streaming, and the way that they schedule these things now, you have a chance to really hone in and tell the story that you want to tell. And you have, fortunately, budgets that allow you to do it.”