The first episode of LiS really showed promise, with Dr. Smith being an interesting character. But within a few episodes, his character was changed to become comic relief, and it really ruined the show (at least for me.)
When I was little though, some of those episodes did give me nightmares!
Mark
But if Dr. Smith had remained a baddy, John Robinson would have boosted him out of the air lock. Smith had to reform (sort of) or he wouldn’t have reached season 2.