One of the more forgotten Disneytoons that appeared on ABC’s Saturday morning, Lloyd in Space was a show that focused on Lloyd an alien boy who has just turned 13 years old and his many adventures in space with his friends and family. The show took an interesting approach by taking place in space which was something that a lot of shows weren’t doing at the time but at the same time the show really didn’t bring all that much to the table. There were a few things that good such as the shots of space, the voice acting, and the various aliens we got to see throughout the show but I guess the main problem with this is that it’s cliché and formulaic.
A lot of the episodes were using themes and stories that a lot of other shows were doing at the time the only difference is they added a bit more of a sci-fi element to it. Lloyd is that typical middle school boy who’s unpopular and trying to fit in at school. He always has crazy schemes that usually get him into trouble, a little sister who constantly gets on his nerves, and a caring mother who balances both her job as well as being a single parent. We have all sorts of cliché and formulaic storylines such as the school nerds becoming bullies, body switching, liar reveled storylines, Lloyd falling for a girl in class, and many more storylines that were cliché and formulaic. You knew what was gonna happen, how it was gonna happen, why it’s happening, and how it was going to end. But just because a show has cliché and formulaic stories doesn’t mean it’s a bad show. Like I said they added the sci-fi element to this show so they did add a little creativity do the stories by trying to tell them in a different way. There were a few episodes that were quite touching. For example, there’s this one episode where Lloyd and his friends make a love beam gun and Lloyd uses it to make the most popular girl in school be his girlfriend. At first Lloyd likes this but as time goes on she becomes too attached to Lloyd and Lloyd wants to change her back to normal. But before he changes her back he finds out that the girl really does have a crush on him she’s just afraid to come out and say it because of her status at school. Yeah I know don’t give in to peer pressure and forcing people to love you isn’t real love we all know the lessons. The show also had a good cast of characters. Lloyd’s character is great he does a good job representing the 13-year old boy. He knows he doesn’t have all the answers to his life and is trying to find them while still learning about himself. In a way he feels like an alien among aliens. Living each day and unsure what he is or where he’s going in life. His friends are your classic cliché boys that surround the main character but they still have their own personalities that keep them separate from their predecessors. We got the smart one, the gentle giant, and the self-proclaimed lady killer. Their teacher is a hard-boiled robot who doesn’t like shenanigans and is awfully stern with her students. Lloyd’s little sister has the power of telekinesis and can read the minds of others but she still acts like a little girl. Probably my favorite character is Boomer a ship mechanic who’s character was largely inspired by Otto from The Simpsons. Lloyd in Space may have been a cliché and formulaic show that really didn’t stick out that much but I don’t think it was a bad show. The show just had minimal effort put into it.