Editing Irwin Allen (section)

===20th Century Fox===
====Films as director====
Allen then went to [[20th Century Fox]], where he co-wrote (with Bennett), produced, and directed three films: ''[[The Lost World (1960 film)|The Lost World]]'' (1960), from the novel by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'' (1961), and ''[[Five Weeks in a Balloon (film)|Five Weeks in a Balloon]]'' (1962).

[[Willis O'Brien]], who had also worked on the pioneering special effects of the original ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|Lost World]]'' (1925) and ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'' (1933) films, was disappointed when Allen opted to save time by using live alligators and lizards instead of stop-motion animation for the film's dinosaurs. ''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' was a scientifically dubious, [[Jules Verne]]-style adventure to save the world from a burning [[Van Allen belt]]. It was the basis for his later television series of the same name. The family film, ''Five Weeks in a Balloon'', was a loose adaptation of [[Five Weeks in a Balloon|the Verne novel]].<ref name="Fischer2011"/> ''Lost World'' was a moderate hit and ''Voyage'' was very successful. ''Five Weeks'' was a box-office disappointment.

====Television series====
With 20th Century Fox scaling back their film productions due to their huge expenditure on films such as ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (1963), in the mid-1960s, Allen concentrated on television, producing several overlapping science-fiction series for [[20th Century Fox Television]]. They featured special effects by [[L. B. Abbott]], who won three [[Emmy]]s for his work.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|204}} Allen used many of the same craftsmen on his TV shows as he did on his films, including composer [[John Williams]] and [[costume designer]] and general assistant [[Paul Zastupnevich]].<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|6}}

''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' ([[American Broadcasting Company|ABC TV]], 1964–1968) established Allen's reputation as a television producer. The financial viability of the series was assisted by the reuse of many of the sets from the film; the cost of the ''[[USOS Seaview|Seaview]]'' submarine sets alone exceeded the budget of a typical pilot show of the era.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|11}} The series also benefited from Allen's by-now notorious use of stock film footage, particularly from ''[[Hell and High Water (1954 film)|Hell and High Water]]'' (1954), ''[[The Enemy Below]]'' (1957), and Allen's ''The Lost World''.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|16}}

Allen had originally intended ''Lost in Space'' ([[CBS|CBS TV]], 1965–1968) to be a family show, a science-fiction version of ''[[The Swiss Family Robinson]]''.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|116}} It quickly developed into a children's show with episodes concentrating on the young Will Robinson, the robot, and especially, the comic villain, Dr. Smith.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|36–7}} The show used several science-fiction elements that have since become common, such as the comic robot (e.g. ''[[Silent Running]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'') or android (''[[Logan's Run (film)|Logan's Run]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''), the heroic child ([[Meeno Peluce]] in ''[[Voyagers!]]'', [[Wesley Crusher]]), and the wacky, lovable alien (Albert in ''[[Alien Nation]]'', [[Vir Cotto|Vir]] in ''[[Babylon 5]]'').<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|124}}

''The Time Tunnel'' (ABC TV, 1966–1967), with each episode set in a different historical time period, was an ideal vehicle for Allen's talent for smoothly mixing live action with stock footage from films set in the same period. A change in network management led to the show being cancelled after just one season.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|204}} Allen cited ''The Time Tunnel'' as his favorite of all of his television productions and he would attempt to revamp and relaunch the concept numerous times including a filmed pilot in 1976 called ''The Time Travelers'' and unfilmed concepts that included one called ''Time Travel Agency'' and another called ''The Time Project'' that went through several incarnations.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bond |first1=Jeff |title=The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen |url=http://www.creaturefeatures.com |publisher=Creature Features |pages=556–568}}</ref>

''Land of the Giants'' (ABC TV, 1968–1970) was the most expensive show of its day at roughly $250,000 per episode.<ref name="Lisanti2001">{{cite book |author=Lisanti |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_E6M3LEGP4C&pg=PA239 |title=Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies |publisher=McFarland |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7864-0868-9 |pages=239– |language=en-us}}</ref> As another [[castaway]]-themed show, Allen incorporated some of the successful elements from ''Lost in Space'', although this time he did not allow the treacherous character to dominate the series.<ref name="Abbott2006"/>{{rp|273}}

====Television films ====
Allen also produced several television films, such as ''[[City Beneath the Sea (1971 film)|City Beneath the Sea]]'', which recycled many props and models from ''Voyage'', ''Lost in Space,'' and ''[[The Man from the 25th Century]]''. Though intended as a pilot for a new TV series project, his small-screen success from the 1960s largely eluded him in the 1970s.

''Lost in Space''{{'}}s [[Bill Mumy]] said of Allen that, while he was very good at writing television pilots that sold, his unwillingness to spend money hurt his shows' quality once on the air. A monster costume that appeared on one of his shows, for example, would appear on another a few weeks later with new paint.<ref name="pioneersoftv">"Science Fiction". ''Pioneers of Television'', January 18, 2011.</ref> Writer Jon Abbott described Allen as paradoxical. "Here was a man who, when told the cost of a spaceship for a ''Lost in Space'' alien, snapped, 'Let him walk!' ... and then let the show be cancelled rather than take a cut in the budget".<ref name="Abbott2006">{{cite book |author=Abbott |first=Jon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gq-uf3wB-TcC&pg=PA6 |title=Irwin Allen Television Productions, 1964–1970: A Critical History of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants |date=3 October 2006 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8662-5 |pages=6– |language=en-us}}</ref>

In 1969, Allen signed a three-picture deal with [[Avco Embassy]] to make ''The Poseidon Adventure'', ''No Man's World'', and ''Almost Midnight'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Avco, Irwin Allen Make 3-Film Deal|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 23, 1969|page=C20}}</ref> but the deal did not lead to any films there.

====''The Poseidon Adventure'' and ''The Towering Inferno''====
In the 1970s, Allen produced the most successful films of his career: ''[[The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film)|The Poseidon Adventure]]'' (1972) and ''[[The Towering Inferno]]'' (1974), directing the action scenes for both. Their showmanship was compared to that of [[P. T. Barnum]] and [[Cecil B. DeMille]], and they prompted scholarly analysis of the subsequent popularity of the [[Disaster film|disaster genre]].<ref name=variety>{{cite web| url=https://variety.com/1991/more/news/irwin-allen-99126714/| title=Irwin Allen| work=Variety| date=November 10, 1991| access-date=April 21, 2015}}</ref>

''The Poseidon Adventure'' was based on the [[Paul Gallico]] novel [[The Poseidon Adventure (novel)|of the same name]] and directed by [[Ronald Neame]]. Unable to find a studio to fully back the venture, Allen raised half the $5 million budget, with 20th Century-Fox putting up the rest; the film eventually grossed over $100 million. L.&nbsp;B.&nbsp;Abbott and [[A. D. Flowers]] won a [[Special Achievement Academy Award]] for the film's optical and physical effects.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|38}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|title='Poseidon's' Unsinkable Irwin Allen|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 25, 1972|page=C1}}</ref>

Allen hoped to follow up on the success of ''The Poseidon Adventure'' with a film based on the novel ''[[The Tower (Stern novel)|The Tower]]'', but the film rights had already been taken by [[Warner Bros.]] He looked for an alternative and found a similar story in ''[[The Glass Inferno]]''. Rather than produce competing movies, 20th Century-Fox and Warner Bros. agreed to coproduce ''The Towering Inferno'' with a script based on both novels and a $14 million budget. It was the first time two major studios made a film together, splitting the costs. Despite its nearly three-hour run time, the film, directed by [[John Guillermin]], was a hit and won three Academy Awards.<ref name="Fischer2011"/>{{rp|39}}

====Final television films for Fox====
The success of the films led to Allen receiving an offer to make three television films. "I missed television", said Allen. "There's a hysteria and an excitement in television that exists nowhere else in business."<ref name="los"/>

Each was made for Fox television at a budget of $1 million with a view to possibly going to series. They screened on different networks: ''[[Adventures of the Queen]]'' (1975), ''[[The Swiss Family Robinson (1975 film)|The Swiss Family Robinson]]'' (1975), and ''[[Time Travelers (1976 film)|Time Travelers]]'' (1976). Only ''Swiss Family'' was picked up for a series, running for 20 episodes.<ref name="los">{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Cecil|title=Disaster Master Launches Grand Slam|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 14, 1975|page=G1}}</ref>