MUSIC : Rocker From ‘Space’ : Billy Mumy, who starred in a CBS science-fiction series as a boy, has long since traded in his laser gun for a guitar.

Will Robinson wants to be a rock ‘n’ roll star.

“I would like to see my music accepted on a large scale,” said Billy Mumy, who played Will on the CBS science-fiction series “Lost in Space” in the late 1960s. “I want to show people that I’m still active.”

As a boy, Mumy was more active than most adult actors. When he was just 7, his portrayal of Anthony, a terrifying child who casually disposed of adults, helped create one of the most enduring episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” He jokes that whenever he gets angry with people, he still “sends them into the cornfield.”

When Mumy was 11, the role of Will was his idea of the perfect job. “I always wanted to be a super-hero, and that’s what Will Robinson was,” Mumy said. “He carried a laser gun on television and he was always there to save the day.”

Today, the 38-year-old Mumy cares more about guitars than guns. Three years ago, he organized a new band, the Jenerators, who will perform Saturday at the Palomino in North Hollywood. The group features two other acting veterans--guitarist David Jolliffe, who played Bernie on ABC’s “Room 222,” and drummer Miguel Ferrer from ABC’s “Twin Peaks” and the movie “RoboCop.” There are three other members: bassist Gary Stockdale, keyboardist Tom Hebenstreit and percussionist Chris Christensen.

The group has played only two other L.A.-area clubs--Blak ‘n’ Bloo in Hollywood and At My Place in Santa Monica--and has not signed a record contract. But they haven’t given up.

“The dream is just as viable as ever,” Mumy said. “Never for a second have I doubted my musical gifts.”

Mumy and Jolliffe met 25 years ago, when their shows were on the air. They attended classes together on the Fox lot for three hours a day and frequently played guitars at Mumy’s house. Mumy met Ferrer when the two were dating best friends in the early 1970s.

Later in the decade, Mumy formed a group called “Barnes & Barnes,” which recorded the novelty song “Fish Heads” in 1979.

In 1983, along with Jolliffe and Ferrer, Mumy assembled the band Adventure 210. But it never performed in public. “We rehearsed a lot in garages,” said Jolliffe, “but we went nowhere.”

After separating to pursue different projects, the three regrouped to form the Jenerators in 1989. The idea was the same--to play music and have fun.

“It was not put together with a commercial goal in mind,” said Jolliffe, who in recent years has done a lot of television voice-over work and acted in commercials.

Over time, the group found its style. Mumy compares the Jenerators to R.E.M. or the Pretenders. They auditioned before record executives without success. He believes the acting credits may have diminished the credibility of the band.

“I don’t think they take us as seriously as someone who comes up through the public school system,” Mumy said. “Sometimes fame can be an albatross.”

Mumy’s musical odyssey began back in 1969 when he was 15. In 1971, despite a slew of acting credits and promising offers, he decided to quit acting temporarily to study music at Santa Monica College and try to make it in the recording industry. He formed a band called Redwood, which he assumed was headed to the top of the charts. He was wrong.

“That is my biggest regret,” he said. “I went from getting strong parts to oblivion. I lost a lot. I was no longer a 17-year-old kid. When I got back into acting, I was competing against young men.”

Mumy thought he made an acting comeback in 1973 with a role as a prisoner in “Papillon,” which starred Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. But at the film’s screening, he discovered that most of his performance had been cut.

“It was my first adult taste of reality, that I wasn’t in control,” Mumy said. “I never saw the movie again.”

Mumy believes his hiatus from acting cost him a chance to be a star.

“If I said I would have been Richard Dreyfuss, it sounds really obnoxious, and I shouldn’t really say it,” he said. “But I do believe it.”

Although he kept acting in TV guest spots, Mumy turned most of his attention to music.

Now he writes music for the Disney TV series “Adventures in Wonderland”; so far he has composed 75 songs for the show. Last year, he received an Emmy nomination for outstanding achievement in musical direction and song composition.

“It’s a great gig,” said Mumy, who is married and has a son. “I get to work in my own home, my own studio and play with my 2-year-old boy. I wouldn’t want a series now.”

Mumy, however, hasn’t abandoned all ties to “Lost in Space.” Last year, he started writing stories based on the show for a comic book series published by Innovation Corp.

“I knew people might say that if I did it, I’d be going backward,” Mumy said, “but I figured that if I didn’t do it, someone else would and I wouldn’t be able to control it.”

Mumy said there has been talk about doing a movie based on the series.

“Yeah,” he said, “but Macaulay Culkin will probably wind up doing it, make $20 million, and I’ll pull my hair out.”

Where and When Who: The Jenerators. Location: The Palomino, 6907 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Hours: 9 p.m. Saturday. Price: $6 cover. Call: (818) 764-4010.