Those wacky (and sometimes disturbing) Krofft shows
Another series of programs that caught the attention of Gen X youngsters were those from prolific producers Sid & Marty Krofft. These shows, which generally aired during the Saturday morning cartoon line-up, were a nice break from the same old cartoons for many Xers. The Kroffts kicked things off with "H.R. Pufnstuf" (NBC, 1969-1971 and a 1970 theatrical film; reruns later aired on ABC), a series about a boy named Jimmy (Jack Wild) who, with his magical talking flute, Freddy, hopped aboard a boat, was kidnapped by the evil Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), and taken to Living Island where he was befriended by a dragon, Mayor H.R. Pufnstuf. Jimmy and Freddy also encountered sneezing houses, talking animals, and other oddities. With its paths through the forest, menacing talking trees, and a witch as the antagonist, Pufnstuf looked a lot like a low budget "Wizard of Oz."
Like many of the Krofft programs that would follow, "H.R. Pufnstuf" had a psychedelic quality that some have speculated was inspired by drug use by the show's producers. For instance, doesn't the name Pufnstuf suggest a slang term for marijuana? And why a magic flute that Witchiepoo constantly craves? Did the talking flute symbolize a massive joint? A September 1995 America Online chat session suggested that there may have been some underlying drug themes in the Krofft shows. Someone on AOL asked, "Your creations (characters, sets, songs..) are beautiful, psychedelic, and horrifying, often all at the same time. What were/are some of your influences? Be honest...did you guys take a lot of drugs in the late '60's?"
Sid and Marty responded, "The question should be: Do we take drugs in the '90s?"
In a later interview, Marty Krofft said that drugs really didn't play a role in the creation of their programs. "That was our look, those were the colors, everything we did had vivid colors, but there was no acid involved," Krofft said. "That shit scared me. I'm no goody two-shoes, but you can't create this stuff stoned."
Their second
series was "The Bugaloos" (NBC, 1970-1972), a Saturday morning
version of The Monkees. Four British musicians (Caroline Ellis, John
Philpott, John McIndoe and Wayne Laryea) starred as a bunch of bugs
who formed a band while avoiding Benita Bizarre (Martha Raye), who
lived inside a giant jukebox. Billy Barty played Sparky the firefly.
For
"Lidsville" (ABC, 1971-1973), The Kroffts sent a young boy named Mark
(Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on "The Munsters") into a
strange world populated by giant talking hats, the evil magician
named Hoodoo (Charles Nelson Reilly), and the kind Weenie the Genie
(Billie Hayes).
A friendlier creation was "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" (NBC, 1973-1975), a tale of a sea monster family who disowned their youngest, Sigmund (Billy Barty), because he refused to scare humans. Sigmund ran away and lived with human kids Johnny (Johnny Whitaker, who played Jody on Family Affair) and Scott (Scott Kolden). Mary Wickes played Johnny's family housekeeper, Rip Taylor was added to the cast as Sheldon the Sea Genie. One episode also featured a guest appearance by H.R. Pufnstuf, Jimmy, and Freddy.
Aside from
"Pufnstuf," the most enduring Krofft show was undoubtedly "Land of
the Lost "(NBC, 1974-1977; reruns later appeared on CBS), which
featured a dad (Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall) and his two kids
(Wesley Eure as Will and Kathy Coleman as Holly) who fell through a
time tunnel and landed in the prehistoric age. Each week they tried
to find a way back home while battling dinosaurs and lizard-like
humanoids called Sleestaks. They also made some friends in this
prehistoric world, including Chaka (Philip Paley), a curious ape-like
creature called a Pakuni.
Later the Kroffts produced "Far Out Space Nuts" (CBS, 1975-1976), which starred Bob Denver (who played Gilligan on Gilligan's Island) and Chuck McCann as two guys who accidentally launched themselves into space. Space was also explored in "The Lost Saucer" (ABC, 1975-1976), which starred Ruth Buzzi (of Laugh-In) and Jim Nabors (of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) as extraterrestrials who accidentally kidnapped a boy and his babysitter during a visit to Earth.
Another popular Krofft program was "The Krofft Supershow" (ABC, 1976-1978; renamed "The Krofft Superstar Hour" for NBC in 1978), which was hosted by a rock group called Kaptain Kool (played by Michael Lembeck) and the Kongs. The band introduced the show's various segments, until 1978 when a Scottish recording group called The Bay City Rollers took over those duties. Edited episodes of "The Lost Saucer" were featured on "The Krofft Supershow" along with several new series. "ElectraWoman & DynaGirl" starred a pre-Days of Our Lives Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis as Lori and Judy, two magazine reporters who turned into superheroes and battled criminals (much like the 1960s Batman series). "Wonderbug" starred a talking dune buggy, "Dr. Shrinker" featured a bad guy who shrunk a group of kids, "Magic Mongo" was about an untalented genie, and "Bigfoot and Wildboy" followed Sasquatch and a teen-age human. In prime time, the Kroffts inflicted the airwaves with "Donny and Marie" (ABC, 1976-1979) and "The Brady Bunch Hour" (ABC, 1977). There was even an indoor theme park called The World of Sid & Marty Krofft that existed in Atlanta for seven months in the mid-1970s at the site of what is now CNN's headquarters.
Young Xers loved these shows because they offered something different from the multitude of cartoons on the schedule. They had the psychedelic look that was alien to kids at that time, and therefore "cool". The Krofft shows starred other kids, which was a great way to grab young viewers' attention. Most of the shows had the same theme at their core: Kids cut off from their world who learn to survive on their own. "The Kroffts never talked down to kids, never wrapped up with a moral and made the best out of their budgets," said Grant Goggans, a 24-year-old writer. "Many of the series had the astonishingly stark image of someone or some people leaving our known universe to become trapped forever somewhere and never coming home."
Marty Krofft said this theme of kids cut off from their parents probably stemmed from he and his brother's childhood. "I think part of it had to do with our own upbringing, because my brother and I didn't have much adult supervision growing up," Marty said. "My brother was out touring with his puppets, my dad died when I was 12 and mom was not that involved. She was there for me, but my mother and father trusted me."
Joseph Nebus, a 23-year-old grad student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute said he liked the science fiction aspects of the Krofft shows. "I liked the many ways in which it was about exploration and discovery and attempting to understand the world. I liked the storylines in which the show would explore new aspects of the Land of the Lost, looking for the boundaries and discovering what was there. It was recently pointed out to me that the entire show has a subtext, which I think I appreciated without understanding back then, about the search for identity."
While Gen Xers have remembered the Krofft shows over the years, few of the programs were brought out of the vaults until September 1995 when Nick at Nite aired eight hours worth of the programs in a bit of stunting called Puf-A-Palooza. Among the Krofft entries shown: "H.R. Pufnstuf," the original "Land of the Lost," "The Bugaloos," "ElectraWoman and DynaGirl," "Lidsville," "Sigmund & the Sea Monsters," and "The World of Sid & Marty Krofft Live at the Hollywood Bowl" featuring songs by Johnny Whitaker (from Sigmund), Jack Wild (from Pufnstuf), and The Brady [Bunch] Kids.
At the time of Nick's Krofft-fest, Sid and Marty discovered that -- horrors of horrors -- Freddy the Flute from "H.R. Pufnstuf" had been stolen from their warehouse. A reward of $10,000 was offered (Freddy was returned anonymously to a Los Angeles television station two months later). Around the same time, the alternative rock group Tripping Daisy released an album ("I Am An Elastic Firecracker") that included this line in the song "Rocketpop": "Well all is great/and everything's nice/with HR Puffinstuff [sic] by our side." In December 1995 MCA Records released "Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits," a compilation of kids' show theme songs (mostly from the 1970s) recorded by 1990s modern rock artists. Tripping Daisy covered the theme from "Sigmund & the Sea Monsters," Collective Soul tried to sing like "The Bugaloos," and The Murmurs offered their rendition of the "H.R. Pufnstuf" theme.
Just as "The Brady Bunch" and "Schoolhouse Rock" have been revived, so has the Kroffts' "Land of the Lost." New episodes ran for several seasons on ABC Saturday mornings beginning in 1991. The new version featured another family, consisting of a father (actor Timothy Bottoms) and his teen-age son and younger daughter. Instead of encountering Sleestaks, the bad guys were another lizard-like race. Although Chaka didn't return, a new character named Stink (who looked like a Pakuni) was introduced, along with the jungle girl Christa, and a baby dinosaur that lived with the family.
In 1995 the Kroffts entered into an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures to bring their TV shows to the big screen, starting with "The Land of the Lost." "H.R. Pufnstuf" is expected to be the second Krofft property to get remade as a movie, while a new "Bugaloos" TV show is in development at Fox. "Sid and Marty Krofft are kind of a brand name today, and that's why we're doing it all again with the [age] 20-35 audience in mind," Marty Krofft said. "Those are the kids who grew up with it and they are very loyal. We sold 10,000 T-shirts during Puf-A-Palooza. They never sold more than 1,500 during a marathon before that."