From the 70’s to the early 80’s, there was always a new Sid and Marty Krofft adventure that broke up the monotony of cartoons and brought children to a world of over-the-top, campy and goofy fun. Dorky characters, poor production values, magical lands and creatures, made for fantastic entertainment that is now available for the first time on DVD.
Rhino Home Video has released a three-DVD set containing one episode of each classic Sid and Marty Krofft production. This DVD is every nostalgia buff’s dream come true! It is amazing how many memories filled my head as I watched some of these shows. However, there were some shows that made me wonder if I was normal, because they were just so bad!
The Bugaloos are loveable oafs with a British accents and wings. They band together to help a DJ, who rides around on roller-skates, holds records in his mouth and talks a funky jive talk that he believes will get get the girls. In the episode featured on the DVD an evil witch traps the DJ, and if the gang can save him, they can host his radio show. The best thing about it is that the witch insults people by calling them dummies. How innocent were those times?
Dr. Shrinker, I don’t remember, but this show was great. Everything was far fetched about this mad scientist with a shrinking gun, but not even the bad acting and special effects could quell the joy of watching this show. The characters are just so loveable you have to like it! Much like Bigfoot and Wild Boy a show I loved! Bigfoot and Wild Boy is about a kid raised by the legendary monster. While, clearly cheesy, it was still worth the watch. Then came Electra-Woman and Dynagirl, what a great show! If you loved Adam West Batman, you had to love Electra-Woman. Campy-yes, but classic indeed.
H.R. Puffnstuff was one of the cornerstones Krofft Legacy. H.R. and Jack (Jack Wild who starred in the Academy Award winning Musical Oliver) had many fantastic adventures in a world where anything was possible. The episode picked for our enjoyment has Wild involved in one of the regular musical sequences that made the show so great to watch. Any fan of H.R. and Jack will surely remember Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. This whale of a tale about two boys who befriend Sigmund, a seaweed monster, is nothing short of classic! The episode featured, is a Halloween tale and Sigmund finds himself enjoying the trick part of Halloween more than the treats. He is so cute; it is hard not to like the little guy as he tries to escape captivity from his evil sea monster family. The facial expressions of the very cheap costumes are priceless!
Finally, we get the best show of the lot, The Land of the Lost. Drama, Comedy, and the best stop motion effects tell the story of the Marshalls, a family who while on a camping trip are accidentally sent back to the Jurassic Period. xciting tale combines drama with comedy and the best stop motion special effects until Jurassic Park changed the way we looked at dinosaurs. On the DVD the Marshalls discover an alien technology that forever changes the direction of the show for the better. They must learn to use the technology before the storm they have caused destroys the prehistoric world they now have to call home. Plus who could forget Chaka?
Of course not every show can be a hit, or even worth remembering, there were several snoozers on in this wacky collection. This is epitomized by Jim Neighbors, who is a shell of his former self in the horrible sci-fi comedy, The Lost Saucer. Wonderbug, a fantasy about a flying car, contains some dirty looking characters with no value, other than to annoy viewers. Magic Mongo, which is about a dorky genie and a couple of tough guys who wear leather jackets and shorts. While Pryor’s Place was just a horrible vehicle for a hilarious comedian, it was a good try but no worth watching. What was worse was that Ray Parker Jr., sings the opening song and even appears in the opening sequence. You have to see it to believe it!
However, the worst of the lot was Far Out Space Nuts, with Bob Denver trying to recapture the same magic he had on Gilligan’s Island, but this time as a stupid space cadet. The show was boring, unoriginal and contained a very awkward scene with two men carrying a heavy, invisible egg. Coming in a close second was Lidsville, a boring romp through a world where one human is trapped among a bunch of talking hats who battle an evil wizard played by Charles Nelson Reilly, who has lost his zap to his sidekick, a bunny named Raunchy. Yes, folks definitely TV at its worst.
Like Disney and Hanna-Barbera, Sid and Marty Krofft have stood the test of time. If you grew up on Krofft, it is only right your kids do too!
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