by Michael Lyons
In his book Pufnstuf & Other Stuff, author David Martindale wrote:
“Long before American pop culture transformed the mighty dinosaurs from majestic, mysterious beasts of another age into kings of kitch - before Dinos became trendy and fashionable, cute and cuddly - Sid Krofft was a die-hard dinosaur buff.”
An entire generation is thankful that he was because he brought us Land of the Lost. In a time when the computer-generated images of the Jurassic Park films were nary a glint in anyone's eyes, Sid & Marty Krofft, the ingenious, original minds behind such shows as H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters brought a one-of-a-kind prehistoric world to Saturday morning television.
Debuting on NBC on September 7, 1974, Land of the Lost, celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, is well-remembered by many who, as kids, sat cross-legged on their parents' shag carpeting eating an overly-sugared bowl of some sort of crunchy cereal, in amazement at this unique series sandwiched between the familiar cartoon fare.
In a story detailed in the show's catchy theme song, father Rick Marshall (Spencer Milligan) and his children, Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Kathy Coleman), are on a "routine expedition," rafting, and are plunged over a waterfall.
They arrive in what looks like a prehistoric world, filled with dinosaurs and primate-like people called Pakuni. They learn that there is more to this "Land" than just Dinos, and there are some mysterious things at work, such as power crystals and lizard-people-like creatures called Sleestaks.
Land of the Lost employed tremendous creativity in its stories, thanks to several Star Trek veterans who penned many of the show's scripts (including actor Walter Koenig, who played Chekov).
Sid and Marty Krofft, known for their creative use of costumes and puppetry, employed those techniques here, which was combined with stop-motion animation on Land of the Lost to bring the dinosaurs to life (including a T-Rex nicknamed "Grumpy" and a baby Dino nicknamed "Dopey").
For kids who grew up watching the show, this was a marvel. When watching the episodes now, the effects seem quaint, maybe even threadbare, when one senses that the rock caves have a styrofoam look to them, and the green screen is evident. However, this "handmade" feel only adds to the show's charm now and was part of what made it magic in its day.
Land of the Lost was also immensely successful, running for two years on NBC, including a change to the plot when Milligan departed the show. Krofft re-booted the series in 1991 and there was the big-budget 2009 feature film starring Will Ferrell.
The original series was squarely in the pop-culture sights when it aired, appearing on numerous pieces of merchandise, including lunchboxes, coloring books, and action figures.
Now, fifty years later, Land of the Lost, the show, is like a portal in time itself. The series serves a trip back to another era, not to one of dinosaurs and Sleestak that the Marshalls discovered, but to when Saturday morning TV was a time of imagination and escapism for kids.
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