Karen: Land of the Lost was a live-action, Sid and Marty Krofft production that came on Saturday mornings, starting in 1974. It had a surprising amount of real science fiction embedded in the half hour stories -alternate dimensions, mutations, aliens, advanced technology, and of course, dinosaurs, cuz what kid doesn't like dinosaurs? But perhaps the most memorable thing from the show were the villains -the lizard-like Sleestaks! I know they're one of Doug's favorites.
Karen: Of course, like every television show from the last 40 years, it was turned into a movie. But the less said about that, the better.
Karen: How about it? Any Land of the Lost fans out there?
I used to watch it ever Saturday morning when I was a kid. Even then I knew it was a little cheesy, but I liked it anyway.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best TV show themes ever, IMO.
I meant best TV show "theme songs"...
ReplyDeleteI remember watching the opening sequence when it premiered, and was heavily disappointed. I mean, come on, if you're to impress viewers with the opening, you're NOT going to do it with cheap blue-screen effects.
ReplyDeleteWould it have hurt 'em to do location shots..?
It's effects were on the level of Doctor Who's first year with Tom Baker. Pretty laughable, but I'm obviously aware of the low budgeting involved.. I've seen some scenes from a few episodes, but was pretty much stuck to more serious TV fare like POTA, Trek and 1999.
I know there's a healthy fan base out there, but to me it was on par with other Krofft shows like 'Lost Saucer', sneaking in social or environmental issues whenever possible.
Ah, not to say Trek didn't, but it was much better at it.
I was a big fan, of course I was 3 when it premiered, 6 when it was cancelled, so I was in the right "demo". I'll never forget the first time I saw the intro, I got all wide-eyed. I still have my LOTL lunch box & other merch and I own Season 1 on dvd.
ReplyDeleteBut it's hard to argue with people who weren't around then and dismiss it because the sets and effects look cheap.
Having said that, when I watch old episodes, I'm sometimes surprised at the level of sophistication in the writing(compared to other 70s kiddie fare). David_b comparison to T.Baker-era Doctor Who is accurate.
Of course it didn't hurt to have Larry Niven, DC Fontana and David Gerrold on board as writers.
I have only the vaguest memories of this show. I do remember loving it. I distinctly remember the sleestacks (they remind me of a character from Star Trek TOS) and I vaguely remember people and dinosaurs. I was 5 when it started and like JA Morris, I can understand if someone who wasn't around at the time doesn't get what all of the fuss is about. I haven't seen the recent movie, but it looks like they took a more comedic turn than I'd have expected.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wiki'ed it and J.A.'s obviously correct on the contributing writers, pretty similar to Trek TAS premiering the previous year.
ReplyDeleteSee, being 11 at the time, it's appeal to me was limited. Frankly, there wasn't much else to watch, all you had for new Saturday morning comic/sci-fi fare was Superfriends and Shazam.
Yeah, like most, I wasn't going to waste any time on the recent movie. I can only take small doses of Will Ferrell comedy, at best.
LotL was never broadcast in Scotland to my knowledge. I watched the movie on tv at the weekend but it was dreadful.The self-conscious "humour" was the moronic fratboy standard I anticipate from modern US comedies (Of course, our own aren't usually anything more than puerile scatology either.) I did wonder where it all went wrong for Anna Friel,one of our finest young actresses a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteI was 12 when it started, really too old for where it aimed. I felt frustrated by the conflict between mature narrative ideas (the "closed universe," questions about the nature and origin of the Sleestaks, the pyramids . . . ) and kids'-show execution, which led to the über-slow chase scenes by the Sleestaks. But as someone else pointed out, there wasn't much else on that hit SF notes.
ReplyDeleteMy best pal Bryan & I were, I believe, 13 when this show started, and an odd confluence our age, a childhood history of DEVOTEDLY gluing ourselves to Saturday morning cartoons, an emerging interest in heavier "cool" science fiction, and the then-current pop-cultural SATURATION (and explosion) of "unexplained mystery" subject material (Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, Easter Island, Atlantis, UFO sightings, Pyramid Power, Stonehenge, "Chariots of the Gods", etc, etc, etc,) that completely enthralled us- AND the ever-present young teen drive to poke fun at practically anything put in front of us- ALL combined to make this pretty much the perfect show for us. We went to great lengths to not miss it for the first two seasons. It was our last, bittersweet connection to those endless Saturday morning cartoon kid-fests, of course. It provided AMPLE fodder to laugh ourselves silly by making fun of the Kroft production techniques, their kiddie-centric focal points (god, that baby apatosaurus--"Dopey"), and the often overwrought acting style from the poor cast-- which seemed so out of place in that over-stylized studio environment. We also never failed to be horrified that Holly was THE SAME AGE as us-!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet. . . the huge, inteconnected lattice of truly cool SF elements completely sucked us in and captivated us. The Sleestak, the Pylons, the time/dimensional travel stuff, the other "lost" characters and elements-- it sparked our imaginations like nothing else really had before.
At one point, he and I created a half-improvised "episode" (playing all the characters between us) on his cassette player. Largely a parody, naturally-- and we considered ourselves the cleverest writers on planet Earth, by virtue of having it cross over into the Star Trek universe at its conclusion. We were pretty sure that we had plumbed new depths of cool, sci-fi deep-ness with that one. None are so sure of the precedents they're setting than 13 or 14 year old boys, eh?
But finally, we were 15. And the appeal evaporated almost w/out being noticed at all. And Marshall dropped out, and his brother (?) came aboard. And we were more interested in "hanging out", and collecting comics, and trying to seem a bit older and possibly. . . appealing. . . to that other tribe. . .
Ah, one could write a book, yes?
HB
humanbelly:
ReplyDeleteYour wonderful, insightful take made me think of those initially ultra-cool Friday night preview shows the networks started around 1974 or 1975, showing us glimpses of 'Secret Life of Waldo Kitty' and all those other NEW offerings.
I think the inevitable shark-jumping occurred when Jimmy Osmond started hosting.
I was in the right demographic when this aired, i.e., under ten years old, and I did watch it pretty regularly but I hardly remember any of it now. What I do remember is that even then I found that title sequence pretty unconvincing and corny, and the Sleestaks initially scared me.
ReplyDeleteIt was corny with special effects a seven year old could see through, and yet it was one of my favorite Saturday morning television shows. For some reason I've never understood, my father took a liking to the show. We didn't watch anything else on TV together, but on Saturday mornings he would stop what he was doing to watch Land of the Lost with me. He's 74 years old now, and every once in a while he will still ask me if I remember that show about the kids and the dinosaurs that we used to watch together.
ReplyDelete@ david_b: Kind words-- many thanks (I tend to wax on sappily a little too easily, so I'm never sure if I've crossed the threshold--!).
ReplyDelete@ edo Omigosh, yes-- the intro sequence. Now, my sisters & I used to make fun of that in particular. The part where their "tiny raft" goes over that hose spigot-- I mean-- WATERFALL, and "plunged them down a thousand feet below"---?
And Holly cries out in the background, "Daddy, do something-!"-- and then they all emit, in unison, the most comically bored-sounding screams that could possibly be recorded. It was an instant Rocky Horror moment, 'cause no matter who was watching it, we would ALL join in with our most malaise-wracked scream. . . each trying to under out-do the other.
I remember episode where that moment kept being replayed over & over in one the pylons or crystals-- Daddy. Do something. Aaaah.-- and even at that age we couldn't believe that they would take the dead-weakest moment from the whole show, and keep playing it over and over and over! My youngest sister laughed so hard and for so long that she got the hiccups. . .
HB
I loved this show when I was a kid. Stole ideas from it for gaming when I was older. And yes the less said about the movie the better.
ReplyDeleteI was 12 when this series came out (with 2 younger brothers, ages 11 and 6). To be honest, the series irritated me because by then I'd read enough books on natural history to know that human-like apes and dinosaurs (not counting birds) never co-existed. Funny that the same silliness in the Ka-Zar comics I was reading at the same time didn't bother me and both were meant to be pure fantasy.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I did see the film, and, well, it's a Will Farrel film! Goofy as hell, but totally within expectations. Not particularly memorable but there were a few amusing bits at least, even if I can't remember what they were now.
Count me among those who loved this show when I was younger. As Karen said it had a lot of cool sci fi concepts but it was my lifelong love of dinosaurs which drew me to Land Of The Lost in the first place. If you exclude the opening waterfall scene the effects weren't bad for a Saturday morning kid's show. I like Will Ferrell but I thought the movie was just ok. I wouldn't mind a more faithful big screen adaption. One that doesn't take itself too seriously but not a complete comedy. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall when Will played Federal Wildlife Marshal Willenholly in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
ReplyDeletewe did not get this show in the uk.
ReplyDeletebut the movie starring will ferrell is a firm favourite in our home.
I guess its all about first impressions and entry levels.
I just LOVED this show as a kid - the highlight of my Saturday mornings for a while.
ReplyDeleteI even painted a bunch of small stones and used them as my "hot crystals" (i think that was the name of the glowing colored jewels they could throw on the ground to frighten the Sleestak).
I LOVED the show. I was, uh, somewhat older than anyone who should have been watching the show, but I enjoy a good kid show. This thing was the best! Of course Sid and Marty insured it had some stupid kid stuff, but it was easily ignorable. The stories were good and DEEP. It was good sci-fi. I kept wondering what would happen if it had a budget and forgot it was a kiddie show, which it darn near did. Of course, when they made the movie, they ignored the good parts and made it a spoof. They could have blown us away and instead we got more turkey $#!+. Great concept done well, except for kiddie elements. sigh!
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a great candidate for revival as a kids show -actually, do they even still have cartoon and live action shows for kids on the networks on Saturday mornings?
ReplyDelete