MARTY KROFFT DEAD AT 86

 

You can read the full story here.

Along with his brother, Sid, Marty was half of Sid & Marty Krofft Productions. They began as theatrical puppeteers before moving into television by designing the characters and sets for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour for Hanna-Barbera. That allowed them to branch out on their own to create H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, both versions of Land of the Lost, Far Out Space Nuts, The Lost Saucer, The Krofft Supershow which included Dr. Shrinker, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Wonderbug, Bigfoot and Wildboy and Magic Mongo, and Pryor’s Place.

45TH ANNIVERSARIES

FAR OUT SPACE NUTS

FAR OUT SPACE NUTS

(CBS, September 6-December 13, 1975)

Sid & Marty Krofft Productions

MAIN CAST:

Bob Denver – Junior

Chuck McCann – Barney

Patty Maloney – Honk

            Far Out Space Nuts was the first of two programs developed by Sid & Marty Krofft Productions exclusively for CBS (the other being Pryor’s Place), and one of two space-themed shows they released in 1975 (the other being The Lost Saucer). The show served as a last-minute replacement for a scrapped cartoon.

Promo image of Barney, Junior and Honk by their ship.

            Developed by the Kroffts, Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Chuck McCann and Earle Doud, Space Nuts followed the adventures of dim-witted Junior (Bob Denver) and the grumpy Barney (McCann), two NASA maintenance workers who accidentally find themselves launched and lost in space. There, they befriended a furry alien named Honk (Patty Maloney) who only spoke via honking sounds from the horn on top of her head. The three of them travelled from planet to planet, typically having to escape from hostile aliens to get back to their ship and continue their quest to find a way home.

Junior getting his mind switched with a sinister computer.

            Far Out Space Nuts debuted on CBS on September 6, 1975, with music by Michael Lloyd for Mike Curb Productions. Written by Doud, McCann, Dick Robbins, Duane Poole, Buddy Atkinson, Dick Conway, Jack Mendelsohn, Bruce Howard and Ray Parker, the series blended goofball comedy with satire poking fun at movie clichés and parodies of other movies and shows; blending elements of McCann’s comedy stylings and Doud’s experience as a writer for Mad Magazine. While the jokes were generally family friendly, the bulk of the humor was targeted for adults. For instance, the villain of “It’s All in Your Mind” was named G.A.L 36-24-26 (an idealized woman’s measurements, voiced by Joan Gerber). Denver actually had his choice of two Saturday morning programs, having also been offered a role in Filmation’s The Ghost Busters alongside former Dusty’s Trail co-star Forrest Tucker before ultimately ending up settling for Space Nuts. 

The Nuts meet an alien queen.

            Unfortunately for Denver, Space Nuts fared as well as Dusty’s Trail did. The show’s adult humor ended up not attracting the child audience CBS would have liked and it was trounced in the ratings by Speed Buggy and Return to the Planet of the Apes. The series remained on CBS until it was replaced by Filmation’s Ark II the following season. It entered into syndicated reruns as part of the package program Krofft Super Stars beginning in 1978, where it began to slowly find its fans. The first two episodes were released to VHS by Embassy Home Entertainment in 1985. Rhino Home Entertainment released another VHS in 1999 with the episodes “Tower of Tagot” and “Secrets of Hexagon”. In 2002, they released “Birds of a Feather” to DVD as part of The World of Sid & Marty Krofft compilation, and the pilot episode in the 2005 compilation Saturday Morning with Sid & Marty Krofft.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“It’s All in Your Mind” (9/6/75) – Junior and Barney end up on a planet ruled by a brain-controlling computer.

“The Crystallites” (9/13/75) – Junior enjoys being the ruler of the glass people, until he finds out he has to become glass as well.

“Robots of a Pod” (9/20/75) – Junior and Barney have to rescue a princess and retrieve a magic belt from an evil robot ruler.

“Fantastic Journey” (9/27/75) – A mad scientist makes Junior and Barney his assistants.

“Tower of Tagot” (10/4/75) – Junior and Barney have to rescue a queen from the evil Tagot.

“The Three Space-keteers” (10/11/75) – Junior is mistaken for a legendary hero and is tasked with rescuing a queen.

“Flight of the Pippets” (10/18/75) – Junior and Barney are shrunk down and added to a collection of miniatures.

“Birds of a Feather” (10/25/75) – Captured by the bird-like Vultrons, Junior and Barney are ordered to hatch a giant egg.

“Dangerous Game” (11/1/75) – A woman and her dog-like henchmen hunt down Junior and Barney.

“Secrets of the Hexagon” (11/8/75) – Junior and Barney are duped into trading their spaceship for a powerful key.

“Captain Torque, Space Pirate” (11/15/75) – An evil space pirate forces Junior and Barney to steal a treasure map for him.

“Vanishing Aliens Mystery” (11/22/75) – Junior and Barney end up on a space station in time for the reading of a will, and all of the heirs slowly being disappearing.

“Barney Begonia” (11/29/75) – Barney is turned into a half-man, half-flower creature.

“Destination: Earth” (12/6/75) – Junior and Barney end up taking a trip through time as a way to get back home.

“Galaxy’s Greatest Athlete” (12/13/75) – Junior is tricked into competing in an athletic event by two beautiful women.

CHUCK McCANN DEAD AT 83

You can read the full story here.

McCann had a wide pedigree in television and film, starring both on and off the camera with a distinctive, easily recognizable voice, and also working behind the scenes. McCann co-created, produced, and starred as Barney in Far Out Space Nuts for Sid and Marty Kroft, as well as wrote several episodes of their show Wonderbug.

Other starring roles included Boogie and Blubber in C.B. Bears; Billy Joe in The New Shmoo; Mummy Man in Drak Pack; Blinky and Pinky in Pac-Man; Orlock in Galtar and the Golden Lance; Duckworth, Burger Beagle, Bouncer Beagle, and several minor roles in DuckTales; Mayor Grody in Toxic Crusaders; Dumptruck, Gibber and a rhino goon in TaleSpin; and Beefsteak in Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1991). He also guest-starred as Number One, The Owl, Tom McCool in Cool McCool; Badladdin in an episode of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show; Artemis and some mutants in an episode of Thundarr the Barbarian; Moving Man Grizz, Billy Beagle, Roary, Cousin Wilton, and several minor roles in The Get Along Gang; Biff Barker in Pound Puppies (1986); Cashmore and additional voices  in an episode of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo; Sir Gaya, a knight, a chef and a tadpole in episodes of Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears; Heff Heffalump and a Tigger lookalike in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh; Uncle Ed and a dog in two episodes of Garfield and Friends; Codger Eggbert in an episode of Animaniacs; Santa Claus in an episode of ABC Weekend Specials; a worm and talents of trial in two episodes of The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat; and Filth #2 in an episode of The Tick (1994).

McCann also provided unspecified additional voice work for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Space Stars, Richie Rich (1982), Snorks, The Smurfs, Where’s Waldo?, Tom & Jerry Kids Show, and All-New Dennis the Menace.

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 7)

We continue our second anniversary celebration!

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 40. The big 4-0.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...