KEN SPEARS DEAD AT 82

 

You can read the full story here.

He worked for Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he co-created Scooby-Doo with his partner, Joe Ruby. He also did work for Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises before ABC set them up with their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions.

 

The shows he’s worked on include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, The Adventures of Gulliver, Cattanooga Cats, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Harlem Globetrotters, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug, Magic Mondo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bigfoot and Wildboy, ABC Weekend Specials (episodes), Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff (1980), Thundarr the Barbarian, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Saturday Supercade, Rubik, The Amazing Cube, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, Turbo Teen, Mister T, It’s Punky Brewster, Lazer Tag Academy, Superman (1988), Dink, the Little Dinosaur, Piggsburg Pigs!, and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa.

JOE RUBY DEAD AT 87

You can read the full story here.

He worked for Hanna-Barbera Productions where he co-created many of their better-known properties, especially Scooby-Doo, with his partner, Ken Spears. He also did work for Krofft Television Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises before Fred Silverman at ABC set them up with their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions.

The shows he’s worked on include Space Ghost, The Herculoids, The Adventures of Gulliver, Cattanooga Cats, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Help!...It’s the Hair Bear Bunch, The Funky Phantom, The Barklesy, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, Jabberjaw, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug, Magic Mondo, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Bigfoot and Wildboy, ABC Weekend Specials (episodes), Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff (1980), Thundarr the Barbarian, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Puppy’s Further Adventures, Saturday Supercade, Rubik, The Amazing Cube, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Dragon’s Lair, Turbo Teen, Mister T, It’s Punky Brewster, Lazer Tag Academy, Superman (1988), Dink, the Little Dinosaur, Piggsburg Pigs!, and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa.

THE LOST SAUCER

THE LOST SAUCER

(ABC, September 6-December 20, 1975)

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions

MAIN CAST:

Ruth Buzzi – Fi, Professor Pringle

Jim Nabors – Fum, Doctor Locker

Jarrod Johnson – Jerry

Alice Playten – Alice

Larry Larsen - Dorse

            The Lost Saucer was one of two space-themed programs being developed by Krofft Television Productions in 1975; the other being Far Out Space Nuts. Those two shows marked a departure from the typical Krofft formula with the toned-down use of puppet characters and the reliance on guest-stars.

Jerry, Alice, Fi and Fum gathering fruit.

            Developed by Dick Morgan, the series followed the adventures of two bumbling time-traveling androids from the year 2369: Fi (Ruth Buzzi) and Fum (Jim Nabors). They landed their flying saucer on present-day Earth where they invited a young boy named Jerry (Jarrod Johnson) and his babysitter Alice (Alice Playten) to check out their craft. However, when their ship drew crowds the androids became nervous and took off with Jerry and Alice. The Yearometer—the device that allowed them to travel to a specific destination in time—ended up damaged, leaving them unable to return Jerry and Alice to their proper time. The quartet proceeded to travel back and forth through time, visiting Earth or one of its colonies at different periods and interacting with the eccentric individuals that lived there. Along for the ride was the only mascot costumed character, the Dorse (Larry Larsen): a half-dog, half-horse hybrid who could talk. Nabors and Buzzi also played a dual role as the creators of the androids, Dr. Locker and Professor Pringle (with Buzzi’s being reminiscent of her character from Laugh-In).

A newly-hatched Chickophant inside the ship.

            The Lost Saucer debuted on ABC on September 6, 1975. The series was written by Si Rose, Barry E. Blitzer, John Fenton Murray, William J. Keenan, Larry Markes, John L. Greene, Arthur Phillips, Fred Fox and Seaman Jacobs, with music by Michael Lloyd. Each episode dealt with a specific theme and delivered a pro-social message related to it often through the use of satire. They dealt with topics such as obesity, blind conformity, wasting resources, narcissism, and prejudice, among others. Nabors was a huge get for the show, as he had greatly reduced his television presence following the cancellation of The Jim Nabors Hour. Although he wasn’t sought after for his singing ability, a few song numbers managed to be worked in for him. In a twist, Playten was hired because of her singing ability; specifically, the Kroffts discovered her while she was recording the theme song for ABC’s Funshine Saturday. To save on the budget, sets were frequently redressed and reused in various episodes, and costumes and props were borrowed from other programs. A lot of the futuristic space technology was shared between Saucer and Space Nuts during both shows’ productions.

The Lost Saucer VHS.

            The Lost Saucer ran a single season of 16 episodes, during which time Nabors and Buzzi hosted ABC’s Thanksgiving Funshine Festival in character. It remained on ABC’s schedule until it was merged into The Kroft Supershow for the following season. The first six episodes were rerun in slightly shortened versions until Supershow was decreased to 60 minutes and Saucer was dropped. Saucer’s first episode was included on Rhino Home Video’s The World of Sid & Marty Krofft VHS collection in 1999, which was subsequently re-released to DVD in 2002. Rhino also released a single 2-episode VHS of Saucer. In 2005, Rhino released a stripped-down version of The World of Sid & Marty Krofft as Saturday Morning with Sid & Marty Krofft.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“894X2RY713, I Love You” (9/6/75) – In the far future, Jerry and Alice are arrested for not having numbers and their faces exposed in public.

“The Tiny Years” (9/13/75) – The saucer lands in a time when everyone is shrunken and has a mistrust of anyone large.

“My Fair Robot” (9/20/75) – Helping a bumbling robot leads Fi and Jerry to be arrested as robot rustlers.

“Transylvania 2300” (9/27/75) – A mad scientist turns Fi and Fum into his slaves.

“Beautiful Downtown Atlantis” (10/4/75) – The saucer crashes into Atlantis and its ruler turns it into a TV station and Fi and Fum into the unwilling stars.

“Where Did Everybody Go?” (10/11/75) – The saucer lands in a place where the ruler’s paranoia caused him to turn all his people invisible.

“Get a Dorse” (10/18/75) – In a time of depleted power, three scientists try to get Dorse to operate a treadmill generator.

“Androids Come Home” (10/25/75) – When the saucer returns home with Jerry and Alice, Fi and Fum’s creators decide the androids must be recycled.

“Valley of the Chickaphants” (11/1/75) – The saucer ends up in a time when people have reverted to the Stone Age and half-chicken, half-elephant creatures roam.

“Return to the Valley of the Chickaphants” (11/8/75) – The crew discovers that the Dorse brought a chickaphant egg on board.

“The Laughing Years” (11/15/75) – The androids are in trouble when they end up in a place where not smiling is illegal.

“Fat Is Beautiful” (11/22/75) – The saucer winds up in a land where physical activity and being thin are outlawed.

“Planet of Lookalikes” (11/29/75) – Fi and Fum are arrested for a traffic violation and discover the civilization is comprised of clones of a narcissistic ruler.

“Fi Am Woman” (12/6/75) – Fum gets amnesia and falls in love with a beautiful android.

“Polka Dot Years” (12/13/75) – The saucer malfunctions in a land where people without dotted faces are discriminated against.

“Land of the Talking Plants” (12/20/75) – Looking for food takes the saucer to a land where plants have learned to speak.

LIDSVILLE

LIDSVILLE

(ABC, September 11, 1971-January 1, 1972)

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions

MAIN CAST:

Butch Patrick – Mark

Billie Hayes – Weenie the Genie, Witchiepoo

Charles Nelson Reilly – Horatio J. HooDoo, Merlo the Magician

Walker Edmiston – Raunchy Rabbit, Jack of Clubs, Bela, Boris, Imperial Wizard, Hiram, Admiral Scuttlebutt, Big Chief Sitting Duck

Lennie Weinrib – Mr. Big, Captain Hooknose, Rah-Rah, Colonel Poom, Mr. Chow, Pierre LeSewer, Scorchy, Tex, Tonsilini

Joan Gerber – Madame Ring-a-Ding, Mother Wheels, Nursie, Twirly, Little Ben

Sharon Baird – Raunchy Rabbit (performer), various

Angelo Rossitto – Mr. Big (performer), various

Joy Campbell – Nursie (performer), various

Felix Silla – Colonel Poom (performer), various

Van Snowden – Tonsilini (performer), various

            Lidsville is the fourth television show featuring the work of Sid and Marty Krofft, and the third made through their production company. It utilized their style of actors in makeup filmed alongside performers in full mascot costumes and puppets with voice actors supplying the voices. Lidsville followed the adventures of young Mark (Butch Patrick) after he falls into a magician’s hat and winds up in a land of living hats. The land was frequently terrorized by magician Horatio J. HooDoo (Charles Nelson Reilly, who also played the magician in Mark’s world) in order to extort money from them. HooDooo kept an eye on the populace via a TV-like eyeball called The Evil Eye, and travelled around in his top hat-like Hatamaran. HooDoo was alerted to Mark’s arrival and took an interest, believing Mark a spy. HooDoo would also actively prevent his attempts to return home when Mark stole the magic ring that contained HooDoo’s bumbling genie slave, Weenie (Billie Hayes, replacing an initially cast Billy Barty who fell ill before production).

Mark and Weenie the Genie.

            Lidsville was inspired by Sid Krofft’s large hat collection. One day he pondered what would happen if they came to life and exhibited their own unique personalities. It was the Kroffts’ most ambitious project at the time, boasting a tremendous assortment of both costumed characters and puppets. While a number of previous Krofft players were retained from the prior shows to play the characters when they were the focus of a scene, the sheer volume of these characters meant they had to hire additional support in the form of The Hermine Midgets or even children for any background characters. When the focus would shift characters between shots, the players had to trade costumes and, over the course of the show, often ended up playing multiple characters.

Citizens of Lidsville (from front left): Mr. Chow, Tex, Hiram and Little Ben, Weenie, Madame Ring-a-Ding, Scorchy, Nursie, Colonel Poom, Rah-Rah, Admiral Scuttlebutt, and Big Chief Sitting Duck.

The citizens of Lidsville, the Good Hats, included Colonel Poom (Felix Silla & Lennie Weinrib using a British accent), a pith helmet who was the de factor leader of the town; Rah-Rah (Jerry Maren & Weinrib), a football helmet who acted like a stereotypical “dumb jock”; Mother Wheels (Joan Gerber), an elderly motorcycle helmet always on her bike; Madame Ring-a-Ding (Gerber), a party hat who was the town social director; Mr. Chow (Weinrib using a Chinese accent), a chef’s toque with a Manchurian mustache that served as the town’s top chef; Tonsilini (Van Snowden & Weinrib), an opera hat that signs everything he says; Hiram (Walker Edmiston), a farmer’s straw hat often seen carrying around piglet Little Ben (Gerber); Admiral Scuttlebutt (Edmiston), an admiral’s bicorne that speaks in naval clichés; Big Chief Sitting Duck (Edmiston), a feathered Indian chief’s hat that wears an Indian blanket; Twirly (Gerber), a beanie that can use his propeller to fly; Nursie (Joy Campbell  & Gerber), a nurse’s hat that serves as the town’s doctor; Tex (Weinrib impersonating John Wayne), a cowboy hat; Pierre LeSewer (Weinrib), a French beret that frequently popped out of the town sewers; and Scorchy (Weinrib), a fire hydrant that wore a firefighter’s helmet and serves as the town’s early warning system. Each of the Good Hats lived in a house that emphasized their personality.

HooDoo with the Bad Hats and Raunchy Rabbit.

            HooDoo had his own group of hats, called The Bad Hats. They consisted of Mr. Big (Angelo Rossitto & Lennie Weinrib), a gangster fedora that leads the group; Captain Hooknose (Weinrib), a pirate hat with a hook for a nose; Bela (Walker Edmiston, impersonating Bela Lugosi for which the character was named), a vampire-like tophat; and Boris (Edmiston, impersonating Peter Lorre), an axe-wielding executioner’s hood. HooDoo’s non-hat henchmen included Raunchy Rabbit (Sharon Baird & Edmiston), a dimwitted fez-wearing rabbit, and Jack of Clubs (Edmiston), a walking deck of playing cards that could speak from both Jack-of-Clubs faces. However, HooDoo wasn’t actually in charge as he answered to the Imperial Wizard (Edmiston).

HooDoo zapping.

            Lidsville debuted on ABC on September 11, 1971 after recording the entire show in a brisk 11 weeks. Many would come to note that the series was an almost superficial repackaging of H.R. Pufnstuff as it utilized a similar concept (it also bore a resemblance to the animated British program, Hattytown Tales). There was even an unsubstantiated report from 1974’s Film Fan Monthly saying that Mark Lester, who co-starred with Pufnstuff’s Jack Wild in Olvier!, was actually the original choice to play Mark in Lidsville. Also, Hayes reprised her role of Witchiepoo, the villain of that series, in an episode of Lidsville (playing a double role). However, one key difference is that while the lost boy lead of Pufnstuff seemed almost happy to be with his new friends, Mark, despite putting on a happy face, always had that underlying sense of just wanting to get home (which could have stemmed from that fact that Patrick had reservations about taking the role from the outset, and wanting to be done with the grueling shooting schedule). Also, HooDoo’s wickedness was on full display, making him seem like as genuine a threat as possible as network censors would allow.

The citizens of Lidsville tattle on HooDoo to his mother (Muriel Landers).

The series was written by John Fenton Murray, Warren S. Murray, Rita Sedran Rose, Jack Raymond, Larry Alexander, Marc B. Ray, Si Rose, Elroy Schwartz and Paul Wayne. Like other Krofft productions, Lidsville often featured a musical number in its episodes, with music provided by Les Szarvas; however, unlike those other shows, the music wasn’t always as well integrated into the narrative of the episode. The intro was filmed at Six Flags Over Texas, with the rest of the show being shot Paramount Pictures’ film studio in Los Angeles. Like previous Krofft shows, many had come to regard it as an acid trip—thanks to the abundance of colors used and weird characters—and suspected its name derived from the drug slang version of “lid”, rather than the slang for hat.

HooDoo taking Witchiepoo terrorizing in his Hatamaran.

Lidsville only ran for a single season, however it remained on the network through 1973, and then went over to NBC for another year of reruns. Horatio J. HooDoo would continue to make appearances in future Krofft productions, as well as ABC’s 1972 preview special, The Brady Bunch Meets ABC’s Saturday Superstars. However, Paul Gale would play the role in all further appearances as Reilly hated the costume and all the make-up required; a fact that was withheld from him when he took the role. The hat people also made an appearance in the 1973 Ice Capades, as well as the live stage show, The World of Sid & Marty Krofft Live at the Hollywood Bowl. The stage show was recorded and later shown as a television special; however, the Lidsville characters were removed from a 1990s Nick at Nite broadcast.

The Good Hats as depicted in the Lidsville comic.

Gold Key Comics published a 5-issue Lidsville comic that was a mix of original stories and episode adaptations. While the stories themselves were faithful to the show, very little else was. For instance, Weenie’s bumbling was toned down and his magic could only work when Mark rubbed the magic ring. Boris made no appearances outside of the covers. Jack of Clubs was depicted as being a singular card rather than a deck. The established residents of Lidsville had some noticeable differences in their appearance, and new characters unique to the comic made appearances. Other merchandise released for the show included two versions of a HooDoo and a Weenie Halloween costume by Collegeville, a tin lunch box from Aladdin, a magic slate and a an activity book, both by Whitman.

The complete series DVD.

In 1985, Embassy Home Entertainment released two volumes of episodes under their Children’s Treasures banner as part of The World of Sid & Marty Krofft video collection. The first episode was included on Rhino Home Video’s The World of Sid & Marty Krofft VHS collection in 1999, which was subsequently re-released to DVD in 2002. Rhino also released a single 2-episode VHS of Lidsville. In 2004, Rhino released The Complete Lidsville VHS collection under their Rhino Handmade banner, which was limited to 3,000 copies and retailed for an amazing $83.98. The following year, Rhino released Lidsville: The Complete Series to DVD. Later in 2005, Rhino released a stripped-down version of The World of Sid & Marty Krofft as Saturday Morning with Sid & Marty Krofft. In 2010, “Mark and the Beanstalk” was included on the DVD Sid & Marty Krofft’s Saturday Morning Hits by SMK Pictures.

MAIN CAST:

“World in a Hat” (9/11/71) – Mark falls into a magician’s hat and ends up in a magical world where the evil HooDoo believes he is a spy.

“Show Me the Way to Go Home” (9/18/71) – HooDoo attempts to stop Mark, Weenie and Poom from reaching The Golden Ladder.

“Fly Now, Vacuum Later” (9/25/71) – HooDoo uses a giant vacuum cleaner in order to swallow Mark and his magic carpet.

“Weenie, Weenie, Where’s Our Genie?” (10/2/71) – Weenie runs away and HooDoo captures Nursie and Scorchy as ransom for his return.

“Let’s Hear it for Whizzo” (10/9/71) – HooDoo evicts all the residents of Lidsville so Mark challenges him to a wizard duel.

“Is There a Mayor in the House?” (10/16/71) – Mark suggests the citizens should elect a mayor, so HooDoo attempts to rig the election.  

“Take Me to Your Rabbit” (10/23/71) – A lightning strike gives Raunchy Rabbit HooDoo’s magical powers.

“Have I Got a Girl for HooDoo” (10/30/71) – Mark tries to free Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo from the spell that makes her infatuated with HooDoo.

“Mark and the Beanstalk” (11/6/71) – HooDoo disguises himself as Mark and attempts to use a beanstalk to escape to Mark’s world.

“Turn in Your Turban, You’re Through” (11/13/71) – HooDoo turns Mark into his personal servant by giving him Weenie’s powers.

“Alias, the Imperial Wizard” (11/20/71) – HooDoo kidnaps several of the hat people in order to plan a party for the Imperial Wizard.

“A Little HooDoo Goes a Long Way” (11/27/71) – Weenie gets sick just as the Bad Hats plan to overthrow HooDoo.

“Oh, Brother” (12/4/71) – HooDoo’s good twin brother visits and confusion abounds.

“HooDoo Who?” (12/11/71) – HooDoo ends up with amnesia.

“The Old Hat Home” (12/18/71) – HooDoo crashes a charity event and advances the ages of all in attendance.

“The Great Brain Robbery” (12/25/71) – HooDoo lures the good hat people into his Brain Wash machine so they’ll be his army against the Imperial Wizard.

“Mommy Hoo Doo” (1/1/72) – HooDoo’s mother comes to visit and the citizens of Lidsville try to convince her that her son is a baddie.

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.

ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRL

ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRL

(ABC, September 11-December 25, 1976)

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions

MAIN CAST:

Deidre Hall – Electra Woman/Lori

Judy Strangis – Dyna Girl/Judy

Norman Alden – Professor Frank Heflin

Marvin Miller - Narrator

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was one of the original segments of the 90-minute umbrella program, The Krofft Supershow. Although Krofft was in the name, Sid & Marty Krofft weren’t the originators of the series. Rather, it was Hanna-Barbera veterans Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, then under contract with ABC to create and supervise Saturday morning projects, who created the show as the first in a partnership with the Kroffts. It was further developed by story editors Dick Robbins and Duane Poole.

Electra Woman, Dyna Girl and Frank in the ElectraBase.

The show was heavily influenced by the live-action Batman television series, as well as the popularity of Filmation’s The Secrets of Isis, which led to a greater demand for strong female characters on Saturday mornings. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl were actually Lori (Deidre Hall, who was cast in her well-known role on Days of Our Lives while filming the show) and Judy (Judy Strangis, whose brother worked on Batman), ace reporters for Newsmaker Magazine.  When crime reared its ugly head, Lori and Judy would “electra-change” into their costumes through a flash of light, operate out of a high-tech underground headquarters called the ElectraBase, and pursue their foes in the ElectraCar. The only other person privy to their secret identities was scientist Frank Helfin (Norman Alden), who remained in the ElectraBase to operate the CrimeScope computer and relay information to the duo in the field. Their primary weapons in the war on crime were the ElectraComs: bulky wrist devices that could perform a variety of functions depending on a given situation. A narrator (Marvin Miller) would set-up the episode for the audience and interject at key moments to heighten the drama, furthering the Batman comparison along with Dyna Girl’s tendencies to make exclamations beginning with “Electra” (as opposed to Robin’s “Holy”).

Ali Baba and his Genie with an evil Dyna Girl.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl debuted with the rest of The Krofft Supershow on ABC on September 11, 1976. Each episode was only around 12-minutes in length, and like Batman ended on a cliffhanger that would be resolved the following week. The heroes would find themselves up against a colorful assortment of villains and their henchmen: The Sorcerer (Michael Constantine) and his assistant, Miss Dazzel (Susan Lanier); the hypnotic musician Glitter Rock (John Mark Robinson); the Empress of Evil (Claudette Nevins) and her follower, Lucrezia (Jacqueline Hyde); Ali Baba (Malachi Throne, who had played Falseface on Batman) and his Genie (Sig Haig); the Pharaoh (Peter Mark Richman) and his Cleopatra (Jane Elliot); and Spider Lady (Tiffany Bolling), mistress of disguise. Along with Robbins and Poole, the series was written by Gerry Day, Bethel Leslie and Greg Strangis with music composed by Jimmy Haskell. Walter C. Miller and Jack Regas directed the series utilizing a variety of wild camera angles and shots that were used to hide many of the production flaws and limited special effects that plagued the series.

The 2001 and 2016 reboot attempts for the series.

While The Krofft Supershow was renewed for a second season, Electra Woman was not. It wouldn’t be until 2001 that the concept was revisited when The WB commissioned a pilot for a sequel series. The show would have been a cynical parody of the original, showing a disillusioned, bitter, alcoholic and promiscuous Electra Woman (Markie Post) who had retired and lost her husband to her former partner, Dyna Girl (Anne Stedman). The pilot was never aired, but has been posted online and included on bootleg DVDs of the original series. A second attempt came in 2016 when YouTube celebrities Grace Helbig and Hanna Hart were cast in a reboot. The film was initially released in 11-minute webisodes through Fullscreen’s streaming platform that April while the complete film was released in June through major platforms by Legendary Digital Studios and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Sony released it on DVD the following month.

Heroes--busted!

In 1976, the heroes were prominently displayed on a lunchbox from Aladdin featuring the first season entries of Supershow. In 1977, View-Master released a set adapting “The Spider Lady” episodes. “The Spider Lady” was also adapted into puzzle form by HG Toys, going along with the board game by Ideal, a puzzler toy by Harmony, and a costume by Ben Cooper. In 2010, Electric Tiki released a pair of mini-busts featuring Electra Woman and Dyna Girl in a semi-cartoon style. An Electra Woman action figure was made by Living Toyz as part of The Krofft Superstars series, however the line was cancelled before Dyna Girl was ever made.

VHS cover.

In 2000, Rhino Entertainment released four episodes to VHS edited together to form two complete stories. Episodes of the series were featured on the compilations The World of Sid & Marty Krofft by Rhino in 2002 and Sid & Marty Krofft’s Saturday Morning Hits by SMK Pictures in 2010. The complete series was made available as part of the The World of Sid and Marty Krofft—Complete Series released by Beyond Home Entertainment Australia, however they used the episodes edited together for later syndication rather than the original cuts. The series’ theme was included on the compilation CD H.R. Pufnstuf and Other Sid & Marty Krofft Favorites.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Sorcerer’s Golden Trick: Part 1” (9/11/76) – The Sorcerer escapes from prison looking for revenge on the heroes and all the gold in Fort Knox.

“The Sorcerer’s Golden Trick: Part 2” (9/18/76) – The Sorcerer traps the heroes with a man-eating tiger while he continues his raid on Fort Knox.

“Glitter Rock: Part 1” (9/25/76) – Lori’s former classmate and King of Touremburg stays with the ladies for their high school reunion and ends up kidnapped by Glitter Rock and Side Man.

“Glitter Rock: Part 2” (10/2/76) – The heroes rescue King Alex and try to prevent Glitter Rock from sending up a satellite that will beam hypnotic music all over the world.

“Empress of Evil: Part 1” (10/9/76) – The Empress of Evil makes her way into the ElectraBase to challenge Electra Woman and kidnaps Dyna Girl in the process.

“Empress of Evil: Part 2” (10/16/76) – While the heroes are being stretched apart, the Empress returns to the ElectraBase and confronts Frank.

“Ali Baba: Part 1” (10/23/76) – Ali Baba and his Genie kidnap a Russian scientist for his formula that will make good people bad.

“Ali Baba: Part 2” (10/30/76) – Ali Baba uses the formula to turn Dyna Girl evil and she helps them kidnap Frank from the ElectraBase.

“Return of the Sorcerer: Part 1” (11/6/76) – The Sorcerer and Miss Dazzle use Merlin’s mirror to steal priceless works of art.

“Return of the Sorcerer: Part 2” (11/13/76) – The Sorcerer contemplates continuing his crime spree or destroying the mirror that now holds the heroes captive.

“The Pharaoh: Part 1” (11/20/76) – The Pharaoh and Cleopatra steal a wooden pyramid from a museum, and in trying to retrieve it the heroes are hit with a mummifying spray.

“The Pharaoh: Part 2” (11/27/76) – The Pharaoh releases the energy being Solaris from the pyramid and uses him to hold the city ransom by stealing all of its power.

“The Spider Lady: Part 1” (12/4/76) – The Spider Lady captures Electra Woman in order to disguise herself as her and steal the Golden Spider from the Baklava embassy.

“The Spider Lady: Part 2” (12/11/76) – The Spider Lady uses her disguise to enter the ElectraBase and set a bomb to destroy the Crimescope.

“Return of the Pharaoh: Part 1” (12/18/76) – The Pharaoh sets his sights on the Coptic Eye that is part of the recently-transplanted King Tut’s pyramid.

“Return of the Pharaoh: Part 2” (12/25/76) – The heroes confront the Pharaoh in the pyramid and end up trapped inside with them.

Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.