45TH & 50TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Gen X! These are for you! Continuing our anniversary with the shows turning 45 & 50 this year!

SID KROFFT DEAD AT 96

 

You can read the full story here.

Along with his brother, Marty, Sid 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, The Bay City Rollers Show, and Pryor’s Place.

BOB BURNS III DEAD AT 90

 

You can read the full story here.

With his own gorilla costume, he portrayed Tracy on The Ghost Busters and Burton the Gorilla on the Wonderbug segment of The Krofft Supershow.

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.

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.

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.

THE KROFFT SUPERSHOW

THE KROFFT SUPERSHOW

(ABC, September 11, 1976-September 2, 1978)

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions

MAIN CAST:

Michael Lembeck – Kaptain Kool

Debra Clinger – Superchick

Mickey McMeel – Turkey

Louise DuArt – Nashville

Bert Sommer – Flatbush (season 1)

ABC was looking for a way to counter NBC and CBS’ new crop of live-action programs. With the recent success of Sid & Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost, ABC decided to hire the Kroffts to produce a 90-minute block of television for them. The resulting umbrella program was called The Krofft Supershow.

The Supershow line-up.

The Supershow was comprised of segments featuring all-new 12-minute shows: Dr. Shrinker, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and Wonderbug. Rounding out the programming block were reruns of the Krofft’s previous series, The Lost Saucer. To fill in the remaining time not taken up by commercial breaks, the Kroffts teamed-up with the Osmond Family, with whom they produced the successful variety show The Donny & Marie Show, to create the series’ mascots: Kaptain Kool and the Kongs.

Turkey, Kaptain Kool, Flatbush, Superchick and Nashville.

Kaptain Kool and the Kongs was a manufactured rock-inspired band that provided entertainment via skits or musical numbers between the Supershow segments, and served as hosts by introducing the segments. The band was led by Kaptain Kool (Michael Lembeck), who wore a colorful quasi-military outfit. The Kongs included the tall and gangly Turkey (Mickey McMeel), who wore stripes and cartoon eyes on his clothing; the southern Nashville (Louise DuArt), whose fashion-sense included butterfly decorations everywhere; the rhyming Flatbush (Bert Sommer), identifiable by his feather-adorned tri-corner hat; and the wide-eyed Superchick (Debra Clinger), who was covered in hearts. As was popularized by KISS, the band members also sported personalized face paint to go with their crazy costumes. Selected more for their comedic talent than musical skill, most of the music was handled by the Osmond staff.

Ad for ABC's Saturday line-up.

  While The Krofft Supershow would debut on September 11, 1976, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs made their debut the night before as part of the Krofft-produced ABC’s Saturday Sneak Peek. The special was hosted by Jimmy Osmond and featured the rest of his family, Dick Clark, Marty Allen and ventriloquist Chris Kirby. Allen and Clark outlined the origin of the Kongs in a musical number, while the rest of the special was filled by various production numbers and clips from the new shows joining Supershow on ABC’s schedule.

The World of Sid & Marty Krofft amusement park.

For the first season, the Kaptain Kool segments were filmed in and around Atlanta, Georgia; particularly at The World of Sid and Marty Krofft amusement park. The park was housed in what’s now known as the CNN Center and was the first 9-story high-rise amusement park. It was broken up into different worlds representing the various Krofft productions with characters working and performing around the park. Unfortunately, attendance was abysmal (some attribute it to the experience not being worth the price of admission, but the Kroffts blamed the urban blight that plagued Atlanta at the time), and coupled with various technical difficulties the park was closed after a mere six months in November of 1976.

ABC's 1977  Saturday ad.

That same month, ABC’s research department discovered that while ratings were strong for the first hour of Supershow, they plummeted for the last half hour in favor of CBS’ Ark II and NBC’s Big John, Little John. In response, by December ABC had Supershow trimmed down to an hour; reducing the Kongs’ time, eliminating The Lost Saucer reruns, and filling the new hole in their schedule with reruns of Super Friends.

Kaptain Kool and the Kongs' new look.

The series was renewed for a second season; however numerous changes were made. ABC placed it a half-hour later in the schedule, still with its 60-minute runtime. While Wonderbug continued, two new segments were produced and aired as part of Supershow: Bigfoot and Wildboy and Magic Mongo. The Kongs received a makeover, as the producers felt their image was getting too old too fast. The Kongs shed their rocker looks in favor of a look more reminiscent of the Bee Gees, trying to tap into the disco craze. They also shed a member as Flatbush was dropped. The band’s sequences were taped indoors in front of a live audience and were broken up into segments such as “Letters to the Kaptain”, which would have Kaptain Kool dispensing nonsensical advice. The Kroffts and Osmonds had ended their partnership between seasons, putting the band’s music in the hands of Tommy Oliver, who had also worked on Donny & Marie.

Promo cartoon for Kaptain Kool and the Kongs.

At the conclusion of the second season, the show was heavily revamped and moved to NBC as The Krofft Superstar Hour. There, The Kongs were replaced by the Bay City Rollers (whose popularity, interestingly enough, resulted in the eventual cancellation of Donny & Marie); however, the band was retained for guest-appearances in other Krofft productions, American Bandstand and another ABC Saturday preview special. Eventually, Clinger and Lembeck went on to other pursuits while McMeel and DuArt continued working for the Kroffts, resulting in the end of the band.

The Album.

Coinciding with the show, two albums for the Kongs were released: one a straightforward self-titled album from, Epic Records, the other, Stories from the Krofft TV Supershow by Peter Pan Records, included comedy skits. They also released the single “And I Never Dreamed” with the B-side “Sing Me a Song” through Epic. Gold Key published a 6-issue comic series called The New Krofft Supershow, which featured the second season segments and the Kongs. The title was also shared by a picture book from Golden Press, which also made a book of iron-on transfers. The first season of the show received the lunchbox treatment from Aladdin, while the Kongs had their own electronic organ from Sears, a magic slate from Whitman, a record player from Vanity Fair, a transistor radio from LJN Toys and buttons.