The Krofft Supershow episode guide: season two

Continuing our look at the goofy and poorly-documented Krofft Supershow. I recently landed bootleg copies, mostly edited, of the hour-long versions of all 32 episodes of this program. Unfortunately, the copies of season two doing the rounds are in really poor shape. Anyway, until this gets a proper release, and since this hasn’t actually been properly documented in this form anywhere – although somebody at IMDB did a pretty good job with some of the component parts – I thought I’d save this for posterity.

Notes:

1. Season two features the Kaptain Kool and the Kongs that everybody remembers. They’re dressed comparatively sensibly, in denim costumes instead of the glitter-haired multi-color glam rock spandex of season one. They’re also down to a four-piece, as Bert Sommer was not asked back to reprise his role of Flatbush. Unfortunately, their segments were taped at some generic theater in Los Angeles instead of in Atlanta, but of course the Kroffts’ indoor amusement park had closed by then.

2. The first season had seen a small amount of merchandising available, including a lunch box and jigsaw puzzles, but there was a lot more available for season two, including an actual Kaptain Kool and the Kongs LP and comic books, which is why everybody remembers these costumes and not the goofy ones from the first season. I don’t own the record and don’t have musician credits, but while I imagine several LA session players were mostly behind it, Mickey McMeel, who played Turkey, was a real drummer. He played with Three Dog Night for years before landing this silly gig. Many of the songs played in this season were from that album, released by Epic Records in 1978.

3. In a desperate attempt to clear up some disinformation that plagues Wikipedia and IMDB, there were two seasons of Bigfoot & Wildboy. The first season was sixteen episodes, about 12 minutes each, that starred Ray Young, Joseph Butcher, and Monika Ramirez as Suzie Lucas. Ned Romero was an occasional guest star as Suzie’s father, a park ranger.

In the second season of twelve 25-minute episodes (shown in the summer of 1979), Ramirez was replaced by Yvonne Regalado as Cindy. This character’s father was played by Al Wyatt Jr. in a couple of episodes. Both Romero and Wyatt were guest stars; neither actor should be credited as a co-star in this program.

4. Episode 10 of Magic Mongo contains some recycled dinosaur animation from Land of the Lost, and episodes 11-12 of Bigfoot and Wildboy features an alien which is wearing a Sleestak costume from that show with half of a gorilla mask glued on over its mouth. Sometimes you hate to see those pennies get pinched so hard.

5. As with season one, the dates cannot honestly be said to be completely confirmed, because TV Guide was unlikely to have printed show synopses for Saturday morning kiddie shows. Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to assume, given September 10, 1977 as the date of the first broadcast, that it aired new episodes for 16 consecutive weeks before starting repeats. The “next week” previews and clips confirm that the order below is accurate.

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode one, shown September 10, 1977
Magic Mongo: “Zap, You’re in Love” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Denise DuBarry
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Black Box, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Bill Erwin (Old Dan), Laurence Haddon (Major), Bob Basso (George), Terrence Locke (Corporal), Ted Noose (Master Sergeant), James Reynolds (Tech Sergeant)
Song: “Right Direction”
Wonderbug: “The Big Game” written by Lee Maddux, guest stars Casey Kasem, Joe Lo Presti, Florence White, Don Sutton, Steve Yeager

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode two, shown September 17, 1977
Magic Mongo: “The Surfing Contest, part one” written by Fred Fox and Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Sab Shimono
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Black Box, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Bill Erwin (Old Dan), Laurence Haddon (Major), Bob Basso (George), Terrence Locke (Corporal), Ted Noose (Master Sergeant), James Reynolds (Tech Sergeant)
Song: “You Saved Me”
Wonderbug: “The Case of the Misfortune Cookie” written by Fred Fox and Seaman Jacobs, guest stars John Lawrence, Mike Wagner, Jay Rasumny

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode three, shown September 24, 1977
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “UFO, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Ned Romero (Lucas), George Ball (Thortor), Bruce Watson (Zorad)
Wonderbug: “Dirty Larry, Crazy Barry” written by Si Rose, guest stars William Bronder, Taurean Blacque
Song: “Crazy Girl”
Magic Mongo: “The Surfing Contest, part two” written by Don Boyle, Fred Fox, and Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Sab Shimono

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode four, shown October 1, 1977
Magic Mongo: “Teenage Werewolf” written by Yvette Weinberger, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Robert Casper
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “UFO, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Ned Romero (Lucas), George Ball (Thortor), Bruce Watson (Zorad)
Song: unknown (not on LP)
Wonderbug: “Fish Story” written by Si Rose, guest stars Patrick J. Cronin, Paulette Breen, Tim Desmond

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode five, shown October 8, 1977
Magic Mongo: “Who’s Got the Mongo?” written by Richard Bluel, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “White Wolf, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars E.J. Peaker (Dr. Stewart), Christopher Knight (Doug), Brian Farrell (Tom)
Song: unknown (not on LP)
Wonderbug: “Incredible Shrinking Wonderbug” written by Si Rose, guest stars Gordon Jump, Luke Andrews

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode six, shown October 15, 1977
Magic Mongo: “Hermie the Frog” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Robbie Rist, Anita Keith, Theo Burkhardt, Wayne Bauer
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “White Wolf, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars E.J. Peaker (Dr. Stewart), Christopher Knight (Doug), Brian Farrell (Tom)
Song: “You Got it Coming to You”
Wonderbug: “Oil or Nothing” written by Jack Mendelsohn, guest stars A Martinez, Crane Jackson, Joseph Della Sorte

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode seven, shown October 22, 1977
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Sonic Projector, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars David Byrd (Professor), Gary Cashdollar (Victor), Ned Romero (Lucas)
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.12 “Horse Switched” written by Lee Maddux, guest stars Amanda Jones, Claude Jones, Robert Ridgely
Song: “You Put Some Love in My Life”
Magic Mongo: “You Gotta Be a Football Hero” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Tony Schwab, Lawrence Howard, Bernie Kuby, Karen Fredrik

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode eight, shown October 29, 1977
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Sonic Projector, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars David Byrd (Professor), Gary Cashdollar (Victor), Ned Romero (Lucas)
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.2 “Schlepnapped” written by Mark Fink, guest stars Dick Dinman, Ted Noose, Avery Schreiber
Song: “Sing Me a Song”
Magic Mongo: “Huli’s Vacation” written by Richard Freiman, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Sab Shimono

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode nine, shown November 5, 1977
Magic Mongo: “The Kissing Bandit” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Ralph Byers
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Abominable Snowman, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars David Hurst (Dr. Porthos), Christopher Brown (Toby), Lawrason Driscoll (Hawkins)
Song: “Without You I Can’t Go On”
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.7 “Wonderbug Express” written by Jim Brochu, guest stars James Jeter, Arny Soboloff

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode ten, shown November 12, 1977
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “Abominable Snowman, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars David Hurst (Dr. Porthos), Christopher Brown (Toby), Lawrason Driscoll (Hawkins)
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.9 “Schlep O’Clock Rock” written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann, guest stars Jeremy Foster, Tony Schwab, Philip Simms
Song: unknown (not on LP)
Magic Mongo: “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode eleven, shown November 19, 1977
Magic Mongo: “The Big Switch” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Secret Monolith, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Amanda McBroom (Barbara), Nick Holt (Joe)
Song: “The Whole World Will Be Dancin'”
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.11 “14-Karat Wonderbug” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Vince Martorano, Mickey Morton, Steve Pearlman

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode twelve, shown November 26, 1977
Magic Mongo: “I Cluck You Not” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Rick Podell, Russ Marin, Charles Hallahan
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Secret Monolith, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Amanda McBroom (Barbara), Nick Holt (Joe)
Song: unknown (not on LP)
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.3 “I Kidd You Not” written by Jack Mendelsohn, guest stars Billie Hayes, Frank Christi, Steve Kanaly

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode thirteen, shown December 3, 1977
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Invisible Trappers, part one” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Paul Larson (Colonel), William Glover (Dawkins)
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.1 “Go West, Young Schlepcar” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Richard Foronjy, Read Morgan
Song: “True Love is On the Way”
Magic Mongo: “Two Faces of Donald” written by Fred Fox and Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Victor Bevine, Eddie Benton

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode fourteen, shown December 10, 1977
Magic Mongo: “Musical Magic” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Louise DuArt
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Invisible Trappers, part two” written by Donald R. Boyle, guest stars Paul Larson (Colonel), William Glover (Dawkins)
Song: “When You Feel It”
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.15 “The Not So Great Race” written by Fred S. Fox & Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Al Checco, Sandy Kenyon, Hilary Thompson

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode fifteen, shown December 17, 1977
Magic Mongo: “The Heist” written by Doug & Barbara Tibbles, guest stars Russell Shannon, Zale Kessler, Bruce Lazarus
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Amazon Contest, part one” written by guest stars Cynthia Sikes (Kyra), Dee Wallace (Deeda), Rick Beckner (Bert), Donna Garrett (Tarla), Glynn Rubin (Orkla)
Song: “What Do You Say to Love”
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.4 “Keep on Schleppin” written by Mark Fink, guest stars Carmen Filipi, Sid Haig, Ken Johnson

The Krofft Supershow season two, episode sixteen, shown December 24, 1977
Magic Mongo: “That Old Mongo Magic” written by Don Boyle, guest stars Bart Braverman, Larry Larsen, Roy Stuart
Bigfoot & Wildboy: “The Amazon Contest, part two” written by guest stars Cynthia Sikes (Kyra), Dee Wallace (Deeda), Rick Beckner (Bert), Donna Garrett (Tarla), Glynn Rubin (Orkla)
Song: “When I’m Loving You”
Wonderbug: repeat of 1.6 “The Big Bink Bank Bungle” written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann, guest stars Robert H. Burns, Sam Haggin, Anthony Ponzini

The Krofft Supershow was goofy, ridiculous, often incredibly stupid, and downright delightful for under-elevens. I wish I hadn’t had to finally buy bootlegs in order to actually nail down what was in which episode – especially from the pinhead company where I found them, geez – but it sure would be wonderful for Sid and Marty’s company to finally collect this show for home video. I can’t swear I’d sit down and watch every episode of Magic Mongo, but with stock footage of Grumpy in one episode and Louise DuArt playing Nashville in another, there are a few worth a smile or ten. I would preorder Blu-ray sets immediately.

But what I really, really, really want to see collected and restored is The Krofft Superstar Hour. There aren’t any bootlegs of that show. It’s a story for another time and place…

The Krofft Supershow episode guide: season one

Recently a little birdie brought me bootleg copies, mostly edited, of the hour-long versions of all 32 episodes of The Krofft Supershow. Since this hasn’t actually been properly documented in this form anywhere – although somebody at IMDB did a reasonable job with some of the component parts – I thought I’d save this for posterity.

Notes:

1. The first season initially aired as a 90-minute show that included new episodes of Wonderbug, Dr. Shrinker, and Electra Woman & Dyna Girl along with repeats of the previous season’s Lost Saucer. At some point – and this is the sort of thing I could clear up at a good library with the 1976-77 season of TV Guide on microfilm – it was reduced to one hour, and the Saucer repeats were dropped. (Next Episode suggests that it became one hour from episode # 13.)

The existing copies that are available for syndication are the one-hour versions, although episodes 1, 5, and 13 do contain a screen of Saucer credits within the end titles. Episode five further contains a “next week” clip of the Saucer installment “Get a Dorse.” Compounding the problem, the existing copies range from 48 to 53 minutes in length, indicating that the shorter ones come from broadcasts that trimmed some of the songs and the “next week” clips for extra commercials.

2. The dates cannot honestly be said to be completely confirmed, because TV Guide was unlikely to have printed show synopses for Saturday morning kiddie shows. Nevertheless, it’s reasonable to assume, given September 11, 1976 as the date of the first broadcast, that it aired new episodes for 16 consecutive weeks before starting repeats. The “next week” previews and clips confirm that the order below is accurate.

3. Season one’s songs by Kaptain Kool and the Kongs were written by the Osmonds, but they don’t appear to have ever been commercially released like the second year’s were. The Shazam app doesn’t recognize any of them, so I’m just guessing what the names of the songs are.

4. Sadly, the songs and the comedy bits provide a very poor record of the interior of the World of Sid and Marty Krofft amusement park in Atlanta, which actually shut down between the broadcast of episodes nine and ten. There are very brief glimpses of the carousel and the ridiculously long escalator, which is still in use as part of the CNN Studio Tour, but overall it’s a massive missed opportunity; there’s not even an establishing shot of any of the rides.

Kaptain Kool and the Kongs performed their tunes in the ground floor atrium beneath the park, and some of the skits were taped in the old ice skating rink. In the mid-1990s, the space became a food court where people typically grab a meal from one of several national fast food chains before going into State Farm Arena for a Hawks game. In 1976, the space was a dinky mall with several quasi-chains like Electronics America (equivalent to a Radio Shack), a 32 Flavors Ice Cream (one more than Baskin-Robbins’ 31), and a Taco Factory (sorta Del Taco). Most of the shops and restaurants continued into the late 1980s before CNN moved in and whipped the place into shape.

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode one, shown September 11, 1976
Wonderbug: “Go West, Young Schlepcar” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Richard Foronjy, Read Morgan
Song: “Kaptain Kool and the Kongs”
Dr. Shrinker: “Pardon Me, King Kong” written by Si Rose
Song: “Get Dancing”
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Sorcerer’s Golden Trick, part one” written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole, guest stars Michael Constantine (The Sorcerer), Susan Lanier (Miss Dazzle)

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode two, shown September 18, 1976
Wonderbug: “Schlepnapped” written by Mark Fink, guest stars Dick Dinman, Ted Noose, Avery Schreiber
Song: “Leave Her Alone”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Other Brad” written by Ed Jurist
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Sorcerer’s Golden Trick, part two” written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole, guest stars Michael Constantine (The Sorcerer), Susan Lanier (Miss Dazzle), James Mock

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode three, shown September 25, 1976
Wonderbug: “I Kidd You Not” written by Jack Mendelsohn, guest stars Billie Hayes, Frank Christi, Steve Kanaly
Song: “Gonna Get Your Love”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Shake-Up” written by Donald R. Boyle
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Glitter Rock, part one” written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole, guest stars John Mark Robinson (Glitter Rock), Jeff David, Michael Blodgett

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode four, shown October 2, 1976
Wonderbug: “Keep on Schleppin” written by Mark Fink, guest stars Carmen Filipi, Sid Haig, Ken Johnson
Dr. Shrinker: “Gordie’s Bird” written by Si Rose
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Glitter Rock, part two” written by Dick Robbins & Duane Poole, guest stars John Mark Robinson (Glitter Rock), Jeff David, Michael Blodgett

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode five, shown October 9, 1976
Wonderbug: “The Maltese Gooneybird” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars William Bassett, Lezlie Dalton
Song: “Gonna Get Your Love”
Dr. Shrinker: “Dr. Shrinker Shrinks” written by Bernie Kahn
Song: “Get Dancing”
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Empress of Evil, part one” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Claudette Nevins (The Empress), Jacqueline Hyde

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode six, shown October 16, 1976
Wonderbug: “The Big Bink Bank Bungle” written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann, guest stars Robert H. Burns, Sam Haggin, Anthony Ponzini
Song: “Nothing I Can Do”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Sands Document, part one” written by Leo Rifkin, guest star Gordon Jump
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Empress of Evil, part two” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Claudette Nevins (The Empress), Jacqueline Hyde, Jean Sarah Frost

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode seven, shown October 23, 1976
Wonderbug: “Wonderbug Express” written by Jim Brochu, guest stars James Jeter, Arny Soboloff
Song: “Summer/Song of Love”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Sands Document, part two” written by Leo Rifkin, guest star Gordon Jump
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Ali Baba” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Malachi Throne (Ali Baba), Sid Haig (The Genie), Ian Martin

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode eight, shown October 30, 1976
Wonderbug: “Schlepfoot” written by Mark Fink and Kerry Cummings & Gloria Nordstrom, guest stars Fred Cook, Richard Reicheg, Hal Smith
Dr. Shrinker: “Don’t Hold Your Breath” written by Donald R. Boyle
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Ali Baba” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Malachi Throne (Ali Baba), Sid Haig (The Genie), Ian Martin

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode nine, shown November 6, 1976
Wonderbug: “Schlep O’Clock Rock” written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann, guest stars Jeremy Foster, Tony Schwab, Philip Simms
Song: “Get Dancing”
Dr. Shrinker: “Slowly I Turn” written by Don Boyle
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Return of the Sorcerer, part one” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Michael Constantine (The Sorcerer), Susan Lanier (Miss Dazzle)

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode ten, shown November 13, 1976
Wonderbug: “Anderson’s Android” written by Earle Doud & Chuck McCann, guest stars Paul Wexler, Whitney Rydbeck
Dr. Shrinker: “The Shrinkie Sale” written by Greg Strangis, guest star Jim Driskill
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Return of the Sorcerer, part two” written by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole, guest stars Michael Constantine (The Sorcerer), Susan Lanier (Miss Dazzle), Billy Beck

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode eleven, shown November 20, 1976
Wonderbug: “14-Karat Wonderbug” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Vince Martorano, Mickey Morton, Steve Pearlman
Song: “Gonna Get Your Love”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Sacred Idol ” written by Leo Rifkin, guest stars Sam Hiona, Bob Kino, Albert Gonzales Jr.
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Pharoah, part one” written by Greg Strangis, guest stars Peter Mark Richman (The Pharoah), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Bruce Hoy

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode twelve, shown November 27, 1976
Wonderbug: “Horse Switched” written by Lee Maddux, guest stars Amanda Jones, Claude Jones, Robert Ridgely
Dr. Shrinker: “Brain Storm” written by Don Boyle
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “The Pharoah, part two” written by Greg Strangis, guest stars Peter Mark Richman (The Pharoah), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Bruce Hoy, H.B. Haggerty

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode thirteen, shown December 4, 1976
Wonderbug: “Schleppenstein” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Diana Webster, Norman J. Andrews
Song: “Summer/Song of Love”
Dr. Shrinker: “Wildboy” written by Ed Jurist, guest star Clint Howard
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Spider Lady, part one” written by Gerry Day and Bethel Leslie, guest stars Tiffany Bolling (Spider Lady), Bruce Fischer, Robert Raymond Sutton, Andrea Lovell, Andy Veneto

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode fourteen, shown December 11, 1976
Song: “Down So Low”
Wonderbug: “No Foe Like a UFO” written by Duane Poole & Dick Robbins, guest stars Howard George, Len Lesser
Song: “Tightwire”
Dr. Shrinker: “Treasure of the Deep” written by Ed Jurist, guest stars Chuck Bergansky, Bob Basso
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Spider Lady, part two” written by Gerry Day and Bethel Leslie, guest stars Tiffany Bolling (Spider Lady), Bruce Fischer, Robert Raymond Sutton, Andrea Lovell

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode fifteen, shown December 18, 1976
Wonderbug: “The Not So Great Race” written by Fred S. Fox & Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Al Checco, Sandy Kenyon, Hilary Thompson
Song: “Leave Her Alone”
Dr. Shrinker: “Splotchalaria Epidemic” written by Si Rose, guest star Jean Ross
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Return of the Pharoah, part one” written by Greg Strangis, guest stars Peter Mark Richman (The Pharoah), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Sterling Swanson

The Krofft Supershow season one, episode sixteen, shown December 25, 1976
Wonderbug: “Lights, Camera, Wonderbug!” written by Fred S. Fox & Seaman Jacobs, guest stars Billy Beck, Raymond O’Keefe, Raymond Singer, special appearance by Marty Allen
Song: “Names”
Dr. Shrinker: “The Little Prince” written by Ed Jurist, guest stars Keye Luke, Jesse Dizon, Titus Napoleon, Victor Sen Yung
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: “Return of the Pharoah, part two” written by Greg Strangis, guest stars Peter Mark Richman (The Pharoah), Jane Elliot (Cleopatra), Sterling Swanson

More next time!

Land of the Lost 3.6 and 3.10 (take two)

Even though his memories of Land of the Lost have faded completely, our son knows that there’s a fire-breathing dimetrodon somewhere in it, on account of us having T-shirts. (Did you know we have T-shirts? We do. Marie got us matching shirts some years back. His was far too big at the time, and he’s just about outgrown it, sadly.) So we popped ahead to watch Torchy’s two primary appearances in the show, in two of the more watchable episodes of the otherwise disappointing season three.

The kid really enjoyed them both, I’m happy to say, despite his old man grumbling about silly things like the Sleestak Leader talking while getting him up to speed on all the changes between the second episode and this run. It’s really entertaining dinosaur action, and he was wide-eyed and thrilled. Often, the show was a little aware of its production limitations and tried to avoid asking too much of their animators, but they threw a lot at that talented stop-motion team the week they made “Cornered.” There’s a lot of brand new dinosaur footage, including a great bit where Torchy chases off Big Alice.

Interestingly, we were talking Saturday night about how tame the censors were making children’s television in the seventies. One thing they couldn’t do was mention death. Will is struck by Torchy’s tail, and some sort of poison gets in his system. Enik, who knows conveniently far, far too much about the new threats in season three, warns them that if Will falls asleep before the wound is cured, then he will “sleep until the end of time.” No, Enik, he’ll die. That’s what you mean.

“Timestop” is certainly the better of the two, despite its many plot holes. I really like the way it calls back to the first two seasons, and sticks Will and Holly down another dark tunnel with some weird sci-fi thing at the other end of it. If they ever do bring back Land of the Lost, they need to put the experience of exploring caves and the creepy tunnels aspect front and center. And don’t completely explain what you find there. The new passage in “Timestop” eventually worms its way into the Sleestak caves – most, but not all of them, do – but not before finding a bright light barrier for no apparent reason at all. “Timestop” is flawed, certainly, but boy, it scratches an itch.

Land of the Lost 1.1 and 1.2 (take two)

A couple of weeks ago, our son spotted the absolutely terrific first volume of Scarred for Life on the shelf and asked me what it was about. So I breezily said it’s about all the things from the seventies – movies, TV shows, comics, weird games, books – that freaked out kids and left them remembering nightmares. He said “I don’t think anything’s scarred me for life. I don’t remember anything that gave me nightmares.”

I said that Land of the Lost wasn’t in the book, because it was never shown in the UK, but that would be an example. And he said that he didn’t remember it. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t disappoint me and break my heart just a little. We poked and prodded and showed him pictures of the Sleestak, those tall and green lizard men which caused him an awful lot of trouble when he was five, and he shook his head firmly, emphatic that he didn’t remember them at all.

This is what I was getting at when I wrote about rewatching the Doctor Who serial “Carnival of Monsters” the other day. He’s revisited several favorites and enjoyed lots of old shows we’ve watched together again and again, but he’s always said no to trying LOTL again because – at least for a while – he remembered that it scared the absolute tar out of him several times and he’d be just fine forgetting about it. And in time, he did just that. I don’t know how he manages to completely and totally forget the things he doesn’t want to remember, but if I could borrow that talent from him, I’ve got a memory of a bad meal or two that I’d like to expunge.

Refreshed, he found a lot to enjoy in the first two episodes’ dinosaur chases and near misses. He said that overall, these were pretty good and he particularly enjoyed Grumpy getting smacked in the mouth with our heroes’ handy “flyswatter.” And as for the Sleestak, he said “Eeuggh! No wonder I was scared of those things! They’re terrifying!”

He doesn’t want to watch these in order because he wants to see the fire-breathing dimetrodon again next. I was glad to hear it. I said we’ll dust that one off one afternoon next week.

Bigfoot and Wildboy 2.3 – Birth of a Titan

If you recognized the guest monster this week, you’re doing better than me. That’s Carel Struycken, who would later appear in Twin Peaks and the ’90s Addams Family movies, as “The Titan,” one of his very first credited roles. He looks so young that even though he was 29 or 30 when he made this, our son asked “How are a couple of teenagers from middle school supposed to steal plutonium?” So why’s he been painted red and given a clown wig? Well, he gingerly touched a plutonium bar and the room filled with smoke and he looked like that. Every time we reach what must surely be the silliest thing in any of these episodes, they up and prove me wrong.

Our son wasn’t impressed. He liked the other two, but this one left him bored. He could have been building worlds in Minecraft.

That’s the last of the Bigfoot and Wildboy episodes that we’ll watch for the blog. Home-taped copies of the first season can be found on YouTube, since The Krofft Supershow was repeated by a Cox cable conglomerate. Six of the twelve episodes of the second season were released on home video: five on VHS and one on DVD. I never ran across the remaining six when I was tape trading, and they haven’t made their way to YouTube yet. I wonder whether we’ll ever see them.

Bigfoot and Wildboy 2.7 – Eye of the Mummy

“Money is meaningless compared to the power of controlling an invincible monster!”

Bigfoot and Wildboy 2.11 – Outlaw Bigfoot

Regular readers know that we mostly adhere to a no-bootlegs rule here – although we’re going to cheat in about three months – and I’ve already posted about the one and only episode of Bigfoot and Wildboy that’s ever made it to DVD back in 2016. But then I was rearranging the closet and stumbled upon my old VHS copy of three other episodes from the show’s second season. I bought it from the dearly missed Oxford Books on Atlanta’s Pharr Road in the mid-nineties.

Embassy Home Video, under the Children’s Treasures banner, released two volumes of several different Sid & Marty Krofft shows in 1988. Most of these sets contained the first four episodes of various shows, but Bigfoot and Wildboy got a really weird release. Embassy’s two tapes of this show skipped season one entirely – these were the sixteen episodes that co-starred Monica Ramirez and were each about 12 minutes long – and jumped to season two, with Yvonne Regalado. The first tape contained the first two installments, but the second has slightly edited copies of what appears to be episodes 11, 7, and 3, linked together into a 72-minute TV-movie.

(A misfiring synapse suggests to me that there was one other Krofft show that Embassy Video might have presented this way, with three linked-together episodes on the second volume. I may be wrong, but if I ever confirm that, I’ll edit this post.)

If our son, at age five, was a little small for such an outre program as this, at nine, he’s at the prime age. This is a dopey program for kids, and even though we’ve left the tech behind, he had a lot of fun with this. “I’m already tired of the slow motion,” he told me, which might provide a clue as to why he’s revisited several shows and movies we’ve watched together, but has let the eight seasons of Bionic action collect a little dust. Later on, the two villains use a laser to make the boulders that Bigfoot throws at them vanish. No ray on the film, and no explosion, because those cost money, they just edited the film to make the big rock disappear. “Okay, that is a stupid laser,” he snorted.

“Outlaw Bigfoot” concerns two villains played by a pair of omnipresent seventies TV villains, Sorrell Booke and John Milford. Taking advantage of the least competent armored car delivery guards in the world, Milford plants a recording of Wildboy yelling for help underneath the truck, so that Bigfoot will stop the truck, scare the guards off, and rip open the back door. Then the baddies can steal some plutonium once he leaves. Bigfoot himself is not as unbelievable as these dimwit guards. It’s perfect pablum for kids, and amusing silliness for those of us old enough to know better.

The Bugaloos 1.14 – Benita’s Double Trouble

You know, there sure was a lot of cross-dressing in kids’ TV in the early seventies.

The interesting cultural throwback in today’s episode is the title of the Beatles’ second movie being a clue that Peter Platter is in trouble. Fifty years ago, it was a safe bet that just about every one of The Bugaloos‘ young viewers knew perfectly well that film was called Help!. Our kid’s certainly heard a few Beatles songs – we sang “She Loves You” to him all the time as an infant, along with “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and Roxy Music’s “Street Life” – but it doesn’t really appear that Kids These Days even start listening to pop music in elementary school at all.

I think that thanks to the old Al Broadax Beatles cartoon, which was in repeats all the time in the seventies, I knew most of the songs from the Beatles’ first seven LPs when I was his age. Or their first eleven if you counted them in the Capitol Records order. Plus all the Jackson 5ive and Partridge Family and Archies songs we knew in elementary school before we started listening to Styx and Pink Floyd. As you did in 1980.

The Bugaloos 1.13 – The Bugaloos Bugaboo

The Mopheads, who appeared very briefly in the first episode, make a short reappearance here, and Benita gets a new one-off costume. This really drives home what a huge challenge it must have been to write for this show, with no guest stars and five sets. It made me wish that NBC had given this program a little larger of a budget to increase its scope somewhat. This was especially apparent in the episode about the rock festival, which is depicted as about four church pews in Tranquility Forest, but also here, where the only acts to show up for Peter Platter’s talent contest are the Mopheads, Benita, Funky Rat doing standup, and our heroes. The show’s almost over and the only other real musical act we’ve met is Gina Lolawattage. They don’t even have room for her in this one. The kid chuckled his way through it again, which is nice.

The Bugaloos 1.11 and 1.12

In episode 11, Benita tries to start a rock festival to rival the one that Peter Platter is sponsoring, fails, and tries instead to choke out everybody in Tranquility Forest. I didn’t find much to write about with that one, but episode 12 is a lot sillier. It’s the second time that the show reused a set piece from the recently-wrapped Pufnstuf movie. The villains shrink the Bugaloos to use as live musicians in Benita’s broken music box. The show ends with the tables turned, as always, but there are lots of silly gags and puns about “small” along the way.

The Bugaloos 1.10 – Help Wanted – Firefly

Following on from what I was saying last night about Cockney rhyming slang, in this afternoon’s episode of The Bugaloos, Wayne Laryea teaches the audience that Harvey Nickel can mean pickle. It starts with Sparky trying to be more confident and useful, but it turns into a war over the airwaves. Peter Platter tells Benita that if she wants her lousy records to be heard, she should get her own radio station. So she blows him off the air and starts playing her hilariously terrible epic song “Nature Girl.”

The most beautifully unexpected, and, from our son’s modern perspective, utterly baffling gag is that when Benita takes to the air, Funky plays three chimes on a xylophone. I was first reminded of the little chimes that the office assistant played whenever the principal in Grease made an announcement, but of course it’s really a wink at NBC, the network that first aired the series.