I often think of the highlights of my childhood, and sometimes I feel bad for the kids growing up today. Back in the 1970s, we had Saturday morning cartoons on the three major networks. This was before the introduction of cable television. There were also cartoons every morning and afternoon on the UHF stations. Saturday morning cartoons were promoted by the major networks as strongly as their nightly programming. Toy companies heavily advertised them with their latest offerings. I remember each new season. I made myself a schedule of what I would be watching each hour and on what network. Times were good.
Today, there are 24-hour cartoon networks. You can also find OnDemand services and places to stream your favorite shows whenever you want. Back in the day, VCRs hadn’t even been introduced yet. If you missed a show, you were out of luck. You had to wait until a particular episode showed up in rotation again. This would often lead to frustration to kids who were loyal to their favorite shows.
Each season, especially during the early 70s, a production company called Sid & Marty Krofft introduced new live-action shows. These shows were fantasy-based, in addition to the cartoon offerings. Sid & Marty Krofft began their producing career in 1969. They started after designing the characters and sets for the 1968-1970 NBC show The Banana Splits. Their first show was H.R. Pufnstuff, which helped introduce the team’s trademark style of large-scale, colorful design, puppetry, and special effects.
When the commercials for Land Of The Lost began to air, I felt excitement. All of my friends felt the same way. In 1974, when the show debuted, I was seven years old, and most kids my age were fascinated by dinosaurs. I remember seeing the ads during the summer of 1974. I could not wait for the show to debut. It would be starting at the same time as the school year was beginning.
I still remember watching the show for the first time vividly. From the catchy opening theme song (Marshall, Will, and Holly…On a routine expedition…Met the greatest earthquake ever known…High on the rapids…It struck their tiny raft…And plunged them down a thousand feet below.) to the first scene of the Tyrannosaurus rex Grumpy chasing the main characters to their soon-to-be cave home, I was hooked! Hooked in a way that no Saturday morning television show was ever able to do.
The basic premise of the show is about the Marshall family. While river rafting, they are thrust into a world of dinosaurs. There is a primitive race of primate-type people called Pakuni (an actual language was created for Cha-ka, Ta, and Sa). They also encounter the very scary reptile humanoids called the Sleestak. This all happens as a result of going through a time warp triggered by a major earthquake. The time warp, known as a dimensional portal in the show, plays an important part. It not only brought the family to this dangerous land. It is also the only way they would be able to return to their home on present-day Earth.
The show may be primitive by today’s standards. However, for the time being, it was a Saturday morning show aimed at kids. The writing was always mature. Many of the stories were exciting and well-written. Many acclaimed science fiction writers of the time worked on the show. These included Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon, Ben Bova, and even Walter Koenig of Star Trek fame. A few years ago, I rewatched the series. It brought me back to a favorite time of my life growing up. I also realized just how good this show was. If you can get past the very dated special effects, I think you will be thoroughly entertained.
The show ran for three seasons. In the third season, Uncle Jack replaced Rick Marshall. This change happened because the actor, Spencer Milligan, wanted more money to come back. I felt that the third season was the weakest. I wonder if most people did, too, as it was not renewed for a fourth season. The Sleestak were one of the scariest things on Saturday morning television, perhaps ever. From the hissing sound they made to the way they moved, these creatures were terrifying. When you are only seven, they definitely will make you close your eyes.
The sets for this show were very detailed and appeared extensive, adding to the realism of the planet called Altrusia. The cave where the Marshalls ended up calling home was very realistic. It was never dark as a cave would be. The jungle was wonderfully portrayed. It featured a mixture of what I believe to be real and fake plants. No detail was overlooked, such as the addition of rocks and logs. In one episode, they even had a large beetle walking on a log. It looked as if an actual South American beetle was used. The tunnels that the Sleestak lived in seemed like they went on together and looked very cold. The Sleestak pit housed the Sleestak god. It was only heard by a sound that reminded me of a stomach groaning when hungry. This was also very scary. It was filled with smoke and you just never knew what was down there. Sometimes, what you can’t see is scarier than what you can.
The dinosaurs, realized by the animation company Excelsior Animated Moving Projects, were very detailed and realistic by that time’s standards. There was a wide variety of species represented. The sets they were animated on also looked very realistic. Throughout the series, footage was re-used in various ways. Sometimes it was even reversed. This helped save money on animating more scenes. Most of the dinosaur scenes were exciting, especially when Grumpy was chasing the Pakuni or the Marshalls.
Land of the Lost may have been the smartest show on Saturday morning television. This was back when there was Saturday morning television geared at kids. There were other prehistoric offerings. Shows such as Valley of the Dinosaurs and Korg: 70,000 BC were presented. However, none stood up to Land of the Lost, at least for the first two seasons.
The Marshalls arrive in the mysterious world through a dimensional portal. This portal is a device used frequently throughout the series. It is a major part of its internal mythology. This portal opens when they are swept down a gigantic 1,000-foot waterfall. In “Circle”, which explains the time paradox, Rick Marshall himself opens this portal while in Enik’s cave. This action allows the current Marshalls to return to Earth and resolves the paradox. It also allows Enik to return to his time.
The resourceful family from California is prepared for a short camping trip. They take shelter in a natural cave. They improvise the provisions and tools they need to survive. They most commonly encounter dinosaurs. These encounters are dangerous. The family particularly encounters a Tyrannosaurus rex they nickname “Grumpy.” Grumpy frequents the location of their cave. However, many of the dinosaurs are herbivores, posing no threat to the Marshalls, unless unintentionally provoked. One is a particularly tame young Brontosaurus that Holly nicknames “Dopey” and upon which Holly looks as a pet.
They also encounter the mostly hostile Sleestak (lizard men). They meet the primate-like creatures called Pakuni, one of whom is Cha-Ka, whom they befriend. They also face a variety of dangerous creatures, strange geography, and unfamiliar technology. The main goal of the three is to find a way to return home. They are occasionally aided in this by the Altrusian castaway Enik.
At the start of the third season, the show explains that Rick Marshall accidentally returned to Earth alone. Spencer Milligan played the role of Rick Marshall. Unfortunately, he left his children behind. Rick is immediately replaced by his brother Jack. Rick Marshall abruptly disappeared while trying to use one of the pylons to get home. Meanwhile, Jack embarked on a search of his own. During this search, he stumbled upon his niece and nephew.
The term “time doorway” is used throughout the series. However, Land of the Lost is not meant to portray an era in Earth’s history. Instead, it represents an enigmatic zone with unknown place and time. Within the first few minutes of the pilot, the Marshall family father tells his children something astonishing. He spotted three moons in the sky. The original creators of these time portals were thought to be the ancestors of the Sleestak. They were called Altrusians. However, later episodes raised some questions about this.
Many parts of the Land of the Lost were controlled by the Pylons. These include the time doorways and environmental processes. The Pylons are metallic, obelisk-shaped booths, larger on the inside than the outside. They housed matrix tables, which are stone tables studded with a grid of colored crystals. Uncontrolled time doorways result in the arrival of a variety of visitors and castaways in the land.
Land of the Lost is notable for its epic-scale concept. This concept suggested an expansive world with many fantastic forms of life and mysterious technology. All of this was created on a children’s series’ limited production budget. To support the internal mythology, linguist Victoria Fromkin was commissioned to create a special language for the Pakuni. She based it on the sounds of West African speech. She attempted to build it into the show gradually. This approach would allow viewers to learn the language throughout many episodes. The series intended to create a realistic fantasy world, albeit relying heavily on children’s acceptance of minor inconsistencies.
The series for the first two seasons was shot on a modular indoor soundstage at General Service Studios in Hollywood. It made economical use of a small number of sets and scenic props. These were rearranged frequently to suggest the ostensibly vast jungles, ancient cities, and cave systems. As is traditional in many effect scenes, miniatures or scale-version settings were used for the insertion of live-action scenes. Additional locations were often rendered using scale miniatures and chroma key.
Nonhuman characters were portrayed by actors in latex rubber suits or heavy creature makeup. Dinosaurs in the series were created using a combination of stop motion animation miniatures. They also used rear-projection film effects. Occasional hand puppets were used for close-ups of dinosaur heads. Wesley Eure points out on a commentary track for Land of the Lost‘s first-season DVD that the Grumpy hand puppet has no hole in the back of its throat. However, it is often seen opening its mouth wide to roar. The series marked a rare example. It matted filmed stop-motion sequences with videotape live action. This was done to avoid the telltale blue ‘fringe’ produced in matting with less exacting processes. Though this occasionally worked very well, the difference in lighting between the video and film sequences was noticeable. It sometimes brought inadvertent attention to the limitations of the process.
Because of the age of this show, getting quality images was very difficult so I apologize for what was used. Hopefully the behind the scenes images make up for that. In the future, I will cover other Sid & Marty Krofft offerings. They were such a huge part of growing up for me. Make sure to read other entries in my BASEMENT’S TIMELESS TELEVISION series.
To buy this series, click on the image below:
