I’ll always remember that documentary series on dinosaurs that he and his brother did during my childhood.
He’s rafting with Marshall Willinholly now.
He now where the Sleestaks roam.
That’s one of those “I’m shocked he was still alive” moments. I loved those shows as a kid in the 70s. They did Sigmund the Sea Monster too, right?
Agree with this.
Disagree with this. I thought those shows were just terrible – bad writing, bad acting, bad sets, and I pretty young back then (turned 13 in 1980).
That’s too old to enjoy Krofft shows; by 13, you’d already developed too much critical thinking and lost too much childish credulousness by then.
All the Krofft shows hit at the perfect age for me. I was 5 when H.R. Pufinsfuf came out. Loved it. I was maybe 7 when Lidsville debuted- anybody remember that one? I think even at that age I wondered what they were smoking, but I watched and enjoyed it.
Then Land of the Lost came out when I was around 10. Perfect age- it had a bit more of an edge than Pufinstuf and Lidsville, so I was old enough to appreciate it and still young enough to not be too critical of the weirdness, corniness and bad puppetry.
ETA: I really need to read posts more thoroughly. If you were 13 in 1980 you’re younger than me. I guess you just had more discerning taste.
Their stuff was bad in a good way.
Land of the Lost was my favourite - the Sleestak(s) getting in all the funniest lines.
I also remember H.R. Pufnstuf which started with Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger from Oliver!)
The Kroft’s successfully sued McDonalds for a million bucks for stealing their characters. The main witnesses in the case were Mr. Pufnstuff and Mayor McCheese.
It seems I’ve again figured out how to post media.
Mama Cass Elliot singing “Different” from the Pufnstuf movie which would never be made today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rAaYFFeZk/
…and that mouse in the quasi-SS uniform, wow.
Prepare to be even more shocked. Sid Kroft is still alive and he’s the older brother.
Never has anybody brought such expression to foam rubber suits.
Except everybody, who brought expression to foam rubber suits
I was the right age to enjoy Pufnstuf and then really enjoy Land of the Lost. Land of the Lost was actually pretty ambitious for no real budget.
I was technically a reasonable age for Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, but that was bad even then. Lidsville was worse. They also had the short runner The Bugaloos which was brought back when I was a teen. I actually watched it then for Joy the Butterfly girl, but the show was terrible.
I was also the right age for Land of the Lost. I still recognized that it was not a high quality production, the same way I could tell Disney was much better animation than Hanna-Barbera, but it was still entertaining. I even didn’t hate the Will Ferrrell movie.
I, too, was 13 in 1980-- pretty much the whole of 1980, as my birthday is in the second week of January.
I LOVED all the Kroftt stuff, from HR Pufnstuf to Land of the Lost. I even loved the Kroftt Superstar Hour.
TLotL originally ran from 1974 to 1976.
Sorry to hear about Mr. Kroftt - he’s responsible for a lot of my childhood TV enjoyment.
All of the Kroftt shows were on where I lived, although I was particular about which ones I liked. The best were Land of the Lost, Sigmund & the Sea Monsters and the Lost Saucer (how the hell did they get Jim Neighbors and Ruth Buzzi for that?!"). Second tier shows for me were Far Out Space Nuts (with Bob Denver and Chuck McCann), Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, and the Banana Splits. Didn’t care for Pufnstuff or Bugaloos and the rest.
An album came out in the 90s with bands doing covers of cartoon theme songs, and it had several Kroftt show songs. Liz Phair doing the Banana Splits song was especially fun:
There was also a remake TV series in the early 1990s
Whenever I think about Sid and Marty, I think about the fact that they successfully sued McDonald’s (and McDonald’s ad agency) for copyright infringement, as the original “McDonaldland” ad campaign was clearly a rip-off of the “H.R. Pufnstuf” characters and setting.
(It’s a classic case study on intellectual property rights, and I first heard about it during an advertising class I took in college.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_%26_Marty_Krofft_Television_Productions_Inc._v._McDonald's_Corp.
About 10-15 years ago I rewatched LotL. It mostly held up. Yeah, the acting wasn’t great, but the concept and stories were really cool, and the ultra low budget effects actually added to the weirdness.
Right. I originally missed the fact that @RitterSport said they were 13 in 1980 and thought they meant they were 13 at the time TLotL first aired.
My favorite Kroft show was a late night show called “D.C. Follies”. It was set in a bar, and its highlight was a table where puppets of all the ex-presidents at the time sat, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. (Reagan, for some reason, was usually off doing other skits on the show.) Their Nixon was scheming and hilarious.
So long Marty. Thanks for the laughs.
Someone should write a theme song that describes the plot of his life.