"Land of the Kroffts; No, you're not trapped in a 1970s time warp: Veteran TV producers Sid and Marty Krofft are launching 'LOTL' as a $100m movie with dinosaurs and Will Ferrell" by Tom Russo, Globe Correspondent | May 31, 2009
For an awful lot of 40-somethings, the names Marshall, Will, and Holly are instantly familiar.
Awww right, so the cat's out of the bag. Keep it indoors, will ya?
Like prehistoric critters in amber, the three are hermetically sealed in memory as the family of GPS-less river rafters stranded among the dinosaurs of "Land of the Lost," a Saturday morning television staple from 1974-76. But there are two more behind-the-scenes names identified with the show: brothers Sid and Marty Krofft.
The overachieving kid-TV producers created and boldly stamped their logo on "H.R. Pufnstuf," "The Bugaloos," and other fondly remembered flights of low-tech fancy from the late '60s and '70s, in which puppets, costumes, and a can-do spirit always seemed to transcend allowance-size budgets.
Pufnstuf was the best of 'em!
The Kroffts were a brand as recognizable as the companies pushing sugar cereal during commercial breaks....
That explains the love affair and sweet tooth.
Then the insults started (about halfway through the piece):
The brothers shrug off such analysis, attributing the show's trippiness simply to their well-established creative reputation, and the writing talent this allowed them to attract. A number of the writers on "LOTL" had previously worked on "Star Trek," including Walter "Chekov" Koenig.
Well, that explains some of the rotten dialogue and scripts.
Look, I'm a big Star Trek fan; however, the third year was weak and to pretend LotL was a masterpiece is a stretch.
(For the record, the Kroffts have firmly asserted that the psychedelic flavor of their shows - notably "Pufnstuf" and "Lidsville," with its cast of anthropomorphized hats - was in no way a product of them puffing anything behind the scenes.)
You know, SO WHAT if it was? WHO CARES?
You got a problem, Globe? Go tell it to the steroid-laden baseball players you push on the front-page because you own part of the team!
Must be because the Krofft shows were light-hearted and ABOUT PEACE!
"I marvel at the elements that were mashed up in LOTL," says director Brad Silberling ("Casper," "Lemony Snicket"), who worked on the new redo and, like many on the crew, had followed the series as a kid. "I was always obsessed with the idea that they had a banjo in the theme song, so when I first met Sid, I asked why it was there. And without any sense of irony, he said, 'Well, I had just seen the premiere of "Deliverance," and I thought it was a really exciting sound for an adventure' - forgetting all the darker scenes.
Oh, so now they are PERVERTS, too!!!!
"I thought that was so funny," Silberling continues. "I think they really did just work in this sort of unfiltered way that connected with all of these young imaginations." While the Kroffts had been working to make a "LOTL" movie happen since 1994, it took some time before they realized that to connect with a new generation, they'd have to think radically....
The Kroffts hope to give their act another encore or two, eyeing plans for further big-screen adaptations. "Simpsons" writer Dana Gould is currently scripting a "Sigmund" feature for Universal, which is releasing "LOTL," while Marty reports the pair are also close to a movie deal on "Pufnstuf."
All right!!!
"Our dream for Witchiepoo - and it's just a dream - is to get Johnny Depp," says Sid, eagerly making the casting leap from Willy Wonka androgyny to the screechy "Pufnstuf" villainess....
Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Why do they have to RUIN WITCHIEPOO by turning her into a TRANSVESTITE?
--more--"
