The Aforementioned Sid & Marty Krofft Extravaganza!
All right -- in the late 60s and early 70s, Sid & Marty Krofft were producers of children's TV programs that tended to involve giant puppets or people in suits interacting with regular people, and extraordinarily bad sets and special effects. Psychedelic imagery figured heavily into this.
I did not care for any of the Krofft-produced shows. I found them creepy. But granted, they often had catchy intro songs.
First up: "The Land of the Lost". I had a special hatred for this show, because one of the three main characters was a little blond girl named Holly (which was a moderately rare name to come across back then; also, I was blond as a child), and she was THE MOST USELESS THING OMG. Horrible. (More horrible than "Holly Hobbie"? ... yes. Even though "Land of the Lost" did not cause me to get teased nearly as much as Holly Hobbie did.)
Also I was really freaked out by the Sleestak. Yes, telepresence will try to tell you that the Sleestak were all interesting and noble sci-fi concepts and junk, but in reality, they were people in bad lizard-esque suits with creepy big bug-eyes who walked around with this hunched shuffling gait and did nothing but HISS at you. Ugh.
Next! "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters". I also was not fond of this program. Because it was moronic. And the designs for the sea-monsters, which were all these sort of shambling mounds of seaweed with bug-eyes, kinda scared me. Even though it is obvious that even a small child could outrun them.
I like how the intro itself is like nearly 2 minutes long and tells you an entire long story. Which is fine if you're watching it once, but every episode?
"The Bugaloos" just bored me as a child. Although, thank god for small mercies, they were at least just people in silly outfits with wings on them. (Not horrid shambling monstrosities, I mean.)
But the ultimate Krofft product, IMHO, is "H. R. Pufnstuf", because the Living Island was nothing but people in huge "kooky" costumes, surrounding one lone normal kid. This is another intro that is almost 2 minutes long and tells the entire story. I think for normal broadcast purposes they must have cut it down to just the bit at the end most of the time. For those who may not really get it at first: the titular Pufnstuf is a dragon. (He has a tail, see?) Yes, he is wearing white cowboy boots. No, I don't really know why. And he is also wearing that blue half-sash because he is the Mayor of the island. Of course.
Finally, there is "The Banana Splits". This was a hybrid -- the Kroffts designed these costumes, but the show was actually produced by Hanna-Barbera. Interestingly, it is also the earliest of them (it started in 1968, and Pufnstuf started a year later). I think that this one wins for having the most insanely catchy theme song of any of these shows. (Fun Fact: The "Tra-la-la" song, as it's generally known, has an ear-wormy theme that is very similar to the chorus of Bob Marley and the Wailers' later song, "Buffalo Soldier". The same chorus, though, appears in some Cajun zydeco music, and has been linked to the familiar folk-music song "Shortnin' Bread"; I have some other versions of it, and my guess would be that the writers of the Banana Splits theme borrowed it from its Cajun roots; and also, if I had to put money on it, I'd bet on Bob Marley having gotten it that way, as opposed to his having gotten it from the children's TV show theme.)
You're welcome.
I did not care for any of the Krofft-produced shows. I found them creepy. But granted, they often had catchy intro songs.
First up: "The Land of the Lost". I had a special hatred for this show, because one of the three main characters was a little blond girl named Holly (which was a moderately rare name to come across back then; also, I was blond as a child), and she was THE MOST USELESS THING OMG. Horrible. (More horrible than "Holly Hobbie"? ... yes. Even though "Land of the Lost" did not cause me to get teased nearly as much as Holly Hobbie did.)
Also I was really freaked out by the Sleestak. Yes, telepresence will try to tell you that the Sleestak were all interesting and noble sci-fi concepts and junk, but in reality, they were people in bad lizard-esque suits with creepy big bug-eyes who walked around with this hunched shuffling gait and did nothing but HISS at you. Ugh.
Click to viewNext! "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters". I also was not fond of this program. Because it was moronic. And the designs for the sea-monsters, which were all these sort of shambling mounds of seaweed with bug-eyes, kinda scared me. Even though it is obvious that even a small child could outrun them.
I like how the intro itself is like nearly 2 minutes long and tells you an entire long story. Which is fine if you're watching it once, but every episode?
"The Bugaloos" just bored me as a child. Although, thank god for small mercies, they were at least just people in silly outfits with wings on them. (Not horrid shambling monstrosities, I mean.)
But the ultimate Krofft product, IMHO, is "H. R. Pufnstuf", because the Living Island was nothing but people in huge "kooky" costumes, surrounding one lone normal kid. This is another intro that is almost 2 minutes long and tells the entire story. I think for normal broadcast purposes they must have cut it down to just the bit at the end most of the time. For those who may not really get it at first: the titular Pufnstuf is a dragon. (He has a tail, see?) Yes, he is wearing white cowboy boots. No, I don't really know why. And he is also wearing that blue half-sash because he is the Mayor of the island. Of course.
Finally, there is "The Banana Splits". This was a hybrid -- the Kroffts designed these costumes, but the show was actually produced by Hanna-Barbera. Interestingly, it is also the earliest of them (it started in 1968, and Pufnstuf started a year later). I think that this one wins for having the most insanely catchy theme song of any of these shows. (Fun Fact: The "Tra-la-la" song, as it's generally known, has an ear-wormy theme that is very similar to the chorus of Bob Marley and the Wailers' later song, "Buffalo Soldier". The same chorus, though, appears in some Cajun zydeco music, and has been linked to the familiar folk-music song "Shortnin' Bread"; I have some other versions of it, and my guess would be that the writers of the Banana Splits theme borrowed it from its Cajun roots; and also, if I had to put money on it, I'd bet on Bob Marley having gotten it that way, as opposed to his having gotten it from the children's TV show theme.)
You're welcome.