” ‘Wild Things’ is very, very good for us,” says Marty Krofft. “We always wanted to do low-tech costumes and high-tech heads. But it’ll be a big difference in tone, of course — we’ll be bright, not dark.”

Also, this marks the first time (that I’m aware of) that Marty admits they went to far with Land of the Lost. That they strayed to far from the original.

“We went with comedy, which got it green-lit. But we didn’t know it was going to go so far in the PG-13 direction and so close to an R rating,” he says of the unfortunate flop. “Our characters are all likable, and we have so much goodwill from our fans. So, now we know: Don’t mess with what’s worked.”

I’m glad to see that he’s had this realization. When I met Marty Krofft this past summer, I really wanted to discuss this exact issue with him, but wasn’t sure he would have been receptive. You can’t turn a family-friendly story of a popular children’s show into a raunchy comedy and expect success. It’s like drinking a beer when you were expecting milk. Doesn’t matter how good the beer is, it’ll taste like crap. (even though in this case it was crap)

Also in the article, Marty discusses plans for Electra Woman and Doctor Shrinker. Both stories would have great appeal if handled properly. Especially EW with the rash of super hero movies at the box office.

Thanks to Shemp DeYoung for pointing me to the article. Please leave your comments below.

For sale is one Happy Birthday Handmade Card featuring “Kreepy Kids H.R. Pufnstuf, Mayor of Living Island, with the Magic Flute and Jimmy” from Kreepy Kids Get Kroffty Series.

This card is blank inside, comes with a matching colour envelope, measures 6″ by 4″, and comes wrapped in a cellophane bag.

Go on over to Etsy and check it out.

Led by Susan Olsen, several of the stars of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour were on hand to sign autographs and meet fans in support of the Precious Paws organization. At the event was Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady), Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), Chris Knight (Peter Brady), and Barry Williams (Greg Brady). Also there to support Precious Paws was Christopher’s wife Adrianne Curry and Robbie Rist (Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch). All of them were very pleasant to talk to and all had some interesting stories to tell. I brought my Brady Hour DVD for them to sign. As I handed it to each of them they each had some clever remarks to make about the show. The best was Chris Knight who remarked immediately, “They actually sell these?” (also, thanks to Chris for reminding me to take the cover out of the plastic).

Marty Krofft was there for most of Saturday. Incredibly, he was stuffed in the corner behind he mob of Happy Days fans where you wouldn’t have found him if you weren’t looking for him. This was the first time I’ve met Mr. Krofft, and he was very nice to meet. Because of the noise and crowd, I didn’t get to spend much time with him, but I did enjoy the few moments I was able to talk to him. When I went back later in the day, he had already left. I had him sign my Pufnstuf DVD.

Van Snowden was also there. When I first saw him, he was standing in the line with us fans waiting to get in (the show was very unorganized), and I didn’t even recognize him. He was very pleasant, but not very talkative. The noise in the room didn’t make it easy to have a conversation with the soft spoken Mr. Snowden. I had him sign my Pufnstuf DVD.

The wonderful Billie Hayes was at the show in support of her long-time organization Pet Hope. I’ve ben an admirer of hers for many many years, and finally meeting her was a treat. She is the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and was genuinely excited to meet each and every one of her fans. I could have spent the entire day sitting there with her…she is amazing. She graciously signed my Pufnstuf DVD and posed with me in a picture. And yes, she still sounds like Witchiepoo.

In all it was a great show. It was billed as an autograph and collectors show, but to me it was a meet and greet with show business legends. The show itself was poorly organized. Why wasn’t Marty Krofft, Billie Hayes and Van Snowden even close to one another? They told the celebrities that it started at 10am, and let us in at 9am. (and there were other, non-Krofft related anomalies) The show was great, and I hope to get another chance to spend some time with these Krofft-alumni.

Please post your experiences in the comments if you attended, or ask any questions you may have.

Also, for non-Krofft related coverage of the show, go to META-TAINMENT.COM.

The Story:
The movie begins showing how Jimmy landed in Living Island, being an outcast from his middle school band. Subsequently, Pufnstuf and the gang take him in and protect him from the Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo. The B-story is Witchiepoo hosting the Witches Convention for Boss Witch (Martha Raye). The movie can somewhat be considered a combination of the pilot and “The Visiting Witch” S1E14.

The Good:
Pufnstuf still holds up. My 9 year old son watched it with me and really enjoyed it. It felt bigger than a TV episode, while still retaining the Krofft TV feel. Even my wife (not a huge Krofft fan) found the movie enjoyable. In all, its good for it’s time.

This movie is another example of how much Billie Hayes contributed to the success of Sid and Marty Krofft. She shines as Witchiepoo. Her performance in the movie is what makes it fun to watch.

The Bad:
I have nothing bad to say about the movie, but plenty bad to say about the DVD. First of all, there was NO remastering done. None at all. In several scenes the lip-sync was visibly off, and it wasn’t fixed. I don’t understand that, it is a simple task. Why wouldn’t they fix it? There were many other things that could have been remastered, that weren’t, but the audio syncing was distracting. No excuse.

Secondly, there were no extras on the DVD. Only the theatrical trailer could be counted as an “extra”. No interviews? No nostalgic look back by the cast? I hope that when the new Pufnstuf movie debuts in a few years that this DVD is updated with those extras. Krofft fans are very loyal and would pay almost any price for a peek into the Krofft archives. Why won’t they give it to us?

Lastly, was Pufnstuf’s voice. It was incredibly distracting. It was like someone was trying to impersonate Pufnstuf. I do not believe it was Lennie Weinrib who was doing the voice. My 8 year old son and my wife also noticed it (without me mentioning it). I’d use modern technology and change the voice to more closely match.

Conclusion:
Even though the DVD release is nothing special, it’s worth the $10.49.

via twitpic from @Horse_Head

More movie news from the Brothers Krofft. Over at Collider.com Frosty reports on a quick interview with Sid and Marty.

About an hour ago I was at a Subway restaurant in Santa Monica on Pico Blvd. The reason I was there is Universal has transformed the location into a special “Land of the Lost” themed location – complete with themed tables, chairs, and they even had some Sleestaks walking around. If you live in the area, you might want to stop by and see if you can get in.
…
As you can see in the video interview after the jump, they told me “H.R. Pufnstuf” is being developed at Sony and it’s being written by Dennis McNicholas – who wrote the “Land of the Lost” movie. And the big news is they want Johnny Depp to play Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo!

They also said “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” is being developed by Dana Gould at Universal. I’d imagine a big opening for “Land of the Lost” is going to help move these properties forward.

I won’t pass judgement on Depp as Witchiepoo. Does he fit in the original Pufnstuf concept? No, but neither did Anna Friel as Holly. I trust that Sid and Marty have a vision for a new Pufnstuf that Depp would fit nicely into.

I’m more interested in Sigmund. I believe his story would make for an awesome retelling. Pufnstuf may be the symbol of Krofft, but Sigmund is the heart.

The site is down right now, but head on over and check out the video later.

What about Pufnstuf or Sigmund are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.

Love to Love You Bradys


Ted Nichelson, Susan Olsen and Lisa Sutton have teamed up to bring you Love to Love you Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, an in-depth look at the most disastrous offering in television history. This is a must get book for any fan of The Bradys and/or Sid and Marty. The official site describes it:

In this colorful, glitter-filled retrospective Susan and her co-author Ted Nichelson investigate in very Brady detail how and why the rarely seen Variety Hour was conceived, produced, and ended up ranked in TV Guide’s top five “Worst Shows of All-Time.” Behind the scenes, this production was chock full of very serious human conflict: drug addiction, sexuality, weight issues, religion, and heated power struggles – all ultimately shattering the Bradys’ perfect image and forever scarring the legacy of TV’s favorite family.

Pufnstuf Movie Comes To iTunes and DVD

Throw away that old fuzzy VHS copy you got in the 90s from your friend on USENET. The original H.R. Pufnstuf Movie is now available on DVD and iTunes alike. Originally released after the cancellation of the TV Show, the movie has all the returning cast with the addition of Martha Raye as Boss Witch. At times it appears to be a prequel to the series, but I’ve always interpreted as a alternative to the series. And, I wasn’t kidding about that old-VHS tape. The copy I had (until the DVD) was a fuzzy-VHS I got from a guy in Australia about 12 years ago.

This is a must have for Pufnstuf fans!

Pufnstuf Complete Series on iTunes

After you get your movie DVD, head on over to iTunes to get the complete H.R. Pufnstuf Series! This is the show that we all know and love. Get the series at iTunes can be expensive, so if you look around you might find the DVD set still available.

Land of the Lost in Theaters Soon!!

It’s almost here. On June 5th, Will Ferrell brings Rick Marshall to the screen in Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost. I’ve had many misgivings about this movie since it was announced. I like Ferrell in most cases, but was worried about LOTL turning into a “Will Ferrell movie”. The addition of Anna Friel got me excited as I feel she is an amazing actress, and can go toe-to-toe with Ferrell. The trailers at first made me worried again, but I’ve since decided to just sit back and enjoy. Enjoy the fact that Sid and Marty are back on the big screen, and see what they have to offer. Here is the latest trailer…

Let us know what you think!

Over at MovieWeb there are some exclusive video interviews with Sid & Marty Krofft, actors Danny McBride and Jorma Taccone as well as the director Brad Silberling. In the interview, the Krofft brothers discuss LOTL merchandising and plans for Sigmund and Pufnstuf movies.

Over at ComingSoon they have a desciption of the teaser shown at the Land of the Lost Panel.

White on black text reads:
10 thousand pounds
Over 20 feet tall
Driven by hunger
Never before witnessed by man
The scene cuts to a dinosaur walking through a prehistoric jungle. In the foreground, Will Ferrell looks directly into the camera with his back to the creature.
“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” says Ferrell, “I’m just trying not to move.”
The theme comes up and it cuts to the “Land of the Lost, 2009″ text.

At MTV’s MovieBlog Sid and Marty discuss the future H.R. Pufnstuf movie.

“Our next one is Pufnstuf,” explained Sid (79 years young), referring to their beloved children’s show about a mayor with an oversized head and oft-suspected predilection towards marijuana. “And then after that, ‘Sigmund & the Sea Monster.’ They’re all in the works.” “Look. They’re gonna happen when they happen,” chimed in his brother Marty, 71. “With ‘Land of the Lost’ and the way this thing turned out, you just have a gut feeling.”

Let’s end with a very lengthy article at The LA Times. In the article, Sid and Marty clear up a “mistake” in their bio.

For example, take the celebrated Krofft family history: Sid and Marty are supposedly fifth-generation puppeteers, dating to the opening of the Krofft Theater in the early 1700s in Athens. It is a truly amazing tale and cited in almost every article every written about them, and it’s the first line of their bio. It is also not true. It was cooked up by a New York publicist in the 1940s. The brothers have carried it with them ever since, until Sid suddenly decided to clear his conscience in an interview for this story. “It became a trap,” Sid explained, shaking his head. “I was telling Marty the other day how bad it is that some of his children even have heard it and believe it.”

They cite the famous quote from Walt Disney, ‘The one thing to remember is, don’t ever sell anything you create and always put your name above the title, whatever you do. They’ll fight you off from doing it, but stick to it.’ That being said, “Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost” premiers on 17 July 2009. Yes!

Features the classic original theme songs and music! You can watch more classic Krofft Kwikies on Myspace . com/Krofft and revisit Saturday Mornings any day of the week!

Features the classic original theme songs and music! You can watch more classic Krofft Kwikies on Myspace . com/Krofft and revisit Saturday Mornings any day of the week!