Land of the Lost

[HomeBrewerDude]

Anyone who is older than 30 should know this kids show. I have many fond memories of the show, and now that my kids are getting to prime TV viewing age , we're watching the DVDs together.

LOTL has incredibly bad acting and horrible costumes. The producers spent all of their budget on set design, claymation (though even that is a bit dodgy), special effects, and fairly talented sci-fi writers. Once you get used to the rough edges, the show has some fairly entertaining plots.

Here are a few sites:

http://www.landofthelost.com/ (overview)
http://www.landofthelost.com/faq.htm (trivia)
http://www.landofthelost.com/guide.htm (overview)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_the_Lost_(1974_TV_series) (wiki)
http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/los.html (episode lists)
http://monstermovieblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/land-of-lost-tv-1974-1977.html (has some nice pics of the sets and claymation.)
http://www.johnkennethmuir.com/JohnKennethMuirsRetroTVFile_LandoftheLost.html (excellent historical account of the people behind the production) For example:

Linda Laurie adds that the Kroffts had an edict to be obeyed at all times. "Don't patronize children. We were to take them on a ride, but never talk down to them." That mantra was part of the reason why episodes were written by the likes of TV and science fiction veterans such as Dorothy Fontana, Walter Koenig, Larry Niven, Norman Spinrad and Theodore Sturgeon.The series may have aired on Saturday mornings, but each adventure was designed to be provocative, illuminating entertainment. Episodes featured time paradoxes ("Circle," "Elsewhen," "The Stranger"), dopplegangers ("Split Personality"), possession ("The Possession") and other solid genre concepts.

A few observations:

LOTL is a weird temporal/spatial eddy in the universe:
-The LOTL has a river that flows continuously in a circle, kind of like in that crazy Escher drawing. This is referenced in many episodes.
-The LOTL is like a mirror imaged disk. In one show Holly descends a rope through a hole in the ground and sees the landscape of another LOTL hanging above her. She climbs back up the rope to the ground.
-The LOTL horizon loops in on itself. In one show, the Marshals view themselves through a pair of binoculars.
-The LOTL is a temporally displaced. Characters from many time periods have fallen into the LOTL. A civil war soldier, Enik, a test pilot of the not too far future, even Holly will come back to the LOTL to warn herself as a child to conquer her fear of heights.


The dinosaurs in the series were:
Alice the Allosaur
Grumpy the Tyrranosaur
Dopey the baby Brontosaur
Emily the Brontosaur
Junior the baby Allosaur
Spot the Coelophysis
Spike the Triceratops
Lulu the two headed monster
Torchy the Dimetrodon

Interestingly, claymation sequences show the T-Rex and Allosaraurus walking around dragging their tails on the ground, balancing like a kangaroo does. It would be a few years before paleontologists would decide that these dinosaurs used held their tails out and off the ground to maintain balance.



Cheers and beers,
HBD

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
we're watching the DVDs together.

So that's why you haven't watched the DVDs I lent you

 

[toolboxolio]

The one where they all die.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

After reading the Wiki article, is this the one with the planet with two or three moons orbiting around? The title screen and dinosaur theme vaguely remind me of some show I saw as a young child.

 

[Aquaman]

SLEESTAK

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Homerboy]

yeap classic show
got the DVDs

 

[dwell]

Marsha, Will, and Holly
On a routine expedition
Faced the GREATEST earthquake ever known...

That's from memory, ow.

 

[GarlicBreath]

I'm a little too old, but the Sleestaks used to scare the heck out of my younger sister. I don't know why. They had these stupid crossbows that could only shoot and arrow about 6 feet.