Sid and Marty Krofft, From ‘Pufnstuf’ to ‘Donny and Marie’ and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

‘The Banana Splits’ (1968 to 1970)

Created by animation legends William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, this was their first show to use live action wraparounds for the cartoons, featuring costumed characters as a bubblegum rock group. They consisted of a beagle named Fleegle, an ape named Bingo, a lion named Drooper and an elephant named Snorky. As Marty Krofft explained to Closer in a previous interview, “Joseph Barbera came to see me, because he didn’t know how to do this idea yet. Oddly enough, this was our dress rehearsal for H.R. Pufnstuf, which we had introduced at the 1968 World’s Fair. But with The Banana Splits, it started with us creating and building the characters, refining them and making them all workable. Joe would come to our studio probably every week and he’d run everything by me.” Last year, The Banana Splits was turned into an R-rated horror movie — with the full blessing of the Kroffts.

‘H.R. Pufnstuf’ (1969)

British actor Jack Wild plays Jimmy, a boy lured to a living island by an enchanted boat, which is being manipulated by Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), who is desperate to get her hands on a magic flute that is in Jimmy’s hands. Helping him once he gets to the island is the Mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf, a walking and talking dragon. He’s also helped by other members of the community. Like many of the Krofft shows, very surreal, driving home the real meaning behind the name of the show. In 1970, Universal Pictures released a big screen version.

‘The Bugaloos’ (1970 to 1972)

The title characters are a musical group consisting of four British teenagers — three guys and a girl — dressed in insect-like costumes who can not only sing, but fly as well. Their enemy on the show is Martha Raye’s Benita Bizarre. A good word for the show itself, which was certainly different from anything else on Saturday mornings.

‘Lidsville’ (1971 to 1973)

Butch Patrick (little Eddie Munster on The Munsters) plays a kid named Mark, who falls into the hat of Merio the Magician (played by Charles Nelson Reilly) and finds himself in Lidsville, a land of living hats — who act the way that humans wearing them would.

‘Sigmund and the Sea Monsters’ (1973 to 1975)

Johnny Whitaker (Family Affair) and Scott Kolden play brothers Johnny and Scott Stuart, who come across a friendly sea monster named Sigmund (yes, the premise is that simple), who has been abandoned by others of his kind, because he refuses to scare people. They take him home and have to try to hide his existence from everyone.

‘Land of the Lost’ (1974 to 1976)

Actually one of the Krofft’s most inventive shows as the Marshall family, consisting of father Rick and his kids, Will and Holly, go over a waterfall and find themselves in a land inhabited by dinosaurs, primitive people known as the Pakuni and an intelligent — but dangerous — reptilian race known as the Sleestak. A two-season remake was launched in 1991, and a big screen parody version starring Will Ferrell was released in 2009.

‘Far Out Space Nuts’ (1975)

The set-up is that a couple of NASA maintenance workers accidentally launch themselves into space and start encountering various aliens that are out there. Bob Denver (Gilligan’s Island) plays Junior, while Chuck McCann is his partner, Barney. The alien guy in the middle of that photo above is Honk, played by Patty Maloney.

‘The Lost Saucer’ (1975 to 1976)

Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi (respectively coming off Gomer Pyle, USMC and Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In) play a pair of friendly androids who travel from the future to the present and then take off from earth, inadvertently taking a boy named Jerry (played by Jarrod Johnson) and Alice (Alice Playten), his babysitter, with them. However, when their ship’s controls are damaged, they are unable to bring the two of them back to their exact time, so, instead, get involved in one wacky adventure in time after another.

‘Donny & Marie’ (1976 to 1979)

The classic variety show starring brother and sister performers Donny and Marie Osmond. You can find a behind-the-scenes look and a guide to every episode HERE.

‘The Krofft Supershow’ (1976 to 1978)

More or less a variety show for Saturday mornings, it presented short scripted adventures in every episode. Over the course of its run, it featured the following series: Dr. Shrinker (teenagers are shrunk by a mad scientist on an uncharted island and have to figure out how to survive), Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (a superhero show featuring a pre-soap opera Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis as the title characters, at a time when prime time was offering shows like The Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman), Wonderbug (teens discover when they attach a magic horn to their old dune buggy, it brings the vehicle to life), Magic Mongo (the wacky adventures of three teens who find and release a magic genie); and Bigfoot and Wildboy (a kid abandoned in the forest is raised by Bigfoot — no, seriously).

‘The Brady Bunch Hour’ (1976 to 1977)

When cast members from The Brady Bunch appeared on an episode of Donny & Marie, the response was so great that someone came up with the idea of having the Brady cast play their characters hosting their own variety show. Yep, it was every bit as bizarre as it sounds, and you can check it out in our in depth behind-the-scenes look at it.

‘The Krofft Superstar Hour’ (1978 to 1979)

Like its earlier incarnation, this is a Saturday morning variety show, only this one is hosted by the band The Bay City Rollers. It consisted of two series within the format: Horror Hotel (a hotel being run by H.R. Pufnstuf‘s Witchiepoo) and The Lost Island (set in the Bermuda Triangle, it brought together different characters from Sid & Marty Krofft productions).

More Creations from Sid and Marty Krofft

After that, they would continue to bounce back and forth between Saturday morning and prime time, giving us such shows as Pink Lady and Jeff (a Japanese music duo, which ran in 1980), Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (1980 to 1982), Pryor’s Place (1984 children’s show hosted by, of all people, Richard Pryor), D.C. Follies (1987 to 1989 syndicated sitcom about a Washington, D.C. bar with Fred Willard as the bartender serving puppet caricatures of politicians and celebrities), Land of the Lost (the 1991 Saturday morning remake of the original 1970s series), Mutt & Stuff (2015 Nick Jr. kid series), Electra Woman & Dyna Girl (2016 remake of the original, but for the web starring Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart); and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (2017 remake with a pair of boys trying to hide Sigmund from the monster-hunting Captain Barnabus, played by David Arquette).

Congratulations, Sid and Marty. And thanks for all those wonderful Classic TV memories!