7 Things You Never Knew About ‘Land of the Lost’
Land of the Lost, the live-action children’s show about a family who become trapped in an alternate dimension full of danger, dinosaurs, and mysterious alien creatures, ran for three seasons starting on September 7, 1974. But its impact has been felt far beyond that (and not just because the show was almost constantly in syndication throughout the ’70s and ’80s). The show’s complicated sci-fi mythology and mix of stop-motion animation and puppetry have endeared it to generations of fans — so much so that a new adaptation of the series was in development within the last decade.
But there’s more to the show than just funky costumes and that endlessly recycled dinosaur footage. The show was created by two brothers who had previously done a nude puppet review, and involved some of the top sci-fi writers of the era, black belts, future NBA stars, and even a UCLA professors. So let’s jump through the portal, and learn a little more about Land of the Lost.
Everett Collection
1The Kroffts Once Created an “Adult” Puppet Show
Brothers Sid and Marty Krofft were the unquestioned kings of children’s TV in the ’70s, with their puppet-filled programs like Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and H.R. Pufnstuf ruling the airwaves. But they got their start as puppeteers in a very adult corner of the vaudeville world.
Older brother Sid spent his late teens and early 20s touring the world as a puppeteer, first as part of the Ringling Bros Circus sideshow, and eventually, as an opening act for performers like Judy Garland and Cyd Charisse. In the late ’50s, Sid recruited his brother Marty into the act, and they created an adult puppet show called “Le Poupees de Paris,” a “mature” puppet show modeled on French burlesque shows like Folies Bergere.
Keystone Features/Getty Images
How “mature” was this show, exactly? According to a 1962 review from TIME Magazine, in addition to puppets based on celebrities like Milton Berle and Mae West, the action of the show included “bare-breasted beauties [who] hang in bird cages over the audience, or parade around the stage, heaving, wiggling, sighing, shaking, and saucing the house.” The show was a major hit, going from sell-out shows in the San Fernando Valley to the New York World’s Fair in 1964, as well as a touring production that played for the rest of the ’60s. The show’s success got them on The Dean Martin Show, which helped their TV careers finally take off.
Witchiepoo Returns! Sid & Marty Krofft’s TV Channel is Now Live
2The Plots Were Based on Sci-Fi Novels Covers
Everett Collection
Though the Kroffts conceived of Land of the Lost, they didn’t write the story bible or plot specifics — that fell to former Star Trek writer David Gerrold. Gerrold guided the show through all three seasons, recruiting sci-fi authors like Larry Niven and Norman Spinrad to help create the ongoing adventures of the Marshall family.
However, Gerrold did get some guidance from the Kroffts — though it took a pretty unusual form. “Alan Foshko, who I only met once or twice, and Sid Krofft had put together a book of pictures cut out from the covers of various science fiction magazines,” Gerrold recalled in a 1999 interview. “They had a waterfall, a jungle, a giant bee, Tarzan, dinosaurs, monkey people, and maybe a couple other things. They asked if I could make it work as a TV series. They had a title and a book, that was pretty much it. I scratched my head, thought about it, figured that I could probably do something with it.” Gerrold then went on to write a script that included all of it — except Tarzan, who was considered an intellectual property issue.
3Sci-Fi Legend Harlan Ellison Wrote Two-Thirds of a Script
One of the most famous sci-fi writers of the 20th century, Ellison also wrote on the original run of Star Trek, winning multiple awards for its most famous episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” David Gerrold approached Ellison about writing for Land of the Lost, which the irascible writer declined — sort of. “As a joke, [Ellison] submitted two-thirds of a brilliant outline, but refused to give me act three unless I bought the outline without it,” Gerrold recalled. The story involved the Marshalls exploring a deep underground cavern — but stopped short of revealing what was actually inside it. Ellison simply wrote, “I tie up everything neatly in the third act, trust me.”
‘Land of the Lost’ creator Sid Krofft Says That Bette Davis Once Dropped an F-Bomb & Hung Up on Him
4It Featured the First Full Language Created for a TV Show
Yes, Star Trek came first — but there wasn’t a fully functional Klingon language developed until the ’80s. Land of the Lost, however, debuted with a fully functional language spoken by the Pakunis. The Kroffts thought including a language within the show would help it appear more educational — so they hired UCLA linguistics professor Victoria Frompkin to invent one. An expert in West African languages, Frompkin drew from Akan, a language spoken in Ghana, and created 200 Pakuni words, developing a language that children could slowly learn over the course of the show.
5Cha-Ka Was Played by the Youngest Black Belt In History
Everett Collection
The identity of the actor who played friendly Cha-Ka is a subject of great pop culture debate (especially around, say, the third round at the bar). Rumors have held that everyone from Clint Howard to Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath played the young Pakuni who palled around with the Marshalls. But the real story of the act who played Cha-Ka is almost as interesting.
Phillip Paley was 10 when he began playing Cha-Ka — his first acting role. However, acting was not Paley’s first big hobby. He was a karate whiz who earned a black belt at age nine, making him the youngest person to achieve that rank at the time. This accomplishment got him on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he and Chuck Norris joined forces to flip Johnny.
The appearance caught the Krofft brothers’ eyes, and Paley was recruited to play the cheerful ape lad for all three seasons.
6A Future NBA Star Played A Sleestak
Allsport/Getty Images
The villainous Sleestaks are tall. You know who else is generally tall? High school basketball players. Which is why the producers of the show reached out to nearby Palos Verde High School, to see if any of their more vertically gifted students wanted a role as one of the rubber-suited monsters.
One high schooler who took them up on it was future NBA star Bill Laimbeer, who, at 6′ 11″, had a truly alien stature. Laimbeer played the role before leaving for college at Notre Dame, where he began a basketball career that would see him play 11 seasons with the Detroit Pistons, and later become a WNBA coach. “It was easy money. People on TV only work 20 minutes out of a whole day,” Laimbeer said in a 2019 interview. “It was a lot of fun and a good experience, especially when you were 18 years old.”
7The Kroffts Were So Disappointed by the Film Version, They Apologized
Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
There had been decades of discussion in Hollywood around adapting Land of the Lost into a film, so it was no surprise when a big-budget adaptation starring Will Ferrell hit theaters in 2009. What was unexpected was how widely disliked the film was. It currently has a 26% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned $68.8 million at the box office — which would have been a great profit, if the film’s production budget hadn’t been $100 million. The Kroffts have repeatedly disowned the film — in a 2016 interview with Forbes, Sid said, “It didn’t have a heart … they changed all of the characters,” while Marty claimed that “at the time they were shooting it, I knew we were in trouble. This was not the movie I thought we were making.” But at a 2015 Comic-Con panel, the Kroffts went even farther, apologizing to the audience and fans for the film.
Another weird Krofft film fact? In the same 2019 Forbes interview, Marty noted that Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes had worked on an H.R. Pufnstuf script in 2001, for a never-realized film version that the Kroffts hoped would star Johnny Depp.
Remind 
1974 (50 Years Ago)
January 2024
In this time capsule issue of ReMIND Magazine we look back 50 years ago to 1974!
Buy This Issue