I am a major fan of the 1970’s Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning TV shows of the 1970’s. Land of the Lost, The Bugaloos, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, all of those.
And that includes H.R. Pufnstuf.
If you’re too young to remember H.R. Pufnstuf, the show aired on NBC for two seasons, and featured the adventures of a boy (Jack Wild) in a puppet-filled world called Living Island. He couldn’t find his way back home, but he stayed under the protection of the mayor of Living Island, a big dragon named H.R. Pufnstuf – all while being protected from the evil machinations of the big bad on the show, a witch named Witchiepoo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbG7vvZmCKM
Oh my God this show was popular. It spawned a motion picture, a collection of toys and dolls and comic books, and eventually launched Sid and Marty Krofft’s independent television production machine.
So I was surprised to hear that the great dragon of Living Island was about to make a reappearance, 45 years after the original H.R. Pufnstuf show ended its two-year run.
I’m just not sure I was expecting this appearance.
In 2015, Sid and Marty Krofft, along with Calvin Milian (his father Cesar Milian is TV’s Dog Whisperer), created a children’s show for the Nick Jr. channel, a show called Mutt & Stuff. The show features Calvin Milian and his big anthromorphic puppet dog “Stuff” operating a canine obedience school.
Okay, show of hands. How many of you already knew about this Mutt & Stuff show?
Okay, new show of hands. How many of you only knew about it because you watch shows on Nick Jr. with your kids? Yeah, I saw your hand go up. Don’t front me.
Anyways… On February 15, the Mutt & Stuff show will feature a guest appearance from Stuff’s uncle from Living Island…
Yep. And he’s arriving with those Keystone Cops bumblebugs Kling and Klang, and he brought along Freddie the Magic Flute.
I’ll let you watch this preview clip of the episode.
K?
The thing is, I remember H.R. Pufnstuf and other shows of that era as the kind of escapist fantasy that would whisk me away from my personal familial battles and troubles. Man, how I wish I was on Living Island or Tranquility Forest or even in the world of the living dinosaurs and Sleestaks.
And for a couple of moments, while watching that clip, I felt those wonderful memories return. Joyful, spectacular, scintillating memories.
And eventually, some parental authority figure would come downstairs, yell at me for watching too much television, turn off the TV, throw a coat at me and tell me to go outside and get some fresh air.
Urgh.
Even with all that, I was still glad to see H.R. Pufnstuf one more time. One more glimpse of the memories and inspirations of a childhood. Although I probably could do without the “Mutt & Stuff” part of the show… yeah, watching those characters just didn’t have the same pastel surrealism that the 70’s Sid and Marty Krofft shows possessed.
Oh well…
Maybe I’ll just watch another H.R. Pufnstuf video clip from days gone by.
Or I can get up on the weekends once again, since there’s a one-hour block of H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost on MeTV every Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m.
Yeah. I’d like that instead. Now I just gotta go get a bowl of Alpha Bits or Sugar Smacks and all will be right with the world again.
Chuck The Writer 
There were a lot of things I watched in the 1970s that were geared towards kids – Sesame Streeet, the Electric Company and Zoom, for three. But the Kroffts stuff I just never got, though I know people who LOVED them. .
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Sid and Marty Krofft have revealed last year’s comic con they are creating a Bugaloos preschool show with Cyndi Laumper as Benita Bizarre. I hope they at least include the original Bugaloos as guest stars, With the reputation of their land of the lost movie I hope the preschool show is not shit.
On second though I hope the show never transpires, I’ll be willing to pay money to not air it
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