SID & MARTY KROFFT’S SATURDAY MORNING HITS
(not rated)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Back in the 70s, one of the most prolific production teams was that of Sid & Marty Krofft. They produced multiple live-action shows for Saturday morning, and the result was cheap-looking but delightfully silly shows like “H.R. Pufnstuf,” “Bugaloos,” “Lidsville,” “Sigmund & The Sea Monsters,” “ElectraWoman & DynaGirl,” “Wonderbug” and “Bigfoot & Wildboy.” An episode of each of these series is presented on this 2 1/2 hour DVD, offering a sampling of “Sid & Marty Krofft’s Saturday Morning Hits.”
WHAT I LIKED
I often identify myself as a child of the 80s, which I was. But while my formative years were spent in the decade of excess, my earliest years were spent in the 1970s. So even though the memories are a bit fuzzy, I remember being younger than ten years old and watching Saturday morning programming each weekend.
The Sid & Marty Krofft shows are so identifiable from that era, and they are tons of fun to revisit now. The ridiculously low budgets and psychedelic production design is almost unbelievable today, but there’s a child-like appeal to these shows that still hold up. I showed these episodes to my kids, and while there were some they weren’t wild about (like “Lidsville”) and others they just didn’t get (like the era-specific musical elements and slang in “Bugaloos”), they enjoyed the shows as I did when I was their age.
Anyone who has heard about Sid & Marty Krofft or watched the “Mr. Show” sketch about “H.R. Pufnstuf” a while back owes it to themselves to check this DVD out. It’s the closest thing you’ll have to a bizarre time machine that will transfer you back to this wacky era of zany productions.
In particular, I enjoyed revisiting “Wonderbug” for it total 70s feel and knock-off of the “Speed Buggy” cartoon as well as “ElectraWoman & DynaGirl,” which stars “Days of Our Lives” diva Deirdre Hall before she was famous (and was really quite hot). During the decade that gave us the “Spider-Man” and “Wonder Woman” TV shows, this little Saturday morning ditty was actually quite impressive.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
There’s plenty of stones that can be thrown at the Sid & Marty Krofft canon. But anything you’d complain about adds to its charm. They have shaky scripts, terrible acting and sometimes inappropriate innuendo, but that’s what makes them so fun to watch.
This particular release could have been better on the transfer, though I imaging the shows was mastered on 3/4” tape which has degraded a lot. Still, this DVD is barely VHS quality comparable to a bootleg of “The Star Wars Holiday Special.”
DVD FEATURES
The only bonus feature is an art gallery featuring 50 years of Krofft art.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Children of the 70s. And their kids, if they can handle it.