Land of the Lost is one of Hanna-Barbera’s most popular TV series. After its three-year run, the show ran reruns for years and even rebooted the series in 1991.
1974 – The Legacy of ‘Land of the Lost’
Sid & Marty Krofft joined with Allan Fosko in the creation of Land of the Lost which is perhaps the most successful of all of the Krofft shows. Debuting on this day in 1974, the show’s premise is explained in the show’s opening where Rick Marshall (Spencer Milligan) and his children Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Kathy Coleman) are on a camping trip and while rafting, fall down a 1,000-foot waterfall that takes them into an alternate universe that is inhabited by (stop-motion) dinosaurs. From there, much like other Krofft shows, they spent their entire time trying to get back home.
Land of the Lost was a very popular, but weird show. In addition to the slowest moving dinos you’ve ever seen on TV, the show featured elements that included time travel, a portal, lizard-like Sleestaks and primate-like creatures known as Pakuni.
Originally airing as a summer replacement show, Land of the Lost ran for three seasons. The reruns ran forever it seemed. A plot hole was developed during the third season. Will and Holly lost their father when Rick accidentally returns home without them but is replaced by his brother Jack (Ron Harper) who apparently was looking for the family at that exact time. (How convenient was that?)
On September 7, 1991, the Kroffts introduced a new version of the show that aired on ABC for two seasons. The new show boasted of better special effects and was lighter in tone overall. Though the show had similar themes, it was an entirely different series.
The Hanna-Barbera ‘Land of the Lost’ Copycats
Dinosaurs were really popular in 1974. In addition to NBC’s Land of the Lost, two other shows, both produced by Hanna-Barbera, began airing at that same time.
The animated Valley of the Dinosaurs, which ran on ABC, is probably the most similar to the Krofft brothers’ hit show.
Much like the Marshall’s who fell down that fateful waterfall and landed in the Land of the Lost, the Butlers did almost the same thing. The family of four (and pet dog Digger) were also on a rafting trip when their raft capsized, they got tossed into a cavern and pulled down in a whirlpool. When the family emerged, they found themselves in the Valley of the Dinosaurs. Unlike the Marshall’s though, the Butlers become friends with Gorok and his Neanderthal cave family.
Korg: 70,000 A.D. was different. It was a life-action show that was meant to be educational. The show partnered with the American Museum of Natural History and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History to help the show be as accurate as possible.
Narrated by Burgess Meredith, Korg was a more serious show that centered on a family of Neanderthals during the Ice Age. Neither show was as popular as the Land of the Lost. They both ran for one season only.
OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:
SATURDAY MORNING TV
Remember watching your favorite cartoons on Saturday morning with a bowl of cold cereal? Here are some that began airing on this day. How many do you remember?
1968: The Banana Splits
Hanna-Barbera production this collection of cartoon series packaged around a live-action band of animals known as The Banana Splits. Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky would goof around in the live action segments and introduce the animated stories based on the Three Musketeers, The Arabian Knights, Micro Ventures, Gulliver’s Travels and others.
1974: The New Adventures of Gilligan
With the exception to Tina Louise, all of the original cast members from the Gilligan’s Island sitcom voiced their animated characters in this show produced by Filmation. The show was popular enough to air repeats on Sunday mornings too.
1974: Patridge Family 2200 A.D.
This Hanna-Barbera show was based on the original Partridge Family sitcom, but it was set in a world that looked more like The Jetsons. Airing on CBS, the original cast voiced their animated characters for the show’s first couple of episodes.
1974: Hong Kong Phooey
Originally, this Hanna-Barbera cartoon was to star Huckleberry Hound playing the role of Penry, a janitor at a police station. When a crime was reported, Penry would jump into a filing cabinet to change into his superhero costume and became Hong Kong Phooey.
1985: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo
The legendary Vincent Price lent his voice for this short-lived Hanna-Barbera series. He played Vincent Van Ghoul and interacted with Scooby, Shaggy and Daphne. Apparently, Fred and Velma had better things to do?
1991: Hammerman
MC Hammer hosted and voiced the main character in this DIC Animation City cartoon. It’s about a youth worker who dons a pair of magical, talking, dancing shoes and become the superhero, Hammerman who tells kids moral answers to social issues.
- 1974: Devlin; These Are the Days; Shazam!, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine; The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Shows; The U.S. of Archie; Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch; Run, Joe, Run
- 1985: Ewoks, Driods, Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse
- 1991: Taz-Mania; Little Shop
Movies Released
- 2007: 3:10 to Yuma
- 2007: Atonement
- 2012: Anna Karenina
- 2012: The Words
- 2017: Dusk Till Dawn
- 2018: Peppermint
- 2018: The Nun
- 2022: Tell Me Lies
TV Series Debuts
- 1979: SportsCenter
- 1997: Animal Crackers
- 2006: ‘Til Death
- 2008: True Blood
Famous Birthdays
- 1926: Don Messick (voice actor)
- 1936: Buddy Holly (singer)
- 1943: Gloria Gaynor (singer)
- 1954: Corbin Bernsen (actor)
- 1956: Diane Warren (singer)
- 1970: Tom Everett Scott (actor)
- 1976: Oliver Hudson (actor)
- 1997: Dean-Charles Chapman (actor)
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