The World of Sid & Marty Krofft / H.R. Pufnstuf: The Ultimate Box Set

The World of Sid & Marty Krofft

H.R. Pufnstuf: The Ultimate Box Set

You had to be there. Plunked down on the floor in front of the TV, Saturday mornings, mid-1970s. You'd never seen anything like it before, and despite a few pale imitations down the line, you never really have since. But do you want to revisit the world of giant hats located somewhere below Six Flags Over Texas? Relive your encounter with young boys who act at the behest of their magic talking flutes? Re-experience the post-stardom careers of Bob "Gilligan" Denver, Jim "Gomer" Nabors, and Ruth "Laugh-In" Buzzi -- all lost in space?! Come on, you know you do! Just out of curiosity, of course, and The World of Sid & Marty Krofft provides you with the perfect chance to find the exact moment in your childhood when you were transformed from innocent youngster to mind-expanded otherworlder. On three tapes, you get one episode each of the company's 13 infamous Saturday morning series, from the initial attempt at twisting young minds, H.R. Pufnstuf, through the fondly recalled Sigmund & the Sea Monsters and Electra-Woman & Dynagirl and on to the final whimpers of Bigfoot & Wild Boy, Magic Mongo, and the decrepit, ill-advised Pryor's Place, the sadly dull (and, of course, squeaky-clean) children's show starring foul-mouthed comic genius Richard Pryor. If you were a kid when these shows aired, you couldn't wait to wake up and catch the latest adventures of giant, macrocephalic pseudo-muppets helping their human companions escape from witches or piles of nasally voiced kelp. If you were in your teens or later, you couldn't wait for dawn to roll around, since the night's beer and bud was running low and you absolutely had to save some for Far Out Space Nuts. So, are the shows actually good? For the most part, no -- nostalgia is your key to enjoyment of Lost Saucer or Dr. Shrinker, along with keeping watch for bad special effects and uncorrected gaffes. You may have a favorite (I personally have 12 or 13 hours of Land of the Lost on tape, and can speak fluent Pakuni: "e-re, bo-sasu?"), but for the most part, this overall sampler is probably as much Sid & Marty as the average adult needs in his life -- as far as the complete 17-episode TV run of H.R. Pufnstuf: The Ultimate Box Set (despite the title, the box does not include the 1970 feature film), if you do find yourself giving or receiving this collection as a gift this year, you'd best make sure it's accompanied by a plentiful supply of "puffin' stuff."