Far Out Space Nuts

Everyone knows the Sci-Fi Triad of Greatness, right? There's "Star Trek", "Star Wars", and "Far Out Space Nuts". Lately, though, "Far Out Space Nuts" seems to have fallen by the wayside. While "Trek" & "Wars" rack up the movie sequels, "Far Out Space Nuts" has yet to even be turned into a major motion picture! Come on, "Far Out Space Nuts Nuts" (as we fans like to call ourselves), get off the pot and get "Far Out Space Nuts: The Movie" made!

Oh, wait a minute. I forgot- I hate "Far Out Space Nuts"!

"Far Out Space Nuts" is an inept Sid and Marty Krofft show starring Bob Denver and Chuck McCann (an actor I like- see "The Projectionist"- making his part in this even more depressing). The Krofft brother's special effects- which include brightly colored sets, dwarves in costume, and felt puppets, all on a budget lower than that of a "Sesame Street" segment- don't really lend themselves to this "Lost in Space" meets "Gilligan's Island" mess. They really only work in thinly-veiled pro-drug rallies like "H.R. Pufenstuf", "Lidsville", and "The Bugaloos". This show just makes me feel dirty.

Sid and Marty Krofft strike again!

Just when you thought they couldn't get any wilder, the Krofft brothers make a kids' outer space show with Gilligan! Well, maybe not Gilligan per se, but it's Bob Denver, so it might as WELL be Gilligan.

Seems Junior (Denver) and Barney (McCann - another heavy-set, older co-star...coincidence?) are loading food onto a space rocket and instead of "lunch", Junior pushes the "launch" button and sends them both out into the deep recesses of space, seeking a way home every week.

Along the way, they pick up a furry little alien they nickname Honk (Maloney), who honks whatever it says. Clever, eh?

As a matter of fact, it WAS clever in a Saturday morning kiddie show way, and McCann and Denver made good with the lines and have a knack for comedy. And when it comes to weird alien characters, who knows weird better than Sid and Marty?

It was a short-lived series, but it was a well-remembered one, thanks to the talent herein and the effort they all put in every week. Sure did make me look forward to Saturday mornings, that's for sure!

Nine stars for "Far Out Space Nuts", or "Gilligan's Planet"!

Oh, wait...Filmation already did that one. Never mind.

As a 10 year old I watched avidly, but then any show that regularly took you to other planets and encountered weird aliens seemed pretty cool, and this was funny too.

I haven't seen it for years but I have warm fuzzy memories about it.

And wasn't there another show produced at the same time that used the same sets and props? Only instead of adults it featured a couple of kids?

Most kids who watched TV watched it with their family during prime time. Said programs had high production values and catered to a cross generational demographic; Mom, dad, brother, sis, kid bro or sis, even the dog.

So it always amazed me that when kids turned the tube on Saturday mornings we were treated with shows that looked like they were today's YouTube Star Wars fan film equivalents; with acting and special effects that were just as good (or bad) as the "professional" productions from years back.

And that's how I feel not just about "Far Out Space Nuts" but with all of the Saturday Morning sitcoms for kids.

Well, kids don't have money to spend, and what "disposable income" they do have they tend to spend on candy, our parents bought us toys. Ergo the exceptionally cheap feel of the shows, and in particular the Syd and Marty Kroft bombs that used to saturate Saturday Morning TV.

I didn't mind a situation comedy about a couple of impromptu astronauts. I didn't mind Bob Denver cast as the small of the two. Nor did I mind Honk, nor the fact that they used a lunar lander for interstellar travel, nor even some of the stories and gags. But it's like we, the young audience, had seen real sit comes and real scifi shows, and our expectations in terms of presentation were a bit higher.

I mean, you can't fault this show for what it is. The people working on it the best they could. But it took fifteen to twenty years for these jokers to catch up to Disney and to present something respectable, like Disney, to you audiences.

Kids may not be highly sophisticated, and where Far Out Space Nuts entertained on a certain level, to me, it felt like standard fare fed at a bargain cut rate. Slightly sub-par in the joke and presentation department, Far Out Space Nuts tries to deliver on an unspoken promise. It marginally succeeds, but could have been more.

Try it once, and see what you think.

Bob Denver, who was fresh from cancelation of Dusty's Trail and Gilligan's Island, teams up with Chuck McCann, recently graduated from Seattle's Mime Academy.

Once again, Bob Denver is selling his "little buddy" act to another big fat "skipper." Chuck McCann recognizes that formula for success, he does the "little buddy" with Gilligan.

Soon enough, the two NASA caterers are stocking sandwiches in the Space Shuttle fridge, when Gilligan hits the launch button (instead of Lunch) on the space ship, and away they go!

Lots of uncomfortable laughs for the sad sack crew. The big slob with the bowl hair cut and demented grin was the Skipper on this show, and Gilligan got the bottom bunk again. No coconut oil on this trip! Just low budget comedy writing the hard way.

There were 15 episodes of this show filmed. But most of them were never broadcast. It was up to ingenious fans to get the bootleg complete season sets in order to see all the wonderful fun.