Lidsville

They recently had a special on the e-channel about Sid and Marty Croft and the wonderfully imaginative shows they made like Pufnstuff. They were very original and creative and made wonderful shows for kids and I sure remember this one. Butch Patrick, Eddie on the Munsters, plays a boy named Mark who falls into a magician's hat into a land of talking hats. Its like The Wizard Of Oz on LSD thats the best way to describe it. Charles Nelson Reilly stole the show as a wizard named Hoodoo. He was hilariously hammy. Billie Burke was also very good on this show. It was good clean kids entertainment, how much of that do you see anymore? They ought to consider making this one into a full-length feature like they did with Harry Potter. With special effects the way they are today it would be a blast! I can just picture Jim Carrey or Robin Williams as Hoodoo.

The third installment of the Krofft shows,"Lidsville",which premiered on ABC-TV in September of 1971 and ended its run in September of 1973 in repeated episodes. Only the first 17 episodes of the series where original episodes from the 1971-1972 season. The second season consisted of repeated episodes from the first season since the show switched times in its second season from Saturday mornings to Sunday mornings.

"Lidsville" followed past convention of other Krofft produced shows like "H.R. Pufnstuf"(1969),and "The Bugaloos"(1970),but also featured a cast of costumed characters,a single human protagonist,and a disturbingly whacked-out villain. The plot turned on a boy named Mark(played by Butch Patrick of "The Munsters" fame) who fell into a "magician's hat" after a magic show over at some amusement park(basically the opening of the show was filmed on location at Six-Flags Amusement Parks)and landed in a "world full of hats" and of course,an evil villainous magician,Whoo Doo(played by Charles Nelson Reilly in a role that made his countless appearances on "Match Game" seem sedate by comparison). "Lidsville" also featured Witchiepoo's "good" cousin,Weenie the Geenie(also played by Billie Hayes of H.R. Pufnstuf fame),locked up in the magic ring owned by Whoo Doo. It is to be said that the ring was stolen by Mark in the opening episode and subsequently became Lidsville's McGuffin. This was one of the strangest and the most bizarre children's show in the history of Saturday Mornings and for good reason. Even though it only lasted two seasons.

Even though Weenie was thoroughly incompetent and incapable of performing magic with any sort of accuracy,Whoo Doo inexplicably pursued Mark for stealing the Weenie and the ring. In the meantime,Mark tried to find his way back home and find his way back to the normal world. Though the basic H.R. Pufnstuf formula was adhered to rigorously in Lidsville,the show was distinguished by possibly one of the weirdest of the Kroffts' many weird premises and there was more to come with other shows like "Sigmund And The Sea Monsters","The Land Of The Lost","Far-Out Space Nuts",and "The Lost Saucer" to name a few. A world full of living and talking hats? What was the dimension next door? Will Mark ever get back home to the real world? Pretty far out.

I remember watching Lidsville in the early 70s. It was another of the "Stranger in a Strange Land" themed shows from the team of Sid and Marty Krofft as Mark, who fell into a magician's hat and ended up in a land of hats called Lidsville, was captured by the show's villain, Hoo Doo the Magician and he tried to leave and head home but he ended up staying.

Butch Patrick, in his first series since The Munsters was canceled in 1966 was outstanding as Mark. Charles Nelson Reilly, in his role between The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Match Game was really campy as Hoo Doo, all the way to his green makeup. Let's not forget krofft stalwart Billie Hayes as Weenie the Genie. She even reprises her Witchiepoo role in one episode.

There were also a lot of life-sized puppet characters, including a number that were played by The Hermine Midgets. It was the only series they did and to my knowledge, they were never heard from again.

What I liked about the show were the puppets and psychedelic setting. What i didn't like was the writing. It was full of puns and clichés. Whoever wrote those shows didn't have a lot of TV writing experience.

Aside from the writing, Lidsville was a joy to watch. It was a show that really flipped your lid.

This show, like most of the Krofft brothers shows, is basically one wild experience. They claim that they never were on drugs while they were creating these shows, but I doubt that very seriously. This show basically is one long LSD trip and it basically is the same theme as the Krofft's other big creation H.R. Pufinstuff. Also, the songs that provided the musical interludes had to be some of the corniest ever written.

For all the yeas and nays that I have read about this kids' show from the early seventies (I was six when it came out), I really liked this program as the Sid and Marty Krofft shows were the most remembered and best loved shows of my childhood. Too many people read too much into these programs - they are designed for children and for even young adults as FANTASY with no underlying themes or something that would be a "gotcha" like many things are today. They are not violent and are good for any child of any generation. I loved these shows and look forward to sharing them with my young relatives and I recommend them for any group of children. I loved "Lidsville", but also "PufNStuf", "Land of the Lost", and "The Lost Saucer". Sid and Marty will be remembered for generations to come.