Lidsville

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.

"Lidsville" is the story of Mark ("The Munsters' " Butch Patrick) who is budding magician. After seeing the magician Hoodoo (Charles Nelson Reilly), Mark sneaks backstage to see if Hoodoo has real magic or not. He touches Hoodoo's magic hat, which suddenly grows to enormous size. Looking into the hat, Mark falls inside -- and into a secret dimension called Lidsville, where everyone is a giant, talking hat.

Mark has Hoodoo's magic wand, which Hoodoo wants back or he can't continue to work his magic. But only Hoodoo knows the secret of how to get out of the hat and back to the real world.

Hoodoo, his talking vulture pal Orson, and a host of other baddies routinely try to destroy the town of Lidsville and its oversized fedoral inhabitants -- while Jimmy saves the day every time.

For kids, "Lidsville" was a great show. (The theme song, quoted above, stick in my head 35 years later!) Charles Nelson Reilly was the perfect wacky, green-faced magician with red hair. As a seven year old, I lived every week to see him fly in his gigantic, flattened top-hat with Orson. His laugh, his goofiness, and his campy evilness thrilled me. Mark seemed too goody-two-shoes to me, and the inhabitants of Lidsville were too clumsy and inanimate to really do much. Every show was really about Mark, learning cooperation and friendship in order to beat the schemes of silly Hoodoo. Probably the worst episodes had Mark almost getting out of Lidsville, because at the last second he'd be forced back into the alterna-dimension and I'd feel horrible for him. But the other shows were wonderful.

Along with "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters," "H.R. Pufnstuff" and "Super Friends," this is how I spent my childhood's Saturday mornings.

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.

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.

The Kroffts were very imaginative,creative guys. I think they designed a mascot for the 1968 World's Fair or something like that. HR Puff-n-Stuff,Sigmond +the sea monsters are 2 other good tv examples of their work. One common thread in all their stuff is great costumes and sets,they are all original and interesting. (I think the Kroffts successfully sued McDonalds for taking their work in the early 70's and using it in commercials and advertising.I was very young but I remember the hamburglar,grimace, the French fry guys,etc did indeed disappear). Now onto this show... Lidsville is a great show for kids and adults alike,both will like it. It is silly and pretty funny. Charles Nelson Riley is clearly having a ball as the villian,he is able to cut loose and have fun,and I think he is hilarious. The affable young man that plays 'Mark' is none other than Butch Patrick,the actor that was 'Eddie Munster' ! Patrick plays a good part without over-doing it. Some may recognize the 'Weenie the Genie" actress from another role on HR Puff-n-Stuff,she plays an energetic fun part with style. The main puppet characters are hats,and it is funny as well,eg the cowboy hat talks like John Wayne,another hat talks a Frenchman,etc. Ya gotta see it! As for people that imply that the Kroffts were using drugs or that they were endorsing drug use (with a wink and a nod) on their shows,I'd say that is in the eye of the beholder. The show is very different and unusual,for sure,but I don't see anything that even hints at drugs. Even watching with the idea of trying to spot possible drug references or implications comes up empty. I highly recommend this show.