The Krofft Supershow

In 1976, I lived in Atlanta when the Krofft Supershow was airing on ABC. This was definitely a very interesting show. The "Kaptain Kool and the Kongs" segments were actually filmed in 1976 at the "World of Sid and Marty Krofft" amusement park located within the Omni in Atlanta (now CNN Center). As a 6-year-old at the time of this show, it was nice to see my city and a place that I was familiar with. The theme park had turned out to be too expensive to operate and was not in the best part of town at the time. It only survived for about a year. My personal memories were of the 1976 season only which featured the live action series "Wonderbug", "Dr. Shrinker" and "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" and it was wrapped around by the "Kaptain Kool" segments. I believe none of the series except "Wonderbug" survived to the 1977 season and since it was no longer taped in Atlanta, I lost interest.

It can be said by one critic who remembered "The Krofft Supershow" very fondly that it was a representative of both the peak and the decline of the empire of Sid and Marty Krofft(known for producing some of the weirdest not to mention the most innovative children's shows in the history of Saturday Morning television--the creative minds behind the shows "H.R. Pufnstuf","The Bugaloos","Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" "The Land Of The Lost",and not to mention "Far Out Space Nuts" to name a few)under their own production company Sid and Marty Krofft Productions for Saturday Morning television during the 1970's. ABC-TV however,gave the Kroffts a 90-minute slot which they filled with an extravaganza of several acts. Hosting and doing comedy sketches were the bright polyester-wearing Kaptain Kool and the Kongs which consisted of the ring leader Kaptain Kool(Michael Lembeck,a poor man's Henry Winkler,a welfare Fonzie),and his members which included Superchick(Debbie Clinger),Turkey(Mickey McMell),Nashville(Louise Duart),and Flatbush(Bert Sommer). The series "The Krofft Supershows" aired for two seasons as part of ABC's Sunshine Saturday Morning schedule from its premiere on September 11,1976 until its demise on September 2,1978 where it was shown for one season on Saturday Mornings and then during the summer of 1978 was moved to the dreadful Sunday Morning slot in repeated episodes. Their skits and musical numbers were taped in front of a live audience at the World of Sid and Marty Krofft,which was at the time a new indoor amusement park at the Omni International structure center located in Atlanta,Georgia. It has been replaced by the Georgia Dome on one end and the corporate headquarters of the CNN Center complex on the opposite end where the once Omni Center stood.

"The Krofft Supershows" were an anthology of sorts and between the bits were four Hollywood segments. The most elaborate segment of the series was "Electra-Woman and Dynagirl",a thinly disguised version of the campy Batman and Robin television show,only with female protagonists and starring none other than soap opera actress Deidre Hall(of Days of Our Lives)and Judy Strangis(the daughter of fame TV producer Sam Strangis). This particular show,like other Krofft shows of the period is the more intensely remembered and the most recognizable of the Krofft shows. It was so far beyond even other Krofft shows in terms of raw camp that it imprinted itself on the memory of anyone who has seen it once. However,just like the Batman TV show the heroes fought off an cabaret of fantastic villains and villainesses,each using at least one henchman. The villains consisted of Micheal Constantine and Mark Richman and several recurring actresses to boot in which our heroes are faced with a cliffhanger each week as our heroes fall into the villains deadly traps however figuring out ways to escape certain peril. The conclusion continues the following week. Others were "Wonderbug","Bigfoot and Wildboy","Magic Mongo",and "The Lost Saucer". "Wonderbug" had an interracial trio of teens(Bobby,Susan,and C.C.)who rode a broken-down dune buggy called Schlep Car which in times of humorous complications could be transformed into a gleaming,powerful four-wheeler by squeezing its horn. "Doctor Shrinker" was an evil man with a evil mind and also one diabolical mad scientist. Dr. Shrinker(Jay Robinson)uses a ray to reduce the size of another trio of teens(Brad,B.J.,and Gordie)to a few inches. The three managed to escape from the scientist's lair,leading Dr. Shrinker and his diminutive sidekick Hugo(Billy Barty) on a quest for the shrinkies. Dangers followed the kids wherever they go which always leads into a cliffhanger to see what happens to them in the next episode. The show took cues from Irwin Allen's classic late 1960's-science fiction classic TV series "The Land Of The Giants",with elements of the 1966 science fiction film "Fantastic Voyage" thrown in for visual effect.

"Magic Mongo" was another of the Kroffts obsessions with genies. The story centered around three nice kids(Donald,Kristy,and Lorraine)who were constantly plagued by bullies named Ace and Duncey until Magic Mongo(Lennie Weinrib) would employ his magic powers to save them. The other segment was "Bigfoot and Wildboy" about the legendary Bigfoot-a wookie who resembles Chewbacca from the Star Wars films,and his alliance Wild Boy who ran around in a costume of leather and green cloth and spoke perfect English. The typical adventures they would encounter who include battling evil scientists and supernatural beings intent on destroying Earth. The action sequences included Bigfoot's special abilities to jump great distances in slow motion(just like Steve Austin's bionic styles on The Six Million Dollar Man). In some of the episodes,our heroes in the same cave or in an accident using the same avalanche footage until next week's episode. The weakest of the Krofft shows was "The Lost Saucer" which featured the casting of Ruth Buzzi(of Laugh-In)and Jim Nabors(yes,you heard right--aka Gomer Pyle). Within months of its debut,the show lost its 90-minute programming and was cut back to an full hour,cutting some of the segments in the process. Because of this,the rise and fall of the Krofft empire was about to crumble,thus closing of the Krofft's amusement park in the process. However,during the summer of 1978,the show was moved from Saturday Mornings to Sunday mornings before it died a slow and painful death.

"The Krofft Supershows" was an anthology of cheerfully absurd television series, nothing incredibly deep but a rather sweet introduction for the single-digit age to both slapstick and social commentary.

The various series were a wonderfully child-friendly introduction to the history of shtick and vaudevillian broad comedy. Jay Robinson and Billy Barty took glorious delight in hamming up their mad scientist characters, so that I had a more skeptical perspective years later as a teenager when watching those over-serious SF films that tried futilely to be profound. Ruth Buzzi brought some of her brilliant shtick, honed in live theatre and Laugh-In, to her role in The Lost Saucer, and many of the one-shot characters were played by retired comic actors whom the Kroffts had somehow convinced to ham it up one more time on a children's television show. Most of the actors playing villains in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl were clearly having the time of their lives.

The slapstick and social commentary are important: at that age, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and Danny Kaye are a bit too sophisticated even in their slapstick for small children, but the slapstick comedy of the various Krofft series helped prepare a child for a later appreciation. Similarly, while the social commentary was over-obvious by adult standards (particularly in The Lost Saucer), it helped prepare a child to notice the social commentary in other programs.

Also, compared to 1980s "And knowing is half the battle" moralizing, even The Lost Saucer was comparatively subtle! Finally, I knew many teens who watched the series not only for the leisurely goofiness but because they enjoyed watching sexy Deidre Hall in her tight Electra Woman costume and watching cute blond Joseph Butcher in his half-Tarzan half-surfer dude costume as Wildboy.

The Krofft Supershow was a live action program for kids. There was no animation but all the Krofft shows played out like cartoons. I remember being the only person awake in my house watching this show early on Saturday mornings as a kid in the 70's. At the time I remember my favorite segment as being Bigfoot and Wildboy. Somehow most of my friends at school missed out on this because few people ever knew what I was talking about when I mentioned this show. There was another segment called Far Out Space Nuts, about a couple of astronauts one of which was Bob Denver who played Gilligan. If I remember correctly, their space ship wasn't working properly and every week they ended up on a new planet where they would be chased by some Muppet looking monster that wasn't really scary but was always funny. There was the popular Electra Woman and Dynagirl that was like a female version of the Adam West Batman series. Another segment featured Wonderbug about a talking car like the animated cartoon Dune Buggy. The Lost Saucer was another space show, this one was similar to the 60's hit show Lost in Space. There were others that I don't remember but I'm sure if I saw this again it would all comeback to me. Sid and Marty Krofft have been releasing their Saturday morning shows on DVD at a steady if not rapid rate. We have seen Land of the Lost be released in season sets, H.R. Puffnstuff in its entirety, Sigmund and the Seamonsters complete first Season, Lidsville with Butch Patrik, now the Bugaloos are coming. Heres to hoping that the Krofft Supershow in all its seasons and versions will be next.

I really liked this Saturday morning show when I was a kid. Good times. My favorite segments were Wonderbug and Dr. Shrinker. I can still remember the theme song from Dr. Shrinker. Wow. I, also, enjoyed Electra-Woman and Dynagirl.