'PUFNSTUF' IS A TROVE OF HIGH KITSCH

From Vietnam abroad to Kent State at home, there was a lot to be
scared about as the 1970s dawned. Mainstream America feared the
counterculture -- in some cases, their own kids. But the
counterculture was growing wary and weary, too. The party had gotten
bizarre.

Two brothers took all the era's strangeness and color -- and even some
of the anxiety -- and distilled it into something palatable to almost
every household. Sid and Marty Krofft created Saturday-morning TV
shows for the psychedelic era, shows like H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund
and the Sea Monsters.

Yes, they're even stranger than Teletubbies.

"We weren't weird like that," Marty Krofft said. "That show is
weird."

Watching the Krofft shows today, it's hard to imagine shows with more
wink-and-nod allusions to pot culture.

It wasn't that the counterculture was directly referenced. Rather, it
was a combination of strange story lines -- think Alice in Wonderland
meets The Wizard of Oz meets the music of the Strawberry Alarm Clock
- -- bursting colors and the off-kilter quality of talking dinosaurs,
sea monsters, books and ... hats.

The Kroffts' style -- crafted by the two brothers from Quebec and
creative designer Nicky Nadeau -- was a Day-Glo stew of colors, live
action, puppetry and cheesy sets. Barney the purple dinosaur is a
direct descendant of Pufnstuf and the rest of the Krofft crew.

"The Krofft look was a conglomeration of colors," Marty Krofft said.
"We did them with a burst."

Starting April 9, TV Land will present Krofft Kitschen, a two-hour
block of Krofft programs every Friday and Saturday at midnight.

For those younger than 35, the shows might have no resonance. But for
those further along, the shows marked the point where 1960s culture
sifted down to the grade-school set. They set the stage for other
watersheds such as the Brady Bunch episodes in which Greg grew out his
hair and wore bell-bottoms.

"Whatever we did in the '70s ... you can't kill them with a baseball
bat," Krofft said. "The adults still have the passion (for the shows),
and they bring the kids in now."

The Kroffts have been getting the same question -- was all the druggy
stuff intentional? -- for more than three decades. Yes, the titles of
Pufnstuf and Lidsville were intended as veiled allusions to marijuana
culture (a "lid" was once a unit of measurement, kids). But Krofft
says that was just a prank to see whether they could get them past NBC
executives.

'H.R. Pufnstuf: The Complete Series'

Rhino, $40. Baby busters of a certain age seem to love this 1969-70
children's show created by veteran puppeteers Sid & Marty Krofft.
Anyone else tends to shake his head in disbelief at the show's cult
following. The three-disc DVD set features all 17 episodes from the
series that starred the elfin Jack Wild as a boy named Jimmy, who,
with his talking flute Freddie, lands in the magical world of Living
Island. But just like Dorothy in Oz, Jimmy finds himself battling an
evil witch -- one named Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes). The DVD includes
audio commentary from the quiet Sid and the gregarious Marty Krofft on
the first episode, an interview with the siblings, an interview with
Wild -- time hasn't been kind to the actor -- plus chats with Hayes
and TV historian Hal Erickson.