Sid Krofft, co-creator of such trippy ’60s/’70s live action Saturday morning shows as H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, The Bugaloos, Lidsville and more, died on Friday at his home. He was 96.
With his brother Marty, Sid Krofft made some of the weirdest, most subversive kids shows ever. Here’s what we wrote when Marty died in 2023:
The Krofft Brothers were born in Montreal, Quebec — Sid in 1929 and Marty in 1937 — before their family moved to the US and NYC. Sid was a talented puppeteer and Marty later followed suit, though his talent was as a businessman. Together, they broke into television in the ’50s where their puppetry and artistic skills was perfect for kids shows. Designing characters and sets on Hanna Barbera’s The Banana Splits, which starred a giant animal rock band, led the Kroffts to start their own independent production company.
In 1969, NBC hired them to create a fantasy series which resulted in H.R. Pufnstuf, a series about a boy (Jack Wild) who finds himself in a strange magical world that is menaced by the evil Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes). The storylines usually took a back seat to songs and the extremely psychedelic world the Kroffts had built. They only made one season but it was popular enough that NBC continued to air it through 1971 and was shown in syndication where it gained a cult audience in college students.
After H.R. Puffinstuff, Sid & Marty Krofft created a string of memorably out-there, often trippy live action kids shows, including Lidsville, Land of the Lost, The Bugaloos (who the Chemical Brothers sampled), Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, and more. The also produced a few prime time series, mostly variety shows, including Donnie & Marie, The Barbara Mandrell & The Mandrell Sisters, and another cult show, Pink Lady & Jeff.
The Krofft Brothers parlayed their shows’ success into The World of Sid & Marty Krofft, an indoor theme park in Atlanta’s Omni Building, which was only open for six months in 1976 but ended up working on the Six Flags theme parks after that.
Thanks for the memories, Sid.