Land of the Lost (1974 television series)

Land of the Lost (1974–1976) is one in a variety of popular, uniquely produced children's television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The prolific Krofft team was very influential in children's television, producing many oddly formatted, highly energetic, and special-effects heavy programs.

Plot and format

The Marshalls are brought to the mysterious world by means of a time portal, a device used frequently throughout the series and a major part of its internal mythology. Though the term "time doorway" is used through the series, the "Land of the Lost" is not meant to portray a realistic era in Earth's history, but rather (like Doyle's The Lost World) to be an enigmatic zone whose place and time are unknown. The orginal creators of these time portals were the ancestors of the Sleestak, and the portals and the related pylons have mysterious and unpredictable powers, sometimes opening and closing unexpectedly. This results in the Land being populated with a large and ever-growing variety of visitors and castaways.

Related Topics:
Mythology - Earth - Visitors and castaways

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Outfitted only for a short camping trip, the family must take shelter in natural caves and improvise the provisions and tools that they need to survive. Their most common and dangerous encounters are with dinosaurs, particularly a tyrannosaurus rex they nickname "Grumpy" who frequents the location of their cave. They also tangle with sinister humanoid reptiles called Sleestack and morally ambiguous "cave-men" called Pakuni, as well as a variety of other dangerous creatures, mysterious technology, and strange geography.

Related Topics:
Dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurus rex - Sleestack - Mysterious technology

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the Marshalls discover more of the Land's secrets, they also attempt a number of means to return to their own world, most frequently by trying to learn how to control and navigate the mysterious time portals. This usually puts them in conflict with the primitive and violent Sleestack, or with the Sleestack's much more intelligent but equally ruthless progenitors, the Altrusians. They are often aided in their struggle by the Altrusian castaway Enik, and to a lesser extent by the Paku youth Cha-Ka.

Related Topics:
Altrusians - Enik - Cha-Ka

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the third season of the show, the character of Rick Marshall was written out of the show and replaced by his brother, "Uncle Jack" Marshall, for the remainder of the series.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~