Sid Krofft, Co-Creator of Mind-Blowing Kids TV Shows, Dies at 96

[highplainsdem]

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Sid Krofft, the wildly imaginative puppeteer who teamed with his younger brother Marty to build an entertainment empire behind such trippy TV shows as The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, has died. He was 96.

Krofft, eight years older than Marty and the creative force of their business, died Friday in his sleep at the Los Angeles home of friend and business partner Kelly Killian. Marty died in November 2023 at age 86.

-snip-

The next year, NBC asked them to create a Saturday morning kids show, and they came up with H.R. Pufnstuf, about a shipwrecked boy (Jimmy, played by Jack Wild) who lands on a magical island. The title character, Pufnstuf, was a revamp of Luther, a friendly dragon that they had created for a show at the 1968 HemisFair in San Antonio.

-snip-

Pufnstuf‘s psychedelic sets and costumes were a big hit with college kids, and The Beatles asked for a full set of episode tapes to be sent to them in England. The look of the show prompted many whispers that the brothers took drugs (pot for sure, maybe LSD as well?), something Marty denied.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/sid-krofft-dead-hr-pufnstuf-marty-krofft-1236562633/

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RIP...and thank you for those brilliant kids shows.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. ...

(didn't know anyone from those shows were still around)

R.I.P.

[edbermac]

7. Holy shit, I am getting really old.

[BumRushDaShow]

21. All during that time, the Banama Splits was pretty much the only thing I watched by them

but otherwise it was -

and

of "Sugar Sugar" fame (I actually found that 45 at a flea market) -

I told my niece that "K-Pop Demon Hunters" was nothing but a reboot of -

Obviously the formula works.

[chowder66]

2. .....

Wow.

[OrwellwasRight]

3. There will never be another creative team like the Kroffts

RIP, Sid Krofft



PS, don't sleep on The Lost Saucer or Far Out Space Nuts, neither of which were mentioned in the article.

&t=47s

[Wiz Imp]

4. Don't forget Lidsville starring Eddie Munster (Butch Patrick) and Charles Nelson Reilly

[ybbor]

6. I loved Lidsville!

That show was so good as a kid. One of the shows that made Saturday mornings awesome! Remember Saturday mornings back in the day? Multiple bowls of cereal while watching cartoons, and then American Bandstand. Aww, memories…

[Intractable]

8. Rec for Lidsville - a place where everyone has flipped their lid

So, that's Eddie Muster. I didn't know that at the time, some 50 years ago.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. The Kroffts were frequent flyers at DU. I just had a thread a few days ago about a program of theirs. NT

Thu Apr 9, 2026: On April 1, 1975, the Bay City Rollers TV show "Shang-a-Lang" premiered.

Marty Krofft, co-creator of The Krofft Superstar Hour, died on November 25, 2023.

From Sun Nov 26, 2023: "He along with his brother, Sid Krofft, are notorious for their work creating hit children's television shows ..."

Sid & Marty Krofft Wiki

The Bugaloos - Firefly, Light My Fire | Full Episode 1 | Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures

Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures
4K Likes
333,615 Views
2022 Mar 15
#nostalgia
#song
#tv
Sparky the firefly is plowed down by the car of aspiring singer Benita Bizarre, and he winds up in the care of the Bugaloos. When Benita discovers the Bugaloos, she forces them to be the backup band on her next record.

Subscribe to our channel: / @sidmartykrofftpictures
https://youtube.com/channel/UCdqi7WMKsN-Mj3s7J0JXSVQ

{snip}

Here you go. If you have a streaming device or service, you can find this, at least until the copyright owners take notice.

The Krofft Superstar Hour FULL Episode 1 - 9/9/78 - High Quality with Commercials

Land of the Lore
345 subscribers

4,043 views Apr 12, 2023
The first episode of "The Krofft Superstar Hour" which aired on 9/9/78.
It features The Bay City Rollers performing as well as Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, and the skits "Horror Hotel" and "The Lost Island" which feature characters from other Krofft media like Witchiepoo and Pufnstuf from H.R Pufnstuf, HooDoo and Weenie from Lidsville, Sigmund from Sigmund and the Seamonsters and, of course, Enik and the Sleestak from Land of the Lost.

This is truly a piece of history, especially as this particular version of the Krofft's Varity show was the second iteration (after "The Krofft Supershow" ) and only lasted in this format for 8 episodes before moving onto the third iteration named "The Bay City Rollers Show".

This same episode was already uploaded to youtube by The Media Hoarder a few months back, but not in this high of quality, so I figure I should still post.

Sadly (to my knowledge) this is the only full episode that is not lost to time, or at the least the only episode to be uploaded to the internet. This show has also never received a proper home media release of any kind so the likelihood of collectors having other episodes is slim.

If anyone does have any other full episodes of the Krofft Superstar Hour that feature the segments (Especially The Lost Island) Please get into contact with me at:
[e-mail]

Sun Nov 26, 2023: Marty Krofft, co-creator of hit kids' TV shows, dies of kidney failure at 86

Sat Sep 9, 2023: On this day, September 9, 1976, "The Krofft Superstar Hour" premiered on TV.

[Ilsa]

15. OMG! That was Martha Ray in the Bugaloos show!

At first I thought it was a man cross-dressed, and then I thought it was Robert Preston ( ). I love Martha Ray!

[littlemissmartypants]

9. ...

...

[neverforget]

10. RIP....HR Puff n Stuff gave me nightmares when I was a kid

Witchy Poo and the talking trees especially scared me

[Ilsa]

16. I still remember the theme song which turns into a

horrible earworm of epic proportions.

The characters were too visually stimulating for me. We had a black and white TV. If I had watched that show in color, I probably would have developed life-long nervous tics. I had one or two nightmares with those characters as well. Thanks for the memories!

[neverforget]

17. The theme song! How could I forget?

[niyad]

11. Requiescat in pace, good soul.

[AllaN01Bear]

12. ""

[Journeyman]

13. They did a show geared to adults on prime time TV. One skit involved Nancy & Ronald Reagan . . .

In the skit, Nancy was waxing rhapsodic about the night Ronald proposed to her:

"I remember it so well, Ron. You swept me into your arms, gazed deeply into my eyes, shook me violently and said, 'Whatta you mean, the rabbit died?'"

[area51]

14. RIP

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

18. I still watch their shows...

... H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, Super Show, Land of the Lost... been having a hard time finding The Banana Splits. Great for Saturday mornings, just get up, head to the kitchen for coffee now, instead of CapNCrunch...

One of my escapes from the current mad, mad world.

[artemisia1]

19. "Dr. Shrinker" and "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" were Saturday morning favorites of mine half-a-century or so ago.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

20. The stuff was psychedelic gold! I loved those shows! RIP.