Description:
Pufnstuf, Witchiepoo, Bugaloo, Hoo Doo--nonsense words to all but the initiated. And who are the initiated? Let's just say they're adults of a certain age who may harbor a secret nostalgia for a... land of living hats. Lidsville, that is, a "groove, groove, grooviest" place where everyone has flipped their lid and hats have come alive. Such was the wacky world that television impresarios Sid and Marty Krofft unleashed on a generation of schoolchildren in the early to mid 1970s. Likely there is many a corporate executive today who, under times of stress, may be heard to hum a little jingle to themselves: "H.R. Pufnstuff / Who's your friend when things get rough? / H.R. Pufnstuff / Can't do a little 'cuz he can't do enough!" H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, The Bugaloos, Land of the Lost, Far Out Space Nuts, and several others were Saturday morning television shows for children. All were colorfully populated by recognizable humans as well as actors in elaborate makeup, costumed fantasy characters, and outlandish puppets. Pufnstuf & Other Stuff takes a fond look back at these shows and evening programs, such as the Donny & Marie show, that also emerged from the prolific Krofft studios. Author David Martindale, who fits squarely into the age-group demographic for Krofft devotees, answers such potent questions as "Was Pufnstuf filled with double-entendre and punning drug references, even in the show's title, H.R. Pufnstuf?" (You'll have to read the book to find out.) Nostalgic grownups are the obvious audience for this book, but television and social historians will enjoy it, too. --Brenda Pittsley
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