I never thought any of the shows were drug related. People just need to be so hateful for some reason. I have a magazine article about Alice in Wonderland. It explains in detail how it is a place of a psychiatrist’s dreams! Each character represents a specific psychosis. My opinion: people hate to be caught dreaming or wishing.
LOVED Lidsville in about 2014 “TeleToon Retro” a spin off from the Canadian Cartoon Network “TeleToon”- picked up a ton of Hannah Barbara shows. They had Flintstones, Jetsons, Lidsville and aired Banana Splits. All amazing
Considering how Charles Nelson Reilly antagonized Butch Patrick (aka Eddie Munster) in Lidsville, I ponder how things would've play out if Fred Gwynne had been a guest panelist on Match Game, where CNR was a regular.
Loved Lidsville. Have a nice lunchbox to remember it. Never once as a 8 year old thought this show or Pufnstuf was about drugs. It was just the coolest stuff on Saturday morning.
I remember the Krofft stuff being rereleased and aired as a kid, my dad was nostalgic and I enjoyed it like new. Later, I hunted down the dvds re-releases and I was doing a lot of acid and had what was easily one of the best summers in my life and I introduced it to a bunch of new people who became fans too.
It was CHARLES NELSON REILLY, not Charles Reilly; he always performed under his full name; he started out in theater; was on Broadway, in the 50’s and 60’s, and by the 70’s had become a perennial face on TV, guesting on several game shows, most notably MATCH GAME; he also donned a giant banana costume to play BIG BANANA in a series of commercials as the spokesman for BIC ink pins; after LIDSVILLE, he hosted another Saturday morning show, UNCLE CROC’S BLOCK, which featured various short cartoons produced by FILMATION STUDIOS…
I had been a fan of The Munsters in the 60s and Eddie had been my favourite character. I remember watching Lidsville when it was on our screens. I don’t think it occurred to me that Mark was an older version of Butch Patrick, alias Eddie Munster. I find it interesting how British child actor Jack Wild had started in H.R. Pufenstuff. I think Butch and Jack lived pretty similar troubled lives. The late Jack did not think early fame was a good thing. I think their lives are cautionary tales for those who aspire to become famous.
Sorry, that wasn’t typed right. I didn’t mean to say Jack Wild STARTED in Pufnstuf. His previous claim to fame had been playing the Artful Dodger in the famous musical Oliver. I had meant to say Jack had STARRED in Pufnstuf.
Marty Krofft, was quoted as saying: “You can’t create this stuff stoned”. Whether they ever used drugs at all is anyone’s guess. As it it is though, the shows certainly appealed to stoners.
I don't think you need to reach to the show's title for drug references, especially as weed is barely a "drug" - more akin to alcohol than opium - and a "lid" is a given amount of pot, not a slang reference to pot. (Now, if they'd called it "a Sid and Marty Krofft joint"...) No, the drug references I see are that in order to conceive of "Lidsville" and "H.R. Pufenstuf", I think you'd need to be on LSD.
Not just "lid" as slang for marijuana... But the show's title and theme song lyrics are blatantly drug-related. "Puff 'n' stuff"? I think we know what stuff is being puffed here. "Can't do a little 'cause you can't do enough"? Uh ya. Of course as a little kid in the 70s I had no clue about that, so it was kind of clever in its innuendo.
As a 4 year old, everything the Kroffts did was like a glimpse into hell. I HATED the shows. Watching them as an adult, it was easy to think, "Yeah, these people were high as shit."
I remember this show very well and like most Sid & Marty stuff thought it was pretty terrible. I never got the drug references but then again I was around 7 years old. The intro song I really did like and Butch Patrick I thought was really good despite the ridiculous surroundings. That he hated it doesn't surprise me. Thanks for making this, the clips and info are top notch. Got a sub from me.
