Sigmund and the Sea Monsters Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I have many vague and silly memories regarding the TV shows produced by The Krofft Brothers. Viewed through an adult's eyes, programs like Land of the Lost (43 episodes), H.R. Pufnstuf (17 episodes), and Far Out Space Nuts (16 episodes) might seem like the pinnacle of stupidity -- and that's because most adults are smart. (OK, Land of the Lost was pretty cool, fine, and I could see it turning into a half-decent adventure-comedy flick, but we won't know for sure until next summer.) But while Lost and Pufnstuf flicks are already in the works, we have a new Krofft Superstar who's about to make his silver screen debut.

Even as a kid I couldn't stomach Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (29 episodes). It was about a creature (who looked like a giant plate of fried matzo) who lived in the beach house of two moronic brothers. Each week Sigmund would be ALMOST discovered by someone, only to have the surfer bros save the day somehow. There was also a pair of nasty sea monster brothers, which begs the question: Why was the show called "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters," when ALL of 'em were sea monsters? Perhaps "Beach Dummies and the Sea Monsters" would have made more sense, but at this point I'm digressing for two whole paragraphs.

Anyway, Universal just wrote the Kroffts a check and hired Dana Gould to write the Sigmund screenplay. According to Variety, "The Kroffts said they hope to follow with the remaining properties originated on The Krofft Supershow, which include Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (8 episodes), Lidsville (17 episodes), The Bugaloos (17 episodes), Dr. Shrinker (16 episodes), Bigfoot and Wildboy (20 episodes) and Wonderbug (22 episodes)" -- to which I can only respond ... "please, don't."

Let's all take a moment and give a cheer for the good old days of children's programming, shall we? Back to when kid's shows had more drug references than a Cheech and Chong skit, and Stevie Wonder was jamming on Sesame Street. So I guess it was only a matter of time before Hollywood started to cash in on the nostalgia -- and in an interview with the Brothers Krofft about the upcoming feature film remake of Land of the Lost, IESB scored a tidbit about their next feature film. According to the Kroffts, H.R. Pufnstuf is lined up for a feature film adaptation -- the Kroffts didn't mention any names, but Marty told IESB that, "he was days from finalizing with a particular studio."

H.R. Pufnstuf premiered in 1969, and ran for seventeen episodes until finally going off the air in 1972. The story centered on a young boy named Jimmy who stumbled upon a magical 'Living Island' where everything was alive. Pufnstuf was the mayor of the island and protected Jimmy and his 'magic flute' from the big bad Witchiepoo. If you aren't familiar with the show, take a quick look at a clip and tell me what exactly Sid and Marty Krofft were 'puffin' on to come up with this -- no matter what they might say to the contrary.

Talk of a feature film first appeared back in 2002, when Columbia Pictures and Nickelodeon toyed with the idea of bringing Pufnstuf to a new generation of kids, but the project fell apart soon afterward. Maybe now that CGI is par for the course for any kid's flick, it might make some of those Living Island inhabitants a little easier on the production budget.