Land of the Lost

The Land of the Lost was an excellent science fiction series-- especially given that it aired on a Saturday morning. Granted, the third season wasn't as good as the first two, with writers ignoring much of the internal logic that had previously been established, but even the third season was better than much of the Saturday morning fare today.

To clear up some misconceptions about the series, the Marshall family did not travel back in time; they fell through a time doorway which transported them to a small, closed universe, which included, among other things, three moons in the sky. In this small universe, a balance was maintained. In order for anyone to enter, the same number of people had to leave (and vice versa).

The presence of the dinosaurs (one of the attractions of the show for many) may be why people think the Marshalls went to Earth's past. But other features, such as the Lost City and the pylons, which TARDIS-like are bigger on the inside than the outside, are signs of a highly advanced culture; one, which we later learn, built the Land of the Lost. The pylons controlled the environment of the land, and some contained time doorways leading to other dimensions.

Oh, and for the record, the dinosaur named "Alice" is called that because she's an allosaur. It's a nickname.

There was a later version of Land of the Lost in 1992, and while it had better effects and slightly better acting, the original was "Masterpiece Theatre" by comparison. While the original Land of the Lost does have some flaws, it at least had interesting scripts and looked like it was another world; and it had a certain quality to it that the remake-- which was filmed in some park-- lacked.

There are currently eight episodes available on video, with four of them re-released to DVD. Like I said, the Land of the Lost isn't perfect (though many of the eight episodes available are considered among the better ones, especially "The Stranger", "Elsewhen" and my personal favorite, "Circle") but it's better than a lot of the stuff on today.

Rick