Lidsville

If you thought H.R. Pufinstuf was tripped out, Lidsville really upped the ante big time! Teen-ager Mark (Butch Patrick, a/k/a Eddie Munster) is captivated by a magic show at an amusement park and decides to stay behind after the show to see if he can discover any of the magician's secrets. He touches the top hat, which grows to an enormous size, then climbs up top to have a look and falls into the hat, spiraling into the trippy land known as Lidsville. This parallel universe is inhabited by life-size versions of almost every type of headgear imaginable, plus a benevolent Weenie the Genie and the deliciously evil Hoo-Doo the magician. Episodes revolve around Hoo-Doo's efforts to retrieve a magic ring in Mark's possession and Mark's efforts to return home to the real world. As an 8-year-old child, this was fun, colorful and visually stimulating, but in retrospect how can you NOT think psychedelics played a major role in bringing this show to life? As a side note, I remember Lidsville was the feature attraction of the 1973 Ice Capades, and seeing all those hats on skates, gliding on the ice at the Chicago Stadium is indelibly etched into my memory 30 years later!!!

They recently had a special on the e-channel about Sid and Marty Croft and the wonderfully imaginative shows they made like Pufnstuff. They were very original and creative and made wonderful shows for kids and I sure remember this one. Butch Patrick, Eddie on the Munsters, plays a boy named Mark who falls into a magician's hat into a land of talking hats. Its like The Wizard Of Oz on LSD thats the best way to describe it. Charles Nelson Reilly stole the show as a wizard named Hoodoo. He was hilariously hammy. Billie Burke was also very good on this show. It was good clean kids entertainment, how much of that do you see anymore? They ought to consider making this one into a full-length feature like they did with Harry Potter. With special effects the way they are today it would be a blast! I can just picture Jim Carrey or Robin Williams as Hoodoo.

I remember watching Lidsville in the early 70s. It was another of the "Stranger in a Strange Land" themed shows from the team of Sid and Marty Krofft as Mark, who fell into a magician's hat and ended up in a land of hats called Lidsville, was captured by the show's villain, Hoo Doo the Magician and he tried to leave and head home but he ended up staying.

Butch Patrick, in his first series since The Munsters was canceled in 1966 was outstanding as Mark. Charles Nelson Reilly, in his role between The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Match Game was really campy as Hoo Doo, all the way to his green makeup. Let's not forget krofft stalwart Billie Hayes as Weenie the Genie. She even reprises her Witchiepoo role in one episode.

There were also a lot of life-sized puppet characters, including a number that were played by The Hermine Midgets. It was the only series they did and to my knowledge, they were never heard from again.

What I liked about the show were the puppets and psychedelic setting. What i didn't like was the writing. It was full of puns and clichés. Whoever wrote those shows didn't have a lot of TV writing experience.

Aside from the writing, Lidsville was a joy to watch. It was a show that really flipped your lid.

This show, like most of the Krofft brothers shows, is basically one wild experience. They claim that they never were on drugs while they were creating these shows, but I doubt that very seriously. This show basically is one long LSD trip and it basically is the same theme as the Krofft's other big creation H.R. Pufinstuff. Also, the songs that provided the musical interludes had to be some of the corniest ever written.

For all the yeas and nays that I have read about this kids' show from the early seventies (I was six when it came out), I really liked this program as the Sid and Marty Krofft shows were the most remembered and best loved shows of my childhood. Too many people read too much into these programs - they are designed for children and for even young adults as FANTASY with no underlying themes or something that would be a "gotcha" like many things are today. They are not violent and are good for any child of any generation. I loved these shows and look forward to sharing them with my young relatives and I recommend them for any group of children. I loved "Lidsville", but also "PufNStuf", "Land of the Lost", and "The Lost Saucer". Sid and Marty will be remembered for generations to come.