Welcome Marshall, Wil and Holly! Sid and Marty Krofft have landed an article in Forbes in which they discuss their enthusiasm over the new “Land of the Lost” movie. Forbes also delves into Sid and Marty’s history, and gives this information on the movie:

The movie will preserve some of the campy aesthetic–the Sleestaks look much as they did 30 years ago–but little Holly has been replaced by a Cambridge-educated linguist in tight denim shorts. Ferrell is now a disgraced scientist instead of a park ranger, and the PG-13 rating means there’ll be one or two curse words.

Sid and Marty are getting a $1 million producer’s fee and 4% of the movie’s profits. Marty says someone’s already interested in making feature versions of Pufnstuf and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. If he had listened to Sid, he says, they would have sold the rights to their shows long ago. Now he estimates those rights are worth $25 million. Among the people who offered to buy them out was pop singer Michael Jackson.

“Thank God that didn’t happen,” says Marty. “The minute you cash the check, then what? That’ll kill you in a month.”

In the article, there are very excited quotes from, of course, Sid who seems to be really enjoying his creations coming to life again. Believe it or not, this article renews my hopes in the new movie. This will “stretch their legacy to a new generation”. Anything that can achieve that purpose, I will support. Comments?

Also check out Forbe’s In Pictures: The Krofft’s Greatest Hits.

Much news abound about the upcoming Joss Whedon “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. (more…)

Last season there was much stunt casting to be found, from Britney (HIMYM) to Paris Hilton (Earl) and Timothy Olyphant (”Samantha Who?”). According to E! Online, “Samantha Who?” has Mary-Kate Olsen guest-starring next season.

“She started today, and she’s terrific.” That’s the word from a reliable Samantha Who? insider on the show’s latest guest star: Mary-Kate Olsen. After a tip-off from on-set sources, ABC has just confirmed that Mary-Kate is shooting an episode of the divine, good-versus-evil comedy this week, playing a character whom Samantha (Christina Applegate) tries to “save.”

Out of all of the ’stunt castings’ from last season, I thought that Timothy Olyphant on “Samantha Who?” actually worked the best. He was good enough in the role, and worked in so well, that he could have been recurring. I’m not a fan of Olsen’s acting, and am a big fan of Samantha, so I hope that her participation doesn’t take away from the show (as Britney’s second spot on HIMYM did).

Will Olsen fit? What did you think of her on last the last season of “Weeds”?

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From the mind of Joss Whedon comes what looks to be the funniest web series yet. As Joss descibes it, “It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” (more…)

Back in March we discussed HBO’s project to bring the Sookie Stackhouse series to the small screen, “True Blood”. At IO9.com they have some information on episodes 2, 3 and 4. Episode 2 is described as:

“The First Taste”. Sookie suspects Bill is behind the murders of the people who almost ended her life; Tara deals with family matters; and a new church threatens the vampire world.

I’ve not read the series of books, but it is on my list after reading the comments from the last post. HBO nearly always delivers with its original series, and I hope that this one is no different. The premise is exciting and the reviews of the source material are great. I believe that the series will debut September 8th, 2008 on HBO.

Those of you who have read the books, does the synopsis match your expectations? What themes are you looking for to most accurately transfer from book to screen?

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Donnie and Marie, along with their brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Jimmy recently performed in Malaysia. This was the final concert for their 50th Anniversary world tour… the first time they had performed together in 28 years. An article at The Star Online has an interview, mainly with Marie. The Krofft show is discussed near the end of the article.

One would suspect that a sense of humour came in handy, particularly for Donny and Marie, when they had to don those ridiculous costumes for their variety show which aired from 1976 to 1979. The show created by Sid and Marty Krofft – the famed creators of offbeat television programs such as H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost – featured cutesy, fun and wholesome entertainment comprising an opening act, a series of comedy sketches and a closing musical number.

The world tour, which was the subject of a PBS special, was a moderate to huge hit around the world.

It was a grand show with 8,000 fans lapping up Osmond greats such as Let Me In, Love Me For a Reason, The Proud One and Crazy Horses; and Donny even causing some hysteria among the women in the crowd. “The tour has been fun. At first it was just supposed to be a tribute to my brothers but it ended up a celebration of everybody. We are really having fun being together. Even though we are grateful for all our fans all over the world, it has been fun for all seven of us to be on tour as we don’t get together as often as we’d like,” says Jimmy.

The Krofft variety shows are often forgotten as being part of their repertoire, but shouldn’t be forgotten. Sid and Marty Krofft were a big part of Donnie and Marie’s success, and as such should be credited as part of the reason that this reunion tour has happened.

Do you enjoy Donnie and Marie? What are your fondest memories of the variety show?

There has been speculation over the last week on what the final scene of last week’s midseason finale meant. In an interview with ComixMix, BSG’s Executive Producer Mark Verheiden says:

Anything I might say or not say about that last sequence could be construed as a spoiler, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait until the next bunch of episodes. Given the other questions I’ve been receiving since the episode ran, I may have to put that particular demur on a hot key, since it will be my standard answer re: anything involving the next episodes.

I for one believed that it was the Earth, and that the final shot was from Brooklyn, NY looking out to Manhattan (see animated pic to the right). But now with all of this evasive talk from show executives, I wonder if they have in fact not made it to Earth. It did strike me as odd that they would arrive at Earth (the goal of the entire series) in the middle of the season. I had expected it to be nearer to the end, with just enough time to wrap up storylines.

Have they made it to Earth? Are show runners simply toying with us to create a sense of uncertainty? If this is Earth, where do they go from here?

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We reported previously that producers were planning on overhauling the pilot for the North American version of “Life on Mars”. TV Week is reporting that the original pilot has crept online:

A copy of David E. Kelley’s ABC drama “Life on Mars” has popped up on [bittorrent sites], the filesharing site that drives broadcasters crazy. The posting follows the recent Internet arrival of J.J. Abrams’ “Fringe.” But there’s a big difference between the “Fringe” and “Mars” postings. Fox plans to air the “Fringe” pilot pretty much as is this September. ABC, on the other hand, is planning major retooling to “Mars,” and has even brought in new showrunners to overhaul the show.

This isn’t the first unaired pilot to hit the internet, and it won’t be the last. I don’t believe that producers have to worry about comparisons between this pilot and the retooled one, as the article suggests. They’re going to have to worry about comparisons with the widely popular BBC version.

Will you search out this pilot? Now that David E. Kelly has been replaced, what are your expectations of this new series?

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No Krofft character is more recognizable than H.R. Pufnstuf, and none more lovable than Sigmund the seamonster. In a recent interview, Sid and Marty Krofft indicated that we’ll be seeing both beloved characters on the big screen. IESB has:

When asked which, if any, of their other classic TV properties is in line, Marty [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Pufnstuf and Sigmund Movies are Closer”, url: “http://krofft.net/2008/06/16/pufnstuf-and-sigmund-movies-are-closer/” });