Lidsville

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Lidsville
Format Children's television series
Starring Butch Patrick
Charles Nelson Reilly
Billie Hayes
Jerry Maren
Sharon Baird
Joy Campbell
Van Snowden
Voices of Lennie Weinrib
Joan Gerber
Walker Edmiston
Country of origin USA
No. of episodes 17
Production
Producer(s) Sid and Marty Krofft
Running time 0:25 (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 11, 1971 – September 2, 1973
External links
IMDb profile

Lidsville was Sid and Marty Krofft's third television show following H.R. Pufnstuf (1969) and The Bugaloos (1970). As did its predecessors, the series combined two types of characters. Conventional actors in makeup were filmed alongside performers in full mascot costumes, whose voices were dubbed in post-production. Seventeen episodes aired on Saturday mornings for two seasons, 1971–1973.

Contents

[edit] Production

Lidsville resembles a later British series, Hattytown Tales, produced by Hattyland Enterprises & FilmFair Ltd. in 1980, which used an almost identical concept but different characters and was produced in claymation.

Like predecessors H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos, Lidsville ran for only one season (1971-1972), with reruns airing the following year (1972-1973). Also like H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville's title and subject matter were often interpreted as references to drug use; the word "lid" is early-1970s slang for three quarters of an ounce of marijuana.

The complete series was released on DVD in the United States in January 2005.

[edit] Plot

The show involved a teenage boy named Mark (Butch Patrick) who fell into the hat of Merlo the Magician (Charles Nelson Reilly) and arrived in Lidsville, a land of living hats. The hats on the show are depicted as having the same roles as the humans who would normally wear them. For example, a cowboy hat would act and speak like a cowboy. The characters' houses were also hat-shaped.

The villain of the show was a magician named Horatio J. HooDoo (also played by Charles Nelson Reilly). Among other notable characters were Raunchy Rabbit (Sharon Baird in mascot, but voiced by Walker Edmiston), Weenie the Genie (Billie Hayes who also reprised her H.R. Pufnstuf role, Witchiepoo, in one episode), and Rah-Rah the football helmet (portrayed by Jerry Maren, voiced by Lennie Weinrib).

The vain but somewhat naive HooDoo flew around on his Hatamaran and kept the good citizens of Lidsville in fear, demanding that they pay him their Hat Checks. Mark helped the good hats resist, as he attempted to find a way back home. HooDoo, trying to reclaim control of the androgynous Weenie from Mark, often enlisted the services of four Bad Hats. In his high hat home, HooDoo was besieged by the taunting music of the Hat Band. The show had an endless array of puns such as these.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Voice Cast

  • Walker Edmiston - Admiral Scuttlebutt, Bella the Vampire's Cowl, Big Chief Sitting Duck, Boris the Executioner's Hood, Colonel Poom, Hiram the Farmer's Hat, Hoo Doo's Parrot, Raunchy Rabbit
  • Joan Gerber - Madame Ring-a-Ding, Mother Wheels, Nursie, Sawn-in-Half Lady, Twirly
  • Lennie Weinrib - Captain Hooknose, Mr. Big, Mr. Chow, Pierre LeSewer, Rah-Rah the Football Helmet, Scorchy the Fireman's Hat, Tex, Tonsilini

[edit] Stations

Alphabetized by city.

[edit] Other Media

The show was parodied by HBO late night comedy program "Mr. Show"

[edit] External links

[edit] Audio

[edit] Video