Land Of The Lost - Season Three!

By the time Land of the Lost got to Season Three, things had changed quite a bit. For one thing Spencer Milligan who had played the father Rick Marshall is written out. According to some reports he had lobbied for more money for himself and his fellow actors, especially in regard to merchandising. His reward for two years of hard work was to be summarily dismissed and sent home, both literally and symbolically. In the new opening credits of the show, we see Rick (from the back only since a stand in was used) sent back to Earth leaving his two children to deal with the shock of that loss and to contemplate life on their own in the "Land of the Lost". They even had to write a new opening theme song:

Will and Holly Marshall

As the earth beneath them trembled

Lost their father through the door of time.

Uncle Jack went searching

And found those kids at last

Looking for a way to escape

From the Land of the Lost. 

The same earthquake which had accidentally sent Rick home also drove out most of the Pakuni and the lone remaining member of the tribe is Cha-Ka played by a still young Phillip Paley, who joins Will and Holly. Thank heavens between season two and season three he learned to speak English, or we'd have had more of the tepid interpretation scenes which made personally yearn for episodes of Lassie. But most importantly to the cast is added the kids' Uncle Jack who had been looking for the lost trio when he himself was swept away. He takes Rick's place, and this new quartet becomes our focus for the new season. 

Aside from the substantial cast changes, the biggest change in the Land of the Lost is that it seems to have switched its core focus from science fiction to fantasy. The dinosaurs are still there but rarely seen. More often we see a two-headed sea serpent dubbed "Lulu" and a fire-breathing dragon called "Torchy". Unicorns seem to be the prey of Abominable Snowmen as well. The group get visitors too, at an increased rate, and like that other Swiss Family inspired TV show Lost in Space, the stories seem to derive directly out of these strangers. Among them are Medusa from myth and the Flying Dutchmen from legend. We also get just plain humans such as Roscoe T. Post a balloonist who has designs on Cha-Ka ala P.T. Barnum. One fellow is a friendly chap with immense powers who seems to be a repairman for the Pylons. (Where's he been for all this time.) One chap who does recur is Malak a Cro-Magnon man played by Richard Kiel. The final episode of the series gives us two new humans -- a cavalry officer and an Indian named Lone Wolf. Given my adoration for Turok, it was kind of neat to see a Native American in a lost world.

 

The Sleestak are still around and more aggressive than in previous seasons. They have a speaking leader who is constantly plotting to muck up the natural passage of time so that his brethren can dominate the surface. Enik the Altrusian is on hand to help his Sleestak kin and he proves time and time again to a very unreliable ally for the Marshalls. The clear emphasis in the season was to make the threats more a matter of personal choices of characters and not merely a struggle against the environment. In fact we leave the High Bluff base and the family must live in a renovated temple much closer to the Sleestak which makes their menace all the more immediate. But some of the knowledge gained in previous episodes and seasons is kept and much is forgotten or ignored. 

Land of the Lost is still an entertaining show in this third season but it's given away  so much of its initial potential that a fan of the show cannot but help to be disappointed. It' snice to see an older Holly who by this time actress Kathy Coleman is as tall as her fictional brother Will, though the show doesn't use her as best it should. They insist on making this more mature young woman still operate like a mere kid. In fact I'd say she's left behind on more missions by Uncle Jack and Will in this season than anyone. Will gets to sing in this season, though using a handmade guitar it's a blessing we are only "treated" to one verse. I think he sings at the end of three episodes, so I guess Wesley Eure (known just as "Wesley" in the first two seasons) is still vying for that teen heartthrob market. It would be easy to hate on Uncle Jack but the actor Ron Harper does a pretty good job filling in for Spencer Milligan's Rick. 

Land of the Lost was a nifty little TV show and deserving of a big-screen adaptation. It in fact got one but that was not without problems. More on that next Saturday. 

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