Land of the Lost (1991 TV series)

Synopsis

Sid and Marty Krofft decided to revive their cult 1974 series Land of the Lost after it found success in syndication. This updated version featured improved special effects and a more lighthearted, less survival-focused atmosphere. The writing team of Len Janson and Chuck Menville, who had written many episodes for Filmation shows, handled most of the scripts, while producer Jerry Golod brought experience from working with George A. Romero on Tales from the Darkside. The series lasted 26 episodes across two seasons, each containing 13 episodes. It centered on the Porter family: teenage Kevin, his younger sister Annie, and their widowed father Tom. While exploring the back country, their Jeep Cherokee fell through a time portal, trapping them in a parallel universe. There they encountered Christa, a beautiful jungle girl originally from 1960s San Francisco who had been stranded in the Land of the Lost as a young child and grew up alone. An early plan had involved an adult Holly Marshall and Cha-Ka as the mystery girl and her companion, but casting changes led to the creation of Christa and Stink instead. The Porters built a large shelter they called a treehouse, though it was actually constructed between large logs rather than in living trees, after realizing their tents offered little protection from dangerous dinosaurs. Following their first run-in with the dinosaur Scarface, they set up an alarm system using empty tin cans strung around the perimeter that would rattle if Scarface approached. The Land of the Lost was home to intelligent native species: the chimpanzee-like Pakuni and the lizard-like Sleestaks, along with many dinosaur species. The Porters befriended a Paku named Stink and a baby dinosaur named Tasha. The main antagonists were three exiled Sleestak criminals: Shung, Keeg, and Nim. Shung led the group and carried a powerful Crystal Sword. Another constant threat was Scarface, a one-eyed Tyrannosaurus rex that lived near the family's home and frequently tried to eat them. The second season introduced a sorceress named Keela, who possessed genuine magical powers and appeared in two episodes. Also added in the second season was Namaki, a strange fish-like humanoid who had befriended Christa when she was a little girl.

Characters

Thomas "Tom" Porter, played by Timothy Bottoms, serves as the series' lead. He is a widower raising two children, Kevin and Annie. His wife Natasha died in a car crash, and in the years that followed, Tom threw himself into his architecture career. Before her death, he made a point of taking the family camping nearly every weekend to spend more time with them. He kept up this tradition by planning the camping trip that accidentally brought them to the Land of the Lost. Because of this, Tom carries a heavy sense of guilt for stranding his family in such a hazardous place and constantly looks for a way back to their home in San Francisco. He is a kind-hearted man with strong principles, treating even hostile creatures with fairness and morality. As a father, he is deeply protective and devoted, though he does let his children have their own space when he thinks it is safe. In his normal life, Tom liked to go jogging in the afternoons, with a dream of one day winning a marathon. In the episode "Flight to Freedom," he tells the character Scarface that he weighs about 180 pounds, describing himself as "180 pounds of raw meat."

Kevin Porter, played by Robert Gavin, is Tom's sixteen-year-old son. He is the most easygoing member of the family. Rather than resisting their strange new world, Kevin actually comes to enjoy it. This relaxed attitude, however, makes him careless about the dangers around him, and he often ends up in more trouble than he expected. He sees himself as an adult and frequently disobeys his father when he feels Tom is being unreasonable. Out of all the Porters, Kevin is the one who misses modern comforts the most. Along with the standard camping supplies, he secretly brought a portable six-inch television, a camcorder, a boom-box, and a stash of junk food that he hides from the rest of the family. His big ambition is to become a famous movie director, so he keeps the camcorder with him at all times to film the strange sights of the Land of the Lost. He believes this footage will make him a star once they get home. Kevin is also a skilled self-taught mechanic, and one of his main jobs is keeping the family truck in good working order. He prefers to explore on his own and does not like having to look after his sister, whom he calls a complete nerd.

Features

Like the 1970s version, the Land of the Lost is never given a name in the series. It exists in a separate dimension, resembling prehistoric Earth but with three moons. The Porter family lives in a tropical jungle, though a distant desert is also mentioned. A unique quartz-like crystal appears in caves across this world. The Sleestaks force Pakuni slaves to mine these crystals, which can serve as an energy source. In one episode, Kevin falls into a shaft marked with lizard pictographs and finds a crystal shard nearly twice his size. Sunlight reactivates it, making it pulse and pull Kevin toward it as he tries to climb out. Tom suggests the Sleestaks used such giant crystals to power their underground cities, and that this one might have controlled a nearby volcano—its destruction reverses the eruption, similar to the pylons from the earlier series. In another episode, the Porters learn that smaller crystal pieces fit into modern batteries, letting them run their 1990s gadgets after the originals die. Elsewhere, they discover a device with crystals of various lengths set into a table, much like the matrix tables from the 1974 show. This table creates realistic, physical illusions drawn from a person’s mind, designed as a trap. Tom thinks the Sleestaks built it as a psychic weapon. Blue or green swirling mists act as portals to other worlds and times. Earthquakes trigger them, and sudden winds blow just before they open for a few moments. In this version, the mists appear randomly but can be tracked by their electromagnetic interference using the Porters’ portable TV. Tom believes these gates will lead them home, though he cannot be sure where or when they will end up.