The Lost Saucer
Encyclopedia
The Lost Saucer is an ABC network
television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft
. It first aired September 6, 1975.
futuristic androids named Fi (Ruth Buzzi
) and Fum (Jim Nabors
) who land their flying saucer
on present day Earth
. They inexplicably invite a young boy named Jerry (Jarrod Johnson) and his babysitter Alice (Alice Playten
) to check out the interior of their craft.
As onlookers begin to gather, the two androids become nervous about attracting attention, and abruptly take off with Jerry and Alice. The flying saucer has the ability to travel through time, and the controls which allow the androids to specify an exact date becomes damaged, thus preventing the androids from returning Jerry and Alice to their rightful time and place. The series follows the foursome as the two androids (who bicker and argue incessantly with each other, neither seeming competent with the ship's controls) encounter various adventures while trying to get Jerry and Alice back home or return to their own home on ZR-3 (where they hoped to make repairs). The adventures are usually set on Earth (or an Earth colony) either in the distant past or in the distant future hundreds (or even thousands) of years hence. Typically, episodes were blatant social commentaries dealing with extremes such as a world where names (and faces) were replaced with numbers, where machines were outlawed due to a global energy shortage, or a city where the population had grown lazy and obese because robots do all the physical work.
Accompanying them on their adventures was a creature known as the Dorse. A dorse (played by Larry Larsen) was a half-dog
, half-horse
hybrid. It had the body of a large, shaggy dog, and the head of a small horse.
There were 16 original episodes produced for the 1975-76 season. The first six episodes were later rerun in the first half of The Krofft Supershow
's first season.
* The exact date of this episode is uncertain.
as a part of "The World of Sid & Marty Krofft" collection: TBA ?
ABC Network
ABC Network may refer to any of the following:*American Broadcasting Company, a private television network in the United States.*Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, regional radio and television broadcaster in Japan....
television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft , are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....
. It first aired September 6, 1975.
Premise
The Lost Saucer was about two time-travellingTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
futuristic androids named Fi (Ruth Buzzi
Ruth Buzzi
Ruth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
) and Fum (Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
) who land their flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
on present day Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. They inexplicably invite a young boy named Jerry (Jarrod Johnson) and his babysitter Alice (Alice Playten
Alice Playten
Alice Playten was an American actress and singer.-Life and career:Born Alice Plotkin in New York City, Playten began her career in the Broadway musical Gypsy...
) to check out the interior of their craft.
As onlookers begin to gather, the two androids become nervous about attracting attention, and abruptly take off with Jerry and Alice. The flying saucer has the ability to travel through time, and the controls which allow the androids to specify an exact date becomes damaged, thus preventing the androids from returning Jerry and Alice to their rightful time and place. The series follows the foursome as the two androids (who bicker and argue incessantly with each other, neither seeming competent with the ship's controls) encounter various adventures while trying to get Jerry and Alice back home or return to their own home on ZR-3 (where they hoped to make repairs). The adventures are usually set on Earth (or an Earth colony) either in the distant past or in the distant future hundreds (or even thousands) of years hence. Typically, episodes were blatant social commentaries dealing with extremes such as a world where names (and faces) were replaced with numbers, where machines were outlawed due to a global energy shortage, or a city where the population had grown lazy and obese because robots do all the physical work.
Accompanying them on their adventures was a creature known as the Dorse. A dorse (played by Larry Larsen) was a half-dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
, half-horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
hybrid. It had the body of a large, shaggy dog, and the head of a small horse.
There were 16 original episodes produced for the 1975-76 season. The first six episodes were later rerun in the first half of The Krofft Supershow
The Krofft Supershow
The Krofft Supershow is a Saturday morning children's variety show, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. It aired for two seasons from September 11, 1976 to September 2, 1978 on ABC.-Background:...
's first season.
Themes
Each episode had a specific theme, usually a social or environmental one. "Fat is Beautiful", for example, depicted a future in which people were grotesquely obese due to over-dependence on push-button conveniences, and leanness was in fact outlawed. In "Get a Dorse", two scientists kidnap the Dorse to use as a power source because the world's fuel supplies were finally used up.Episodes
| № | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "894X2RY713, I Love You" | 1975 September 6 |
| 2 | "The Tiny Years" | 1975 * |
| 3 | "My Fair Robot" | 1975 September 20 |
| 4 | "Transylvania 2300" | 1975 September 27 |
| 5 | "Beautiful Downtown Atlantis" | 1975 October 4 |
| 6 | "Where Did Everybody Go?" | 1975 October 11 |
| 7 | "Get a Dorse" | 1975 October 18 |
| 8 | "Androids Come Home" | 1975 October * |
| 9 | "Valley of the Chickaphants" | 1975 * |
| 10 | "Return to the Valley of the Chickaphants" | 1975 * |
| 11 | "The Laughing Years" | 1975 * |
| 12 | "Fat Is Beautiful" | 1975 * |
| 13 | "Planet of Lookalikes" | 1975 * |
| 14 | "Fi Am Woman" | 1975 * |
| 15 | "Polka Dot Years" | 1975 * |
| 16 | "Land of the Talking Plants" | 1975 * |
DVD Release
"The Lost Saucer: The Complete Series" coming soon to DVD from Vivendi EntertainmentVivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is also a distribution partner for independent content providers....
as a part of "The World of Sid & Marty Krofft" collection: TBA ?