You know what I really miss from my childhood? Every year, on the Friday night before the premiere of a new Saturday morning block of cartoons, there would be a preview of all the upcoming shows. I can’t even remember when they stopped doing that, but I can remember why. In case any of you… ahem… ‘older’ kids haven’t noticed, there are no more Saturday morning block of cartoons. It seems they drifted off into the sunset right about the time that the cable channels started really taking over. Now you have whole networks dedicated to kid’s shows, so I guess there stopped being a reason to have them on Saturday morning. The other thing that’s changed is that the newer kind’s shows, with only a few exceptions, are pretty much nothing more than long crappy commercials used to sell everything under the sun to our kids. (Those few exceptions, like “SpongeBob Squarepants”, are at least funny. The rest, like “Ed, Edd & Eddie”… well… they just stink.)

Gone are the shows that would capture a child’s imagination using the simplest of themes. Instead the new shows are full of rapid fire imagery and one-liners which tend to confuse kids more than entertain. While I’ll let my kids watch some of the newer shows, I want to make sure they are well-rounded enough to enjoy, or at least appreciate kid’s shows from a simpler era. I intend to introduce them to the world of Sid & Marty Krofft.

The Krofft’s were famous for introducing shows that were cute and funny, but had just that little bit of twisted skew of things. Shows like “H.R. Puf’n’stuf”, “Lidsville” and “Land of the Lost” offered children fantasy situations, while allowing for the teaching of life lessons. My favorite of the Krofft shows was (and I know I’ll get blasted for this), “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.” It only lasted two seasons, but I loved watching it as a kid. The series was about a little sea monster named Sigmund who is thrown out of his house for not being scary. He is befriended by two brothers (Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden), who allow him to stay in their clubhouse. That’s pretty much it. Each plot was fairly similar, with the brothers trying to keep Sigmund out of trouble (and out of sight) as well as having to deal with his really mean family.

There were no big special effects, and the costumes were extremely silly, being all rubber and foam. But they appealed to kids on a level that most of today’s shows can’t. Again, it’s all back to simplicity.

Sigmund was played by the late Billy Barty, who is probably the most famous of all the little people who have ever worked in Hollywood. I was never familiar with Scott Kolden’s work after this series, but Johnny Whitaker was probably as well known as any child actor of the time. He starred in tons of series and movies, though he was probably most familiar for his role on “Family Affair.”

Rhino Home Video has been great about releasing these old Krofft shows on DVD, and this month they are adding “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” to their list. The 1st season is due out with all 17 episodes and a very lengthy interview with the two grown up stars. Neither one looks anything like what I expected, but it was good to see them after so many years. There is also a short interview with one of the writer/producers of many of the Krofft shows, Si Rose. The two stars also team up for a commentary on one of the episodes, as does creator Sid Krofft on another. You’ll also find a collection of clips of some of the songs that were performed on the series by Whitaker.

By today’s standards, “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” will probably seem silly to some. But since those ‘some’ will be mostly made up of unimaginative types of people… well, their opinion doesn’t really count. Does it?

Episodes:
The Monster Who Came to Dinner
Puppy Love
Frankenstein Drops In
Is There a Doctor in the House?
Happy Birthday
The Nasty Nephew
Monster Rock Festival
Ghoul School Daze
The Curfew Shall Ring Tonight
Sweet Mama Redecorates
Make Room for Big Daddy
It’s Your Move
Trigger Treat
Uncle Siggy Swings
The Dinosaur Show
The Wild Weekend
Boy for a Day

Starring: Billy Barty, Johnny Whitaker, Scott Kolden
Extras: Commentaries with Actors Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden, Interview with Veteran Kroft Producer and Writer Si Rose, Interview with Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden, Commentary with Series Creator Sid Kroft
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Rhino
Release Date: 9/13/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Season 1 a B.