NY Times piece on H.R. Pufnstuf:
Have you ever thought you liked a terrible song just because you remembered it, mistaking mere recollection for actual nostalgia? That's the way it is for me and "H. R. Pufnstuf." I thought I had fond memories of the show until I had a chance to see it again, to hear the shrieks of an angry Witchie-Poo (the actress Billie Hayes in a ketchup-red wig), to be assaulted by swirling Day-Glo colors and a Freudian plot featuring a talking flute. Turns out that when I was 7, I had really, really bad taste.
Apparently TV Land is doing a marathon of this stuff, which brings back memories of when they had a marathon of it before, several years ago. I have no memories of watching these shows when I was a kid, but some of our fellow graduate students were pretty excited about the marathon, so we went over to their place to watch some of it. I think we got through maybe two and a half shows before we had to shut it off (or watch MST3k's take on "Mr. B flat"?). I think it must be some of the worst television ever made, and that includes "SuperFriends," which is my own entry in the beer-goggles-of-nostalgia line of shows I'm horrified to think I used to enjoy.
The laugh track! Not the laugh track again!
Posted by Jason at February 15, 2004 01:42 PM