''The Krofft Supershow'' was a Saturday morning children's variety show, produced by

Sid and Marty Krofft Sid Krofft (born July 30, 1929) and Marty Krofft (born April 9, 1937) are a Canadian sibling team of television creators and puppeteers. Through their production company, Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, they have made numerous children's television a ...

. It aired for two seasons from September 11, 1976, to September 2, 1978, on ABC.

Background

The show was composed of several live-action segments, hosted by "Kaptain Kool and the Kongs", a rock band created for the series. The season-one (1976–1977) segments were " Dr. Shrinker", " Electra Woman and Dyna Girl", and " Wonderbug", plus reruns of '' The Lost Saucer'' for the first half of the season (they were dropped when the show was cut from 90 minutes to one hour). For season two (1977–1978), "Dr. Shrinker" and "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" were dropped and replaced with " Bigfoot and Wildboy" and " Magic Mongo." Each live-action segment was about 15 minutes in length. Instead of a third season, the show was massively revamped (and moved to NBC) to feature the then-popular

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the " tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the B ...

. Now retitled ''

The Krofft Superstar Hour ''The Krofft Superstar Hour'' is a Saturday morning children's variety show, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. After eight episodes, the show was renamed ''The Bay City Rollers Show.'' It aired for one season from September 9, 1978 to January 27, ...

'', Kaptain Kool and the Kongs were replaced by the Rollers, and new live-action segments "Horror Hotel" and "The Lost Island" replaced the older ones.

Show segments

Kaptain Kool and the Kongs

This group was a manufactured band responsible for hosting the show, introduction of the other live-action segments, and performing skits and songs. For the first season, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs were portrayed as a wacky

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band. Segments were videotaped at the short-lived World of Sid and Marty Krofft indoor amusement park in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. For season two, their image was toned down, and they were downsized from a five-person band to a four-person band. Their season-two segments were taped in a studio with an audience of children. Most of the songs were written by

the Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...

. After they were replaced by the Bay City Rollers, the group made appearances on other Sid and Marty Krofft productions, including '' Donny & Marie'', ''

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour ''The Brady Bunch Hour'' is an American variety show featuring skits and songs produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Productions in association with Paramount Television. It ran on ABC from November 28, 1976, to May 25, 1977. The series starred the o ...

'', and ''

The Krofft Komedy Hour ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. They also made an appearance on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...

's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...

'' and they starred in two

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

TV specials featuring previews of ABC's Saturday-morning lineup. Cast: * Kaptain Kool:

Michael Lembeck Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984). Life and career Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...

* Superchick: Debra Clinger * Turkey: Mickey McMeel * Nashville: Louise DuArt * Flatbush:

Bert Sommer Bert Sommer (February 7, 1949 – July 23, 1990) was an American folk singer and songwriter. He appeared in the musical ''Hair'' and at the Woodstock Festival, and released several albums as a singer-songwriter. Life and career Sommer was born i ...

(Season 1 only) Two albums were released featuring Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, both in 1978: the self-titled ''Kaptain Kool and the Kongs'' featured the band singing, and ''Stories from the Krofft TV Supershow'' includes several comedy skits. In addition, they released one single, "And I Never Dreamed", written by Harvey Scales backed with "Sing Me a Song".Entry
at Rate Your Music. Last accessed 27 February 2007.

Dr. Shrinker

Dr. Shrinker is an evil scientist with a lab on an uncharted island. When teenagers Brad, B.J., and Gordie are stranded on the island, Dr. Shrinker subjects them to his shrinker machine. They manage to escape the lab in miniature form; the series follows their adventures as they try to evade the clutches of the mad scientist and his assistant Hugo. Cast: * Dr. Shrinker:

Jay Robinson Jay Robinson (April 14, 1930 – September 27, 2013) was an American actor specializing in character roles. He achieved his greatest fame playing Emperor Caligula in the film ''The Robe'' (1953) and its sequel ''Demetrius and the Gladiators' ...

* Hugo:

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti, October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast ...

* Brad:

Ted Eccles Theodore Edward Eccles (born June 9, 1955) is an American actor. Career Eccles performed much of his best known roles as a child actor. He appeared in several television series and feature films in the 1960s and 1970s. Eccles may be best known ...

* B.J.: Susan Lawrence * Gordie:

Jeff MacKay Jeffery Neill MacKay (October 20, 1948 – August 22, 2008)Obituary
Variety.c ...

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl

Lori and Judy, reporters for ''Newsmaker'' magazine, are secretly Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, crime-fighting superheroines. Assisted by their friend Frank Heflin, they fought such supervillains as the Pharaoh and Cleopatra, the Sorcerer, Glitter Rock, Ali Baba, Spider Lady, and the Empress of Evil. Cast: * Electra Woman/Lori: Deidre Hall * Dyna Girl/Judy:

Judy Strangis Judy Ann Strangis (born December 23, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in two ABC television series ''Room 222'' (1969–1974) and ''Electra Woman and Dyna Girl'' (1976–1977). __TOC__ Early years Strangis is a nat ...

* Frank Heflin:

Norman Alden Norman Alden (born Norman Adelberg, September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on ''The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He ...

Wonderbug

Barry, C.C., and Susan are three teenaged friends who fixed up an old dune buggy (which they dubbed "Schlepcar"). When they attach a magic horn to the car, Schlepcar comes to life as Wonderbug. Wonderbug could fly, and it helped the teens fight crime. Cast: * Barry: David Levy * C.C.: Jack Baker (as John Anthony Bailey) * Susan: Carol Anne Seflinger * Wonderbug (voice):

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

Magic Mongo

When teenagers Donald, Lorraine, and Kristy find an old bottle, they discover it is the home of a

genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...

named Mongo. Mongo's magical attempts to help his young masters lead to many wacky misadventures. Cast: * Mongo:

Lennie Weinrib Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show '' H.R. Pufnstuf'', Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role in ...

* Donald: Paul Hinckley * Lorraine: Helaine Lembeck * Kristy: Robin Dearden * Ace:

Bart Braverman Bartley Louis Braverman (born February 1, 1946, Los Angeles) is an American actor, best known as "Binzer" during the entire run of the ABC prime time series ''Vega$'' (1978–1981). Braverman has also guest starred on many television shows. Earl ...

* Duncey:

Larry Larsen Larry Larsen is a United States freshwater sport fishermen and author. He is best known for catching peacock bass. He is Founder and President of the Peacock Bass Association. He was born in 1945 in Wichita, Kansas where he received a bachelor's d ...

Bigfoot and Wildboy

After Wildboy was orphaned in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

, he was found and raised by

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

, the legendary man-beast of the forest. The two work together to fight those who would harm the forest. They were aided in the first season by Suzie, 12-year-old daughter of Ranger Lucas; in the second season, Suzie was replaced by Cindy, a young

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

student. The episodes of "Bigfoot and Wildboy" that aired on ''The Krofft Supershow'' were 15 minutes in length. In 1979, ABC brought back the show as a stand-alone series by editing the 15-minute segments into 30-minute episodes. New episodes were also filmed and aired in the summer of 1979. Cast: * Bigfoot: Ray Young * Wildboy: Joseph Butcher * Suzie: Monika Ramirez * Ranger Lucas:

Ned Romero Ned Romero (December 4, 1926 – November 4, 2017) was an American actor and opera singer who appeared in television and film. Early childhood and education Romero was born on December 4, 1926 in Franklin, Louisiana, the seat of St. Mary Pa ...

* Cindy: Yvonne Regalado * Cindy's father: Al Wyatt, Jr.

References

External links

*
Bigfoot and Wildboy at Episodeguides.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krofft Supershow American children's fantasy television series American children's science fiction television series American Broadcasting Company original programming 1976 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American children's television series 1970s American variety television series Television series by Sid and Marty Krofft Television Productions Television series created by Joe Ruby Genies in television Television series created by Ken Spears