Phillip Paley Movies
Beach Balls harkens back to the teen surf films of the 1960s, with the only addition being an abundance of nudity and profanity. Even the parents are portrayed the same stereotypical way as in the 1960s films. The routine plot has teenager Charlie Harrison (Phillip Paley) looking for hot fun in the sun amidst a bevy of bikini-clad babes. Charles Gilleran plays an Erich Von Zipper character named Babcock who leads a gang of troublemakers. The film had a limited release in May of 1988 before winding up in video stores. Rock music is provided by Douglas R. Starr. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillip Paley, Heidi Helmer, (more)
The most popular Saturday morning NBC series of the 1974-75 season, Land of the Lost accordingly became the first children's show effort by Sid and Marty Krofft to be renewed for a second season -- an honor not even afforded the classic H.R. Pufnstuf! The action still takes place on the primitive planet of Altrusia, where the Marshall family -- dad Rick (Spencer Milligan), son Will (Wesley Eure) and daughter Holly (Kathleen Coleman) -- have been resided ever since there were sucked through a "time portal" somewhere in the Colorado River. The 20th century Marshall clan share space on Altrusia with several other misplaced souls from a variety of time periods: The seven-foot-tall Sleestak, lizard-like descendants of the once-advanced Altrusian civilization; Enik (Walker Edmiston), super-intelligent antecedent of the Sleestak, who operates by his own very curious code of ethics; the Paku, a Cenozoic era family of monkey-like humans; and a vast array of Paleozoic era dinosaurs ("played" by puppets and stop-motion-animation models). A smattering of noteworthy changes occur in Land of the Lost during season two. The individual personalities of the three Pakuni are becoming more sharply defined, plus the role of Paku leader Ta is now played by Scutter McKay, replacing season one's Joe A. Giamalva. Also, a new recurring character is introduced in the form of Zarn (played by Van Snowden and voiced by Marvin Miller) a telekinetic alien made entirely of light energy. Finally, celebrated sci-fi/fantasy author David Gerrold is no longer the series' story editor, even though a number of Gerrold's genre colleagues are still contributing scripts, notably Theodore Sturgeon, Donald F. Glut, and Margaret Armen. Many fans of the series regard Land of the Lost's second season as its best, generally citing such superb episodes as "The Musician" (which suggests that much of what has occurred on the series was carefully pre-destined) and "The Pylon Express" (climaxed by an eye-popping journey through time and space for one of the principal characters). Certainly the series had lost none of its popularity with the public, as evidenced by the fact that NBC renewed the show for a third season (a rarity in Saturday-morning kidvid, in which budgetary considerations usually dictate a small number of episodes to be rerun ad infinitum). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Milligan, Kathleen Coleman, (more)
- 1974
The fourth Saturday morning TV series produced by puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft, Land of the Lost was far more serious in tone than their earlier efforts (H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, and Lidsville), and far more ambitious. While embarked upon an expedition of the Colorado River, camp ranger/explorer Rick Marshall (Spencer Milligan) and his children Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Kathleen Coleman) plunge over a waterfall and into a time vortex. They emerge in a faraway planet called Altrusia, a primitive land that had somehow become a gathering place for beings of various other time periods. The Marshalls were now surrounded by a frightening array of Paleozoic dinosaurs, a Cenozoic-era family of monkey-like humans called the Paku, and the fearsome, seven-foot-tall Sleestak, who resembled a cross between beast and insect. Also residing in Altrusia was Enik (Walter Edmiston), a superintelligent being who at first glance appeared to have come from the future, but was actually an antecedent of the Sleestak, who had devolved from a once highly advanced civilization. The resourceful Marshalls managed to carve out a new home for themselves in this land of the lost, and to befriend the Paku, who spoke in a bizarre language called Pakuni (developed for the series by Dr. Victoria Fromkin, head of the UCLA Department of Linguistics).
Though somewhat crude-looking by 21st century standards, the special effects on Land of the Lost, combining back projection, stop-motion animation, and puppetry, was quite impressive in its time, and is still nothing to be ashamed of when seen today. Also, during the first two seasons, the scriptwork maintained a lofty Star Trek-like level, thanks to the input of such eminent sci-fi/fantasy writers as David Gerrold, Larry Niven, Ben Bova, D.C. Fontana, and Theodore Sturgeon. Debuting September 7, 1974, Land of the Lost soon emerged as NBC's most successful and popular live-action Saturday morning series. This may explain why it was the Kroffts' longest-running children's TV program, ultimately lasting three seasons and 43 half-hour episodes.
That said, it must be admitted that the series' first two episodes were more impressive than its third year on the air. For season three, several changes were imposed, not least of which was the removal of Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall. It was explained that, during an earthquake that destroyed the Marshalls' mountain living quarters, Rick was sucked through another time portal and vanished, never to return. By an astonishing coincidence, another member of the Marshall family, Will and Holly's Uncle Jack (Ron Harper), had fallen into still another time portal while searching for his lost family members and was deposited in Altrusia! While this incredible set of circumstance was hard enough to swallow, even more problematic was the fact that the Marshalls were suddenly being visited by a wide variety of misplaced persons and creatures who came and went through additional portals with the greatest of ease -- even though the Marshalls themselves were never able to find a means of escape! Thus, whereas the first two seasons of Land of the Lost was very Star Trek-ish in its approach, season three took on the juvenile trappings of Lost in Space. After finishing its NBC run on September 4, 1978, Land of the Lost entered the realm of rerun syndication. The original episodes were rebroadcast by CBS in 1985 and 1987; in 1991, a brand-new version of Land of the Lost, with a completely different cast, began a two-year run on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Though somewhat crude-looking by 21st century standards, the special effects on Land of the Lost, combining back projection, stop-motion animation, and puppetry, was quite impressive in its time, and is still nothing to be ashamed of when seen today. Also, during the first two seasons, the scriptwork maintained a lofty Star Trek-like level, thanks to the input of such eminent sci-fi/fantasy writers as David Gerrold, Larry Niven, Ben Bova, D.C. Fontana, and Theodore Sturgeon. Debuting September 7, 1974, Land of the Lost soon emerged as NBC's most successful and popular live-action Saturday morning series. This may explain why it was the Kroffts' longest-running children's TV program, ultimately lasting three seasons and 43 half-hour episodes.
That said, it must be admitted that the series' first two episodes were more impressive than its third year on the air. For season three, several changes were imposed, not least of which was the removal of Spencer Milligan as Rick Marshall. It was explained that, during an earthquake that destroyed the Marshalls' mountain living quarters, Rick was sucked through another time portal and vanished, never to return. By an astonishing coincidence, another member of the Marshall family, Will and Holly's Uncle Jack (Ron Harper), had fallen into still another time portal while searching for his lost family members and was deposited in Altrusia! While this incredible set of circumstance was hard enough to swallow, even more problematic was the fact that the Marshalls were suddenly being visited by a wide variety of misplaced persons and creatures who came and went through additional portals with the greatest of ease -- even though the Marshalls themselves were never able to find a means of escape! Thus, whereas the first two seasons of Land of the Lost was very Star Trek-ish in its approach, season three took on the juvenile trappings of Lost in Space. After finishing its NBC run on September 4, 1978, Land of the Lost entered the realm of rerun syndication. The original episodes were rebroadcast by CBS in 1985 and 1987; in 1991, a brand-new version of Land of the Lost, with a completely different cast, began a two-year run on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Milligan, Ron Harper, (more)
Ranger Rick Marshall (Spencer Milligan) and his children Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Kathleen Coleman) have already been sucked into a vortex at the bottom of a Colorado River waterfall, and have emerged in the primitive "alternate planet" Altrusia, as Land of the Lost begins its first season. Using their well-developed survival skills, the Marshalls manage to establish living quarters in a cave on a high bluff, and have fashioned the tools, weaponry and furniture necessary for survival. They have also met and tentatively befriended Cha-Ka (Phillip Paley), Ta (Joe A. Giamalva), and Sa (Sharon Baird), a family of monkey-like humans from the Cenozoic era Paku Tribe, who speak a strange but eminently logical tongue called Pakuni. Additionally, Rick and his kids have come to realize that some of the Paleozic era dinosaurs that are indigenous to Altrusia are friendly, and some are decidedly not. However, they find no friends amongst the Sleestak, a bestial tribe of creatures who are described various by the characters as "giant insects" and "huge lizards." Gradually, the Marshalls learn more and more about the strange new world around them -- and, in the bargain, more and more about themselves. Making sporadic appearances throughout season one is a loquacious, highly advanced and frustratingly enigmatic being called Enik (Walker Edmiston) -- who, as it turns out, holds the key to the secret behind Altrusia and the evolution (or, to be more precise, devolution) of the hideous Sleestak. The series' first season benefits enormously from the input of its story editor David Gerrold, one of America's foremost writers of science fiction and fantasy (among his credits is the classic Star Trek episode"The Trouble With Tribbles"). Gerrold was able to attract several other top writers in his field to Land of the Lost, notably Larry Niven, Ben Bova, D.C. Fontana, and Walter Koenig (who, of course, also played the role of Chekov on Star Trek). The high level of the series' scriptwork more than compensated for the occasional crudeness of its special effects (which is still pretty impressive by 1974 standards). The final episode of Land of the Lost's first season is one of those "open-ended affairs" that literally brought the action full circle -- thereby paving the way for a healthy rerun cycle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Milligan, Wesley Eure, (more)
