Back To The Land of The Lost with Wesley Eure
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Hi. This is Wesley. You're I played will Marshall on Land of the Lost. Ron Holly, Ron, there's a sleaze shack and you're listening to the pop culture Preservation Society.
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Welcome everyone to an encore presentation of episode 105 entitled getting lost in the Land of the Lost with Wesley yer, which is a really fun and energetic for sure, conversation with Wesley yer, who played will on Land of the Lost, as well as Michael Horton on Days of Our Lives at the same time, by the way, playing those two characters at the same time, and also is the CO creator of one of our own kids' favorite shows, Dragon tales. I love that. Fact isn't that crazy? I have no idea, and we'll talk about that in this episode, how it's so fun that he was a favorite of ours, but then he had a hand in a show that was a favorite of our own kids is which is so great. We're enquiring this episode because, like many other of our favorite shows, Land of the Lost premiered in 1974
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which means it turned 50 this year. But besides the fact that Land of the Lost turned 50 in September, we just wanted you all to hear this conversation, either for the first time or again, because it was so much fun, wasn't it? It was, it was super fun. Yeah, we really clicked with Wesley, which I think comes across really well in this episode. And then a couple months after this interview, we got to meet Wesley in person at the teen idol dinner we emceed in Los Angeles, and we're very happy to report that the energy and just great vibe you'll hear in a minute, honestly, is even bigger in person.
Unknown Speaker 1:52
Yes, it's true. It's so funny. And I didn't It's it's one of those things where it's very trippy being in the same space with him, because when you watched Land of the Lost, you it didn't occur to you that these were actors, that these were like, it's will, like, there's like, Will is still with us. He's not in the Land of the Lost with the sleep stacks right now, at this moment, it's just right, he made it out of the Land of the Lost. So you remember, at that teen idol dinner to the point that you're making Kristen, about these people, that when we were kids, we just thought they were their characters, when Holly, aka Kathy Coleman, which is her real name, when she's a real person. Yes, she is a real person. And when she came into view, Kristen started crying. I started to cry. I think that was maybe one of your biggest mana load moments. She was literally both of those kristens At one time, maybe even more so the child Kristen, yeah, but oh my goodness, just watching that again, one of the gifts of this podcast is seeing you guys just have these experiences. And I chuckled a little bit because it's like, why are you crying? I mean, like, there's Christy McNichol, there's James Vincent
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Kathy, she's great, and Holly was great.
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I blame it on science, I really do. Because, you know, we talk about getting Manalo, which is the definition of being man load, is that you are your child self and your adult self at the same time. I think that is an actual thing. We talk about it sort of facetiously, but I think that literally happened, like the seven year old in me went, just came, like coming out of my eyeballs.
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And it didn't help that she looks exactly the same, like she has all this long, straight blonde hair with the blunt bangs. I'm like, Holy shit, it's falling I know she was just missing the plaid shirt. Yes, she needed the plaid shirt. It was exactly the same. I swear to God, it's just science. It's not even emotions, it's not even feelings. It was just science. Yeah. Do you remember when the two of them got up at the beginning of that dinner and sang the theme song. How fun that was. And you guys listening, stay tuned if you haven't heard this episode before, but even if you have, listen again, because Wesley is going to sing the Land of the Lost theme song in this episode, and it blew our minds because we didn't know it was coming. And we even have video, you know what? This week, I'm going to put that video clip in the Weekly Reader, because watching our reactions when you start singing is priceless. Because we were, like, giddy. We were so excited. So to celebrate 50 years of the Marshall family and that yellow raft and Chaka and the sleaze tax and grumpy and big Alice, I have a couple of fun facts related to the show that you two might not know. So this is some information that has come out just kind of in honor of Land of the Lost turning 50 in September.
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So we all know Sid and Marty Croft are the evil geniuses behind Land of the Lost. But did you know that the Crofts once created an adult puppet show?
Unknown Speaker 5:00
Oh, I have, I have vague memories of this. Never talked about it. I was just about to say if, right now listeners are going, Yeah, you guys have talked about it.
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Please forgive us. We've got menopause brain, and it's been 190
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it's about 102 100 episodes, I think, just about and we do forget all of the things, like
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the wording, yeah, we forget everything. Pretty soon we're just going to start topics again with Episode One. We've
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never done an episode on Judy blooms forever. We're going to interview Sean Cassidy. I'm
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so excited. Are you guys kidding? When? Red Flag, listeners, if, when, when we do that. I'm not even saying if, when. Send us some DMs and just kindly say, Guys, I think you might need to visit the desk somehow. However, we're kind of preaching to the choir here, because our listeners are our age mates, so they probably be like, they're gonna interview Sean Cassidy, yes,
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they don't remember either. This is so exciting.
Unknown Speaker 6:06
Okay, okay, but I remember. I have vague memories of this not being for me and it being short lived. That's what I was yes. So before HR puff and stuff and segment and the sea monsters, Sid and Marty Croft got their start as puppeteers in a very adult corner of the vaudeville world. And this information comes from a remind magazine article celebrating Land of the Lost 50th and they tell us that, yes, indeed, Sid Croft spent his late teens and early 20s touring the world as a puppeteer, first as part of the Ringling Brothers Circus sideshow,
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Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's circus. Let's go all the way back to when it was just the Ringling Brothers, circus, sideshow.
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The word Sideshow tells us how long ago this well, when you said vaudeville, I thought there were puppets during the vaudeville era, my mind just kind of blown. Who knew well and eventually, then he performed as an opening act for performers like Judy Garland and Sid Sharice in the late 50s. Sid then recruited his younger brother Marty into the act, and they created an adult puppet show modeled on French burlesque shows like the follies. Wait just gets better.
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The action of the show included bare breasted beauties who hang in bird cages over the audience or parade around the stage. Puppets parading around the stage, puppets, bare breasted puppets. So my favorite part, they're parading around the stage, heaving, wiggling, sighing, shaking and saucing the house.
Unknown Speaker 7:50
Thing I don't want to know. I understand. I don't want to know. But wait, hold on, I've got questions. Did you see any pictures like, is this like? Yes, the puppets? Yes, yes, good, because you saw the puppet boobs, yes, yes, and everybody else is going to get too soon. So this show, anyway, this show, it was a major hit. It went from sell out shows in the San Fernando Valley to the New York World's Fair in 1964
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this bare breasted last show,
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yes, I will. Then it was a touring production that played for the rest of the 60s. And the success of that, that burlesque, bare breasted puppet show, got them on the Dean Martin show, and that's what helped their TV career finally take off. And then we get HR from stuff, yes, now I'm quoting from the remind article there, which I'll include in this week's Weekly Reader, because you need to click on the link, because you will see a photo of the bare breasted puppets. And you guys, they're actually very beautiful. They're quite beautiful, really.
Unknown Speaker 8:52
Because, yes, no, the breasts are very beautiful. And here's what I was scared of, what a puppet. But it just looks like a very beautiful like human face. It doesn't look like a like a puppet face. Like, don't think like, don't think like Lady Elaine from Mr. Rogers.
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Don't think of witchy poo with bear, madam, madam. Yeah, I was thinking of madam. This is madam that's aged once was the puppet with that was Barry. Yes, got it, okay, and then she becomes madam in the early 80s. Got it. But I've got to ask. And maybe this is just listeners. You need to just go to the remind article. But when you said they were like, above the stage, or above the audience, or whatever, like, so we're not talking somebody with their hand up a skirt, like that
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puppet. It's really like
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the Hinson puppets, where the hand is attached to, almost like a stick that they're they're doing and stuff. Yeah, and we're hoping, listeners, we're hoping and it and fingers crossed, because there are signs that this might happen, that we'll have Sid cross Croft on the podcast.
Unknown Speaker 10:00
And he's in his 90s. And if we, if so we have, we'll definitely need to ask him about this, because this is, this is history, right?
Unknown Speaker 10:10
Okay, so the other fun fact that I learned from this remind article was that the plots of land of the lost were actually based on Sci Fi novel covers. So writer Dave, David Gerald, who I think, if I remember correctly, which like, I've Rewind a few minutes, and you'll realize I don't remember correctly. But I think Wesley might mention him in this episode, but he wrote for all three seasons of land at the Lost he says that one of the other writers in Sid Croft had put together just a book of pictures they cut out from the covers of various science fiction magazines, things like a waterfall, a jungle, a giant bee, dinosaurs, monkey people, and they asked him if he couldn't make it work as a TV series. The crafts already had the title,
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but that was pretty much it. And so David Gerald says he scratched his head, and he figured, yeah, I could probably do something with that. So really, all these storylines just kind of came from covers,
Unknown Speaker 11:06
just the covers. Like I thought, when you said science fiction novel, I thought you were gonna say, like, the storyline, or no, no, just the cover, yeah, just waterfall. It might have just been someone Patterson or a waterfall. And so he took that. So that's kind of genius. I think I like it. Yeah.
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All right. We hope that was a good appetizer for all of you, and you're ready to hear about our own memories of this crazy, amazing show, and hear some great stories from will Marshall himself, Wesley, your
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and every celebrity you can imagine would come visit our set from Elton John to Charo to Stallone to
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it was, it was, there was one point when Charo was right, was chasing Chaka.
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Come
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on. Get
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happy. You.
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Get
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happy.
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We'll make you happy.
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Welcome to the pop culture Preservation Society, the podcast for people born in the big wheel generation who will never, ever forget Jenny's phone number, 86753,
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and bring it. Three. Oh, sorry. We believe our Gen X childhoods give us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition, and today, we are saving the show that swept us down a waterfall and yellow raft threw a portal into the past every Saturday morning and made us all to this day, bond over our fear of that thing called a silly stack land.
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I'm Carolyn, I'm Kristen, and I'm Michelle, and we are your pop culture preservationists.
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We are so excited about today's show. Everyone this one has been on our minds since day one of this podcast, because, as many of you long time listeners know, we include a Land of the Lost reference in the intro. We've used since episode one, and we've said like over 100 times now, which really, really illustrates what the PCPs is all about. We believe our Gen X childhoods gave us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. Land of the Lost was another Sid and Marty Croft crazy carnival ride of a show joining the ranks in the early 70s of shows like the bugaloos, Sigmund and the sea monsters, HR puff and stuff, and it detailed the adventures of the Marshall family, father Rick and his children, will and Holly, who are trapped in an alternate universe or Time Warp, inhabited by dinosaurs, primate type people called pacuni and aggressive humanoid lizard creatures called sleaze tags.
Unknown Speaker 14:20
I hate that word humanoid. Oh, I just hate the word sleaze tax. It just it Well, I do too fear in me. Okay, so number one, my roommate in college would not watch Land of the Lost because she was so afraid of the sleaze deck. She couldn't believe that I actually watched the show because it was so scary. And this is kind of a universal thing, you guys. I have a copy of dynamite magazine with Slee stacks on the cover, and I just casually had it laid out on my coffee table this week, because I'm doing research right? My husband walks in, he sees the Slee stacks on our coffee table, and he points out and goes
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like he was terrified. He's 54
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Are. It's an instinctive reaction when we see a sleigh stack. Yep, I think for sure. Can I just ask you, did they interview the sleaze stacks in that dynamite magazine? What's the no, they interview Sid and Marty Croft. Oh, but that's a legit question. Right back in the day, we might have thought, yeah, although they ever say words, didn't they? I thought one of them kind of talked, oh, there is one who knows English, and he's like, their like, their spokesperson, their leader, isn't he? Like, good, he might be non evil, yeah. Like, the, like you said, the interpreter, the one that goes back and forth, the least neutral, yeah, we all watched it. We all loved it. It is a huge part of our Saturday morning memories. For me, I was you guys, just five years old when this show debuted in september of 1974 and I was kind of held hostage to watch it, because it was definitely not a show five year old Michelle would have chosen to watch that was over my head. But my sister, who at the time, was nine, she was all about Land of the Lost. You know, you have one TV one TV channel on a Saturday morning. So at that time slot, Land of the Lost was on every Saturday morning. So I had a choice. I either could watch Land of the Lost, kind of probably behind my hands in my blanket, or I cannot watch TV. And as a five year old child in the early 70s, that's not an option to not watch TV on Saturday mornings. I have a very love hate memory of Land of the Lost. I love it because of the nostalgia, but I hate it because I can remember how scared I would be watching it. But I also loved the characters on this show, no matter how scared I was about with the dinosaurs and the sleaze tax. I loved the brother and I loved will. I loved Holly. I wanted to be Holly like, as you guys know, I always wanted to be like the little sister or whatever. Loved her braids. I thought she was the cutest. And so I love my teeth, yes, oh, they're beautiful, weird. No, she has beautiful teeth. I could have teeth like that. I just feel like, for me, my memory is fear, tension, yeah. But also just this, this feeling of how much I loved the the families, the family aspect of this show. What about you guys? Well, I want to follow up, because I was the big sister in your scenario, and I have, as you were just talking, these little memories are popping in my head of my sister being afraid, and I was like, basically Tough shit, you know? Yeah, grow up. We're watching it. And like, she was really scared, and I didn't care. I'm gonna have to talk to her a little bit about this. But it was just like, This is what we're watching in your family therapy, yes, and I think I did that a lot to her. Now, you know what, on March 12, when we go to this teen idol event, and your sister's there as well, Ronnie and I can bond over that, right? We can bond over Ronnie, if you're listening right now, we're going to bond over all the little sister things our mean older sisters made us do. And then we're going to you and I together go up and we're going to talk to Wesley and get our picture with Wesley.
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We should invite your therapist and those who have, like, some family therapy at the event with the characters from Land of the Lost, and we'll all get closure. But I really loved that show. I think because of the drama, I think it was almost like a little soap opera for me. Each week I was coming back to think this is the week that they're going to get out. Is this the week? Because that's all I wanted for them, and it kept me engrossed in it. And that's kind of like the that storyline and that drama part of it, yeah, it was not like, HR, puff and stuff, or a segment it. This was like, high brow for me. This was your, your Knots Landing for your exactly, your dad, right, right on Saturday morning. And it was very real. Wasn't it like we can watch it now and think that's so campy, but you guys when, when, anytime they were inside their cave, you can picture this right there's because this happens in every episode they're inside the cave. And here comes grumpy, the giant T Rex, and his face is right on the outside of the cave, and it's from their point of view. It just, it just releases so much fear in my body that those shockingly terrifying we played Land of the Lost in my neighborhood constantly. There was a lot of running. There was a lot of running, and we heard we would fight over who was going to be who. And it's very interesting. I always wanted to be Holly, my friend Anne Chase always wanted to be will, but she's the one who had a crush on will, but her fantasy is not being a love interest of will. She wants to be will. And so this is a question I want to ask Dr Forster from who are professional, our pro crushologists, from Chapman University, from our episode called I can't remember crush ology.
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101, like, is that a thing where you kind of want to be your crush?
Unknown Speaker 20:04
We kind of felt that way about Christian Yeah, yeah. We wanted to be Christy McNichol. That's true. I my friend's dad, the same friend and chase. Her dad was a geologist, and that's, this is the Land of the Lost. Is how I pictured his job. I thought he went to work in the Land of the Lost. Basically,
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I can see that, and I can see also you being maybe afraid that that would happen to Anne Chase and her family, like, Oh no, don't ever do Yucatan. Don't ever go Don't ever go rafting. Don't do it, Anne, don't do it.
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Do you know what Brian said when we were just recently, re watching the pilot episode and talking about Land of the Lost a lot the past couple of days, because I've been prepping for this. This episode, he had a really good point. He said it was our Jurassic Park. It's the people always running from the dinosaurs, and it's the fear of you know, do you guys remember the first time you saw Jurassic Park in the theater? I do it was sort of a delicious, terrifying right? That's what Land of the Lost gave us in 1974 it was just the 1974 7576 version of Jurassic Park. So we all watched the pilot episode last night, and we all knew that we loved Land of the Land of the Lost. But I think you guys will concur that when I turned it on last night, watching it for the first time since like 1976
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i i remembered how much I actually loved it, like how invested I was in the show. And it's really grown in in the people who love it. They have more fans now, probably than they did in 1976 it's a true cult classic, and part of what I think people love about it is that it has these old school, retro, quote, unquote special effects that are so entertaining in their rudimentary nature, right? It's almost what makes it fun in this era of CGI and all this crazy technological animation, this is actually what makes it more fun for us right now. And so I watched this last night with my 20 year old, and he is like, what is this that I'm watching? Like, did somebody make this in their back the bathtub? He said that where they go over the waterfall, he goes, it looks like somebody put a garden hose over some rocks.
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Entertaining. That is so entertaining. And you know, what's so funny is that we didn't even worry about that, the whole timeline and the explanation of how they tumbled back into time, because there is one sentence, there's a one sentence explainer of what has happened when they went over the waterfall. They're like, Hey, Dad, how do we end up in this strange place? And and Rick Marshall is like, well, last night, kids, I saw three moons, and then we went back in time, and that's all you get. Well, okay, yeah, everybody run. I also think, you know, we talk a lot about how scary this show was with the sleaze tax and the dinosaurs and just the whole especially when you're watching it when you're five and six years old, that getting lost in a place like this and being away. But yeah, some of the writing, I think, was done very purposefully to kind of alleviate that fear. Because, for instance, when he's they're like, how did we get here, dad? And he's like, Well, last night I saw three moons, and we're in this new place. And then Holly, instead of holly doing something very realistic that, you know, eight year old child would do, which would be freaking the F out, right? She just goes, Ah, I wish we were home. And then things like, where they they ram the big fly swatter, you know, is what they call the big log, they ram into the T Rex's throat. And after they do it, and he's going, wow outside of the cave, and you're filled with fear for them in this moment, their reaction is just like they almost like high five each other, like, good job, we showed him. And
Unknown Speaker 23:47
now as adults, though, like we look at it like, I think they should be a lot more scared and terrified, but probably it was done very nervously to not because, had they written it that way, you guys, it would have been way too scary for the five years, yeah, so they had to get make light of it somehow. So now that I'm thinking about it, I think it was intended, intentional. Yeah, you know what it is. It's very much like Rocky Horror. The way people love Rocky Horror, oftentimes, is for the camp and we enjoy the story of Rocky Horror. And I feel the I feel very much the same way about Land of the Lost. There is something important there that keeps us coming back. We're not laughing at it. We're laughing with it, for sure. Oh, we, no matter how campy we think it is today, we respect it because of the nostalgia and the importance it plays in our childhood.
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When I look all around, I can't believe the things I found now I need
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to find my way living in the Land of Blood of the.
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Yeah, so obviously we could talk about Land of the Lost and our feelings about the show for hours and hours and hours. But hey, listeners, wouldn't it be super fun if you could hear from an actual source? Wouldn't you love to hear from somebody who was on the actual Land of the Lost? Yes. How about will? Would you like to hear from will? Well, we had the great pleasure and privilege of talking to Wesley. You were the man who played will Marshall on Land of the Lost. It was so fun, such a delight to talk to him and learn a lot of behind the scenes kind of stuff about the show. Good dish he did. You guys, our minds were exploding constantly during this conversation, and we know yours will be too. Please enjoy our conversation with Wesley, your star of Land of the Lost Marshall will and Holly are the routine
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expedition and the greatest earthquake ever
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known
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All
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Oh, we are so excited to welcome this icon of Saturday morning TV, the man who tumbled over a waterfall and landed in another dimension, all for the viewing pleasure of millions of children who grew up in the 70s. Wesley, your also known as will from Land of the Lost, is our guest today because he understands the impact that this long ago children's show had on us. It's an impact that shows up in the standardized opening of every single one of our podcasts. Wesley, thank you for being here today, and thank you for making it over that waterfall.
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We
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see you. We see you. Yes, we can see you. What perfect timings in your movie.
Unknown Speaker 27:01
Thank you for having me on. It's great. Did I say your name correctly? Yeah, you did. It's like, it's like, Europe without the
Unknown Speaker 27:11
Oh, yeah, great. That works Eureka without the cup.
Unknown Speaker 27:19
And we are loving listeners, Wesley just his video just clicked in he's all the way in Mexico right now, but I just want to describe to you that he's sitting here in a sleaze stack t shirt. Of course, he is right. We would expect no we would expect no less. And I asked him earlier, but I want him to repeat this listener so you get to hear I said, Wesley, how many sleep stack T shirts Do you own?
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I have tons of them. I've got closets filled them. I have 4875
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Well, 74 one of them got destroyed in the in the dryer. But
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what's amazing is the merchandising the show, you know, is going to celebrate its 50th anniversary in next year. And 50 years later, I can't believe it has this huge following, and it continues to grow, and all the sort of official and unofficial merchandising that comes you can buy, you know, on Amazon or wherever. And
Unknown Speaker 28:19
every once a while I'll go on like a red bubble, or one of these t shirt places, and there's another image. And it's so odd to buy a shirt with my image on it of me, and I'll pay for
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it. You know what? I love it. I love it so
Unknown Speaker 28:36
totally. Yeah, it keeps it alive for us too. I mean, there's a reason we're all still talking about it, 50 years later, and we were just talking about this, like in this era of CGI animation and technology and and all these, I don't even know the technical word to say, like special effects, that this such such a rudimentary show is Having such an awakening, having such, such a growth period. It's so funny. What is it about it? Do you think that keeps, still coming back? It's the story. It's what, what we had on land of the loss was we had the Star Trek writers writing our show. And David Gerald, who wrote, If you're a Star Trek fan, trouble with triples, was one of his episodes, and he was our head writer. And he got all the Star Trek had just finished its first, you know, first three years. And he got Walter Koenig, who played check off to create edict, the talking sleek. He had DC, Fontana, Larry Niven, spin red, all these amazing sci fi writers who wrote these amazing scripts. And so the the you're right, that there's no CGA in the effects are kind of hokey, you know, for the 70s. I mean, of course, at the time, they were state of the art. It was amazing, but it's the story. I mean, as Shakespeare said, the stories the thing. And, you know, we're talking time doorways. And David said at a panel recently, David Carolyn said, You.
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I told my writers, we're not writing a Saturday morning show. We're writing a sci fi show that airs on Saturday morning. So they never talked down to the audience. I mean, there were, there were matrices and doppelgangers and and and antecedent all sorts of stuff. And they never, like, said, Okay, kids, here's what this means. They just said it. And the kids had to, like, learn it,
Unknown Speaker 30:21
right, right? It was like, out of my realm of understanding, but I was there 100% like I didn't need to be able to understand everything. So specifically, it was like, I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it. And it just like you said. It wasn't talking down to the kids. It felt like I was watching something very sophisticated. You just kind of blew my mind with the Star Trek thing. Because Star Trek is the same way where it has these really die hard fans and it always has, and it also has a similar feel to it. I would never put those two together, but you're right. That's a total match. I was just going to say one of the appeals to what you were just saying is how they never talked down to the audience. But there was something for everyone. People ask about, about the Will Ferrell movie, and when they did the land loss, of course, it became a comedy and what was missing. And one of the reasons it faltered was because land The loss was, it was about a family without we'd lost our mom. This was the Saturday morning show that was talking about real issues, and we were trapped in this world, trying to survive. And we have more fans that come up. We do the autograph shows and things like that. Kathy, who played my sister, Holly. She's, she's really my sister in life. Now. I mean, we are best friends. She just, in fact, she just moved to Palm Springs to be next to us, and she's coming to Mexico to stay at my house for a couple of weeks, in a few weeks. But
Unknown Speaker 31:41
we have people come up to us our table and are like crying. One guy came up and he said, Listen, I gotta tell you something. I know it's gonna sound silly, what he said. And he just, he was in his 50s, and he's he said, When I was kid in when land lost, change from this second season to the third season. We lost her dad, and our uncle came in and he said, My family was getting a divorce, and my dad was leaving us, and he said I was a mess and I didn't know what to do, but I saw in Land of the Lost, that the family could survive, even though the dad left, he says it gave me the strength to get through that time of my life. And he's hugging us and crying. He said, thank you guys so much, because as a performance, we never know the ripple effect of things we do. You know, we read a script, we do it and we move on. But there, there is an effect, especially when scripts are written so beautifully, like David Gerald and all these guys that wrote these scripts well and that the you just answered a really important question. We were so excited for the Land of the Lost movie, but it turned it was something else entirely. It was apples and oranges. And so you could have really lost those Star Trek people, and I don't want to label them Star Trek people, but the people who were really there for that intricate story, that intricate story was not there no movie. It was apples and oranges. Sid Roth, who's still a great friend of mine. I talked to Marty Croft all the time. They're just great guys. You know, they're legends, and I'm just honored to be part of their life. But they Sid said he contacted Gene Roddenberry to ask him if he'd be our head writer, because it was Star Trek. Had just finished the paramount for three years, and I think they were sharing a lot at the time a sound stage and and Gene said, I can't do it, but I've got this writer named David Gerald. You've got to meet him, and that's who they hired. Wow, that is amazing. And I wanted to share I was a little bit older than Michelle, and I, again, the story was, was what I showed up for, because I hoped every time that you were going to get out. I mean, I guess, in essence, there wouldn't have been a show anymore, but at the same time, it was just like, this is the week. This is when you're going to get out. I just wanted you guys to get out. And that's kind of, you know, why I showed up. And we recently re watched the pilot, and I wrote down two lines that were in the pilot that I thought were pretty profound. And one was when you first meet Chaka, right? And you're telling your dad about him, and Holly says, Can we keep him? And your dad says, people don't own other people. And I was like, Mic drop.
Unknown Speaker 34:19
We thought that too. My husband and I were watching it Carolyn. We were like, Oh, wow, that's a next level thing, especially 1974
Unknown Speaker 34:28
Yeah, right. That's funny, because at that moment I was watching it with my 20 year old son, which was, that's a trip right there. And he goes, he's not a dog. Like, he was really upset. He probably just tuning in to Rick, like, Yeah, you can't own other people. He's a bi Cooney. And
Unknown Speaker 34:46
then later on, when I guess maybe you were talking about Chaka being your friend, and it says, Your dad says, again, it takes a lot of trust to make a friend. And I thought for the kids listening back then.
Unknown Speaker 35:00
Then, like that was, that's another powerful line, you know. So the rest of Rick, yes, he was an authority figure. Well, exactly he was like our dad, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 35:12
And Kathy, Kathy's written a book called Run, Holly run, and she had quite a, quite a dramatic life. And Spencer Millikan, who played our dad, is still to this day, like a dad to her. And we are all very close friends. I talk to Spencer all the time. I'll call Spencer and go.
Unknown Speaker 35:30
I go, Hey, Papa. He goes, hey, hey. Will How you doing? You know? And I go, Papa, can you hear me?
Unknown Speaker 35:41
He has a great sense of humor, and Phil Paley, who played Chaka, we're the four of us are truly a family. And I've always said the cross didn't just cast my TV family, but they cast my family too. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 35:56
okay, I'm covered in goosebumps for like, the last half years. Yeah, 50 years ago, yeah, 50 years and we're just, I'm telling you, we are so close, all of us, and it's, it breaks all sorts of barriers. And just, I don't know, I just, I think the cross over and over for my family, we love to hear that so much, and I know our listeners will love to know that. But Wesley, can you, can we go back a little bit, and can you kind of tell us how this all came to be for you? Like, what did you think of that script when you first read it? And we're wondering, like, did you think, Oh, this is, you know, like you've said, it's so well written, but did you think of this as high drama, or did you see it kind of as the campiness that makes Land of the law so beloved today, because I'll tell you what, back in 1974 all of us watching it, we saw it as high drama. We were fraught with tension every week. We were scared silly of the T Rex. We were scared silly of the least x many of us still are Kristen's husband. I
Unknown Speaker 37:03
But like, you know, now we all watch it, and I think one reason it has become this kind of classic is because we appreciate and we applaud the campiness of the kind of primitive sets. And you know that little, that little raft in the intro that is like goes down the waterfall that looks like I just said,
Unknown Speaker 37:24
and we've talked about a little we talked a little bit about earlier
Unknown Speaker 37:32
as viewers in 1974 whether we were five or whether we were eight or nine, we saw it as very realistic and very high drama and very tension filled as the actor who was in it. How did you see it in 1974 when you first, when it first came to be for you?
Unknown Speaker 37:50
It was amazing. I was, I was on Days of Our Lives at the time, playing Mike Horton, which I did for about a decade. And when I got the script, because, remember, this was, it had never been. This was a drama. On Saturday morning. We were, you know, we had the Flintstones and all the cartoons and and all the silliness and even puffing stuff in lynnsville from the cross. Everything was silly. It was kids. And then some you have a drama. I mean, there's one episode where a sleaze stack pretends he's our mother and morphs into our mother to try to kill us. I mean, this is kids on Saturday morning, and I think that's because it never talked down. I mean, again, David Gerald said, I'm writing, I'm writing a show, you know, a sci fi show that just happens to air on Saturday morning. And Land of the Lost it. The budget was so thin because it's Saturday morning, we filmed two episodes a week, so two and a half days to film each episode, which was unheard of. I mean, it's never been done, I don't think ever again. And so we had this amazing two soundstages. They were huge that one of them was like our lagoon, and with all the jungle, the other was the interior of our cave. And then the blue screen, which is now green screen, and every celebrity you can imagine would come visit our set, from Elton John to Charo to Stallone to it was, it was, there was one point with Charo was right, was chasing shotgun.
Unknown Speaker 39:21
It was an event. I mean, people wanted to come to our set because it was they've never seen anything like it before. That's so I love to these are that these are the things we love to know Charlo. Just say the name Charo, and everybody goes back in time and she, I've got to tell you, we did a show, Kathy and Phil and I did a show recently in Hollywood, and Charles was sitting across from us. And I'll tell you, she is still is beautiful, and she looks exactly like she did from the 1970s
Unknown Speaker 39:49
you know, and just as perky and fun as you can imagine. And nobody really knows how old she is, it's a mystery.
Unknown Speaker 39:59
Okay, I have.
Unknown Speaker 40:00
Very important question for you. This is a vital question for us and for our listeners. We need you to settle something for us. So I mentioned in our in the little intro there about our I said something about our podcast intro, the one we say every single week. We've said it over 100 times, and what we say as we introduce our podcast is we believe our Gen X childhoods gave us unforgettable songs, stories, characters and images, and if we don't talk about them, they'll disappear, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. We say it every single week, and we have gotten some hate mail from people saying, You're doing it wrong, because Marshall was their last name, Rick was the dad, but I've been singing Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition. And who's right, who's right? Oh gosh, well, you're both right. Yes, Marshall is our last name, and it was wrong. I mean, so it should have been Rick, Marshall will and Holly, but Marshall,
Unknown Speaker 41:01
I sing the song. I sang the song in the opening credits, you did yeah, and the closing credits, yeah. I was recording back from Motown at the time, and they said, Wesley. Wesley. Come sing it. So as Marshall will and Harley on a routine expedition, met the greatest earthquake ever known high on the rapids, instruct their tiny
Unknown Speaker 41:27
rap.
Unknown Speaker 41:32
Ah.
Unknown Speaker 41:35
Everybody's synapses are firing right now. We are, we are. I can't even tell you right now, there's
Unknown Speaker 41:46
for what it is, yeah, oh my gosh. We just found out we're right. We're right. Yeah, it should. It should have been Rick Hart will and Ollie, yeah, yeah. You don't listen their budget. How fast they wrote that song.
Unknown Speaker 42:02
But that explains it, because when we get an email or a DM that says, Hey, we love your podcast, but just wanted you know, every week, you say, you know, like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition, because basically, we're saying what our podcast represents. We don't. The whole reason we started this is because we want to preserve all of these Gen X pop culture nuggets, right? We don't want them to disappear like Marshall will and Holly on a routine expedition, because you disappeared. And when people say that, we go back to the lyrics. We Google the lyrics again. Because we're like, Are we wrong? And we're like, No. And we say, what could they say? Rick will and Holly, but the way you just did it, Wesley actually works. Rick Marshall
Unknown Speaker 42:46
on a routine,
Unknown Speaker 42:48
the greatest, yeah, yeah. It works. It works,
Unknown Speaker 42:53
yeah. So listeners, we got it from the actual singer's mouth,
Unknown Speaker 42:59
somebody close to it. But the actual singer of the words, I know, he knows,
Unknown Speaker 43:04
and it's amazing how that song has lived in pop culture. There is an episode of Family Guy where Peter actually auditions for Lois for a part in a community theater, and he sings the theme song to Land of the Lost is his audition.
Unknown Speaker 43:22
Oh, it's really it. Jack Black has a band called Tenacious D, and you should see he rocks out the theme song to land loss and closing song, which I also sang, which closed the show every week. And it's amazing how many different cover bands have kept have performed the opening and closing song of Land of the Lost
Unknown Speaker 43:43
song is the best. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 43:47
jam I want.
Unknown Speaker 43:51
When I look all around I can't believe the things I found. Now I need to find my way. I'm lost. I'm lost. Find me living in the land of the lost, lost, lost, lost,
Unknown Speaker 44:05
living in the Land of the Lost.
Unknown Speaker 44:09
And Mark trough,
Unknown Speaker 44:13
oh, my god, okay. Can we please clip that audio and use somehow in one of our promos, Wesley, will you give us
Unknown Speaker 44:24
in the newsletter? Okay, it's crazy. And you
Unknown Speaker 44:28
know, they did, they did bubble boy for Disney, which Carolyn Hall, it's a fabulous movie. And he tends, he's me, and he's living in a bubble. And he he sings, he rocks out the at the opening of the show, he's playing his guitar, and he sings the closing theme song to land a loss. So it continues. It just it has a life of its own. When I went on the set with Will Ferrell, when he was doing the movie at Universal,
Unknown Speaker 44:56
will came, right? I never met Will before, but it was a huge fan.
Unknown Speaker 45:00
Of Land of the Lost, and he actually played a character in another movie called and his character's name was Marshall will and Holly.
Unknown Speaker 45:08
His last name was will and Holly.
Unknown Speaker 45:11
So I go on the set of universal with Marty crock, and he breaks character, and he runs over to me, and he goes, Wesley. Wesley. I sang the theme song Yesterday in the movie, because he knew that I sang the original one, and he was just, you know, he even though the movie, you know, didn't do what it was supposed to do. His heart, was it because he loved that show. That's good to know. And I think such a cultural touchstone for us. I mean, it's such a, you know, a part that we can all relate to
Unknown Speaker 45:41
having grown up at that time, it's like you can go up to somebody your age and say, Marshall will and Holly and they'll take off and do the rest of the line. So now I know that Wilson or Will Smith was one of those people that's, you know what it is, reference to Land of the Lost. Just you say the word sleaze act or something Carolyn, like you're just saying. It's one of those. You know how right now the big hashtag is, if you know, you know, you know. Like, if y, k, y, k, right? If you know, you know. I feel like any reference to Land of the Lost is like that for our generation efforts, certainly the the the younger boomers, right? Because a lot of them were, you know, still, like 1112, years old in 1974 but like, it's so great. I mean, yeah, so like, if Will Ferrell, you said his name was Marshall will and Holly. It's one of those. If you know, you know, right? If you don't, you don't. Can I ask you? Marty crock, Marty, Marty Cross said that when this lease second thing appeared in the third episode of lender law, and the ratings for Land of the Lost went through the roof. They became in B C's number one. Show Not, not Saturday morning show, number one show for that time. And you know, the sleep stack to this day, like, if you're a basketball fan of you guys are basketball. Oh yeah, we know Bill lambir was one of them. And yeah, you're right, Bill and bear the Detroit Pistons, the bad boy,
Unknown Speaker 46:59
and Kathy and I, he was coaching the aces in the women's basketball team in Las Vegas, and Kathy were at the Star Trek convention, because we're the only other show other than Star Trek that's allowed at the conventions because of our connection. And so we go and surprise
Unknown Speaker 47:18
45 years or whatever, and we have fleece deck heads. And we walk in, he didn't know we were coming, and all the ladies in the basketball team had eight by 10s of a sleaze deck. And he and as he walked in, they they held it up over their face, so he's looking around, and all of his players have a sleaze deck, eight by 10. He's looking around. And Kathy and I walked in with the sleep deck, and he's like,
Unknown Speaker 47:44
he's seven feet tall, and, I mean, I look like a total midget next to him. And we took photographs, and we, you know, we gave him some gifts and all sorts of stuff. But after it was all over, the head of the league came up to me and said, Wesley's.
Unknown Speaker 48:00
I've known Bill since he was a college player, because they he was, we use college basketball players and Land of the Lost, and that's how he got the job when he was in college. He says, I've known all those years. He says, I have never seen that man smile as much as
Unknown Speaker 48:15
he it was fabulous. Can I give his job? Well, he didn't. This was on my coffee table right here. It's a dynamite magazine. It's got the sleeve stacks on the cover. And this was sitting on my coffee table. And my husband walked in, and he goes, he's
Unknown Speaker 48:34
54, years old.
Unknown Speaker 48:36
Well, I have to ask you, Wesley, were you and Kathy and Philip. Were you afraid of the sleeve stacks? Or were they just guys walking around like in sweats with a sleeve stack head, you know, eating a pop tart and dribbling a basketball on set.
Unknown Speaker 48:52
If you go online, there's some great photos of the sleeve stack with their costumes pulled down and so you can see their faces and stuff like that. And they were, you know, they were huge guys. But no, I mean, you know, they became friends. I mean, they were they were there. And these costumes, which were done by Mike Westmore, who did all the the monsters for Star Trek. So Mike Westmore created the least act. And they were wetsuits, extra large wetsuits with scales on them and the head so it did not breathe at all. There was no air. You know, this is the 70s. There were no little fans built in to cool everybody off. So they can only stand there for me three or four minutes, because then they pull these heads off, this lease against these pouring sweat. I mean, these guys, it was, it was gruesome for what these guys went through. So we got to know them. You know, sitting in directors chairs, you know, with the least that costume pulled down. So, yeah, we weren't terrified of them. But acting, right? That's acting, acting.
Unknown Speaker 49:53
But when we but every time somebody hears
Unknown Speaker 49:58
No, no, I have people, they.
Unknown Speaker 50:00
Go to post traumatic stress at the
Unknown Speaker 50:04
convention, he'll die. Okay, our listeners have some questions for you. They let us know what they wanted to know. So Debbie wanted to know if you ever got tired of wearing the same outfit for every episode, because, you know, you got stuck in the Land of the Lost when you you were out there on the waterfall, on your raft, you didn't have any of your clothes, so Debbie says she was always curious if, like in in costuming, if you had a whole rack of identical shirts every Well, I did have two costumes, because in the first season, I had a blue shirt, right? Yeah. And we use chroma key. Blue wasn't green back then. So we'd be on the giant chroma key set, which was half of a soundstage painted blue, and the chroma key shirt would suddenly disappear because it was the same color as the chroma key. So they made me change in the let in the latter part of the show in the last two years, into a khaki shirt. And Kathy had blue cords, I think, at the time, and they made her change to maroon, because every once a while they kind of pixel out a bit, okay, there are some super fans out there who allege that you got some new clothes somehow in the next season. Like, where did the new clothes come from? Like, they want the mystery to be solved, like the dinosaur part of it was, was because of the chroma key, absolutely, yeah. But Kathy, you know, Kathy grew you know, she's tolerated me so, you know, by the third season, you know, I was having, like, on my tiptoes,
Unknown Speaker 51:28
and her costumes were getting a little tight. So, well,
Unknown Speaker 51:33
she she rolls up her sleeves a lot in the third season because they didn't fit anymore. Like Rick, Rick and will my Never mind,
Unknown Speaker 51:50
sure, never mind. The budget was so, so small you've already, well, you would think that it's Land of the Lost. At least a seamstress could fly in. They could have done that. She was also growing in land of the law, so we would expect, if that was her same shirt, you were there that whole time. Yeah. Well, our listener, we have a listener, Amy, and she wants to know if Chaka was a child in a monkey suit, which I'm a supposing. Amy, do you mean, like, as opposed to a real pecuniary I guess I don't know.
Unknown Speaker 52:24
We know it was Philip Haley who played Chaka. So I want to ask you this, and I guess you'll have to answer for Philip. But like, that had to have been intense to get into that makeup and costume every episode.
Unknown Speaker 52:38
Well, I think what she's saying is, was because the cross use a lot of little people.
Unknown Speaker 52:42
Phil was an actual child. He was 10 years old. He was the youngest black belt in karate in the United States at the time. His teacher was Chuck Norris.
Unknown Speaker 52:55
There's a clip of Phil is on it is, you know, Phil is like, four foot, something's tiny. And when he's a kid, and he's on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Chuck Norris. And there's a clip word where Phil flips Johnny Carson over on his back doing karate. And it is hysterical. It comes up every once in a while, and if you can catch it, you'll laugh your tail off. But Phil, it took him about two hours, when we first started Land of the Lost to put the makeup, but the prosthetics on the headpiece, the teeth, all the whole thing, and that the suit was, I think they actually went, because, remember, the budgets were really low, especially the first seasons. I think they went to Planet of the Apes and pull some and pulled his suit from one of their wardrobe and and so it was Itchy and Scratchy, you know, it's uncomfortable. But he was amazing, because you have to remember that the pacuni language was real, that it was, it wasn't. He wasn't just doing, you know, making it up as you know, it was actually written. It was, it was created by a linguist and UCLA. And she, she took, I think, eight languages and got different, different,
Unknown Speaker 54:10
you know, pronunciations and verb conjugations and things. But there's a dictionary, the pacu dictionary, so he had every word was specific, like, oh God, Fabi Sasa was big magic, you know, we're Ari Marisha, you know, for will and Holly Marshall. And it was so there's, there's a couple of episodes where it mostly features Phil and he's talking pa Cooney almost the whole half hour. And, you know, this is a 10 year old, 10 year old boy. And learning this, he was extraordinary. I am amazed. And I loved the way Chaka talked. I loved that. And it goes back to what you said at the beginning. This speaks to the level of, I guess, just kind of intelligence and and the level of thought that was put into this show from the very beginning, from, you know, you said they're getting, they're not just hiring, you know, someone who, let's write this science fiction show that you're, they're going and they're.
Unknown Speaker 55:00
Getting Star Trek writers, and now they're not just going to make up a silly language, they're getting an actual linguist to develop a language to give this just to put this show on a different level, so we can look back at it, and child is learning it, right, and we can look back at it now, like I said earlier, and and just we we love the campiness of it now, but we respect it so much because of all of these things that went all of this thought that actually did go into it. You know, small budget be damned, right? We're going to still make this a show that is a quality show. I think the cost of their budget was $25,000 or $50,000 an episode.
Unknown Speaker 55:36
And that is peanuts, and that's for everything, for salaries and props and the whole thing, oh my gosh, unbelievable. That is unbelievable. I'm known on our podcast to go down some rabbit holes and uncover things that maybe not everyone knew, and I found a few that I just wanted to share and ask you a little bit about. One is I discovered that you almost replaced David Cassidy in the Partridge Family. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Sure? Again, you know we were we. We all knew each other
Unknown Speaker 56:14
because we'd go to events together. But David had decided to leave the show the Partridge Family. He got tired of it. And so he told the producers he was leaving, and ABC panicked, because the show was a hit. So they were, they created a scenario where they were looking for somebody plays next door neighbor, become his best friend, and with a single dad, and he was David was going to go off to college, and
Unknown Speaker 56:38
and and the and the boy was then gonna be gonna get married, and the boy is gonna become the lead singer the Partridge Family. And I auditioned for ABC. I went to Bobby Sherman, I went to his house,
Unknown Speaker 56:50
and Bobby We I recorded a song for ABC, and I had to lip sync it for ABC, and I got the part. And then David goes and found out I was doing, it goes, No, I'm not leaving. So, so they threw that hole, that whole scenario, out because he decided to stay. And, of course, they were happy he stayed and and that it never happened. Oh, that hasn't been a pretty big disappointment, though.
Unknown Speaker 57:16
Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah, I've had lots of listen, I was supposed to be go for in The Love Boat, and ABC, ABC and NBC agreed I could do because I was on days of our lives. And they agreed I could do this, because they're different networks, and they agreed I could do it. And then the last minute, right before we're supposed to leave for the second pilot,
Unknown Speaker 57:36
ABC pulled out. Said, Yeah, we're not gonna let him do it. Listen, I once I signed a contract to host the tonight show in Australia, and with nine, nine Australia, Channel Nine Australia and and then I had to meet with government in Australia, in Melbourne, and they go, Oh, no, we're not going to let an American host a show. Okay? I took my shrimp off the Barbie.
Unknown Speaker 58:02
Well, I've got to say, though, because of my research, I'm I'm really glad that you lost all of those opportunities, because I'm afraid that you wouldn't have been able to do something that perhaps impacted my life even more than Land of the Lost, and that was that you are co creator of Dragon Tails and for all the Gen X moms and dads out there, Dragon Tails saved our lives. Let me just say, My children loved that show. And in Roanoke, Virginia, where we lived, it came on right at that arsenic hour, right when things could we're going crazy, and I needed to fix dinner, and they were cranky. They lived for that show, and it gave me peace. You gave me sanity when I was a young mother. And I have to thank you, because we've been doing this podcast now for a little over two years, and we've had some pretty big moments, and it wasn't really until couple weeks ago when Carolyn told us that you created dragon tales, and I just happened to mention it to my 27 year old daughter and my 21 year old daughter. And I don't think I've I don't think I've ever been higher in their eyes in my entire life, no matter anything I've ever done as a mother, as a writer, as a podcaster, than when they knew I was going to be speaking to the person who was responsible for Dragon Tails, which, as Carolyn just said, with her children as well, one of the shows they will never, never forget. So thank you for that. Yes, can you tell us a little bit about that journey? Because that's a little bit different than all the other things we've been sharing.
Unknown Speaker 59:41
Sure, I had been producing and writing a totally hidden video for Fox, which was a hidden camera show back in the day, and I would cast myself as the waiter or whatever in the bits, but the executive producer moved over to Sony Pictures, and they were the government was offering the.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:00
Huge grant, $16 million for a new kid show for PBS and Sesame Street wanted it The Muppets wanted it everything. But I'd written a book called The Red Wings of Christmas, which Disney had bought it as an animated feature, and I wrote the screenplay in the songs for Disney.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:15
And Jim Cohen, he called me and said, what say I got? I've got these dragon drawings. And can you come on over? And maybe because Red Wings of Christmas was his son's favorite book. And so I went over, and they had done some work, and I put it all together in three days, and
Unknown Speaker 1:00:32
then they needed a companion piece. And I wrote another show that was companion piece. And anyway, it sold in a week. And the show became, you know what it was, and it was huge. I was all over the world and live shows and, you know, stuff, plush toys all over the place. Oh, they just instantly got into the theme song. And, yeah, oh, yeah. Dragon Tails. Dragon Tails. It's almost time for Dragon Tails. Hey, come along. Take my hand. Let's all go to dragon
Unknown Speaker 1:01:04
that now just makes my heart. I did not write that or sing that, but they were three creators on the show, and I was one of them. Ron rudeker was one of the guys. He was. He was the original guy who did the dragon drawings. They were not, they didn't look anything like the show dragon deals, but they were very sophisticated. He was from Laguna Beach. He was an educator, and he used to sell these dragon drawings were very funny at the sawdust art festival every year and and that's how this all started, this whole journey with Dragon Tails. Well, I am glad and it starts wonderful kids. I get a lot of kids on the spectrum at the conventions that come up to me, and
Unknown Speaker 1:01:43
because, you know, these conventions are amazing on many, many, many levels, besides meeting fans and, you know, nostalgia, but it's a great safe place for kids on the spectrum and and I cannot tell you how many times they'll come up, and they can sing every song from Dragon tales, and we will sing and laugh and giggle and hug, and
Unknown Speaker 1:02:07
it's amazing how, again, how you how you could do something and don't know the ripple effect, what's the long term effect, and the longevity of something you do that you think is fleeting, and it's not that should be the end of the episode right now. That was beautiful. Except I have more questions.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:30
I do have some questions about the pilot episode, because we all watched this last night. And you know, we all say that we loved Land of the Lost. But it wasn't until I flipped it on and I started watching it, and Michelle, you said that your husband had the same reaction. Yes, I loved Land of the Lost, but I loved Land of the laws. Like I'm watching it, and I have to say it out loud, like I loved Land of the Lost. I loved it so much. Okay, so we have some questions, because now we're watching it as adults really, like, hey, wait a minute. Hey. Okay, so the first question I have for you is, why was your shirt on button down to your navel like? Why did nobody in the 70s button their shirt?
Unknown Speaker 1:03:11
If you're
Unknown Speaker 1:03:13
at my
Unknown Speaker 1:03:15
age now, I my age now I have to button the top button to hide everything from hide everything,
Unknown Speaker 1:03:24
exactly.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:26
It struck me. First of all, it was sexy. Let's just say it. And I wondered if you waxed your chest. I mean, that was, that was really,
Unknown Speaker 1:03:37
I did not know. I'm natural.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:42
You are allowed. Moment allowed to plead the fifth on any of Kristen's questions. Okay? And you know, I ended up doing like a chip and Bill's calendar and stuff like that. So back in the day, let's find out. Yes, I'm the month of May. Thank you very much. And the Mary month of May, I got to tell you, Chris. Can I just tell you, Chris Atkins is one of the nicest guys. Both Greg Aragon and Chris are amazing. I had not really spent any time with Chris until we did a show together in Connecticut about a year and a half ago. And, you know, I was a huge fan of his, and we had more fun the two of us. I don't know what happened, but it clicked, and we did. We were like little school kids, and I was one of the greatest weekends. And Kathy played Holly goes, Oh, going over to Chris's table again, aren't you? Yes, I am.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:36
Crush on Chris Atkins. Let's just say he was amazing. And then he, of course, Greg Evan, who is just, you know, extraordinarily talented and a great musician. So, hey, this is great to know for March, because you're all three going to be there, and so are we. So
Unknown Speaker 1:04:54
we're going to get to witness this friendship in real life. Michelle, I'm imagining this. Just blush.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:00
Flash through my head. We have the event, it's all fun. And then we say, Hey, who wants to go out and have some tacos after or whatever? And then me, Chris and Greg and Wesley, and the three of us, we all go and, you know, have some tacos and enjoy together as pal. You know, one of the things about the shows that we do and things like that is I get to meet my heroes. You know, it's not just sort of standing behind the table and being from Dragon Tails or Land of the Lost or Days of Our Lives or whatever, but I get sitting next to Lou Gossett Jr, you know,
Unknown Speaker 1:05:36
Charo Luther Rick, no, all these different people that I grew up, and I'm like, sitting there and going, I can't believe that I am sitting next to this person who I've watched my entire life, because I'm a fan too. And when I'm going to a show, I look at the guest list and go, Oh my gosh, this person. I get to meet this person. It's amazing. So, so there's the two sides to these shows, you know, and one of the black with Chris and being able to spend time. And you know William cat, I'll tell you that William cat and from America's greatest heroes. And I mean, again, these guys were just are so much fun to be with. I love that. It goes back to you saying, you know, the teen idols would come over, would all get together, the teen idols. And I just love that. Call yourself the teen idols, yeah, but I just love the tip. We all love to know that it's not just the three of us, our listeners. Love to know that too. Just like that, you're so, so close with your cast mates of Land of the Lost, and that you can say these are honestly good people. That's huge for us as fans. Know that all the fans fantasize about how their favorite stars are friends in real life, right? That's our fantasy, and apparently you're making it come true. That's great, okay, but my questions are really important these okay, go, go, go. Have to, have to do them. Okay? So in the credits of the pilot episode, why do the credits say Wesley as will Marshall, where was your last name? Yes, I have that question. Oh, well, the budget was so small they couldn't afford the last four letters for the show.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:13
The cross were so cheap. And it just, you know, e, u, r, e was just, you know, they were going to cost them a lot. I like, $37
Unknown Speaker 1:07:20
and it was, you know, they couldn't do it. Good answer, okay. It was the stupidest thing in the world. Okay, let's just deal with it. I had a I was recording from Motown at the time with with the band, because you've never heard from us, so it didn't work. But Michael Lloyd was one of the guys. Michael Lloyd ended up being the guy that produced the theme song to let the loss be one of the biggest record producers in the industry to this day. But Michael was one of there were four boys. It was a boy group. And so my manager at the time goes, Oh, it's the 70s. Wesley. Just Wesley share. Charles.
Unknown Speaker 1:07:58
Thank you. You know, and, and, so if you probably noticed, by the second season, it was Wesley, you were so,
Unknown Speaker 1:08:07
yeah, it was, it was a, it was an interesting choice that was,
Unknown Speaker 1:08:12
oh well, it's kind of fun to talk about now, but it was kind of fabulous. Is what it is. It is absolutely fabulous. Yeah, that's great.
Unknown Speaker 1:08:20
Okay,
Unknown Speaker 1:08:24
how did you know? I mean, you're, you were in good company, like I said, there's Cher, there's Charo, you know, later on, there was just Prince, there was just Madonna. Yeah, I used to go to shares. Share used to have garage sales
Unknown Speaker 1:08:37
and invitation, stop it. And you go to, you go to, I went to three of them and share. I go to shares house, use a big gate, and I push the button and share. Go, yeah, I go, share. It's mostly she goes, come in. The gate would open up and you drive it. And her garage, she had all these Bob Mackey gowns and furniture and jewelry that, because she was like a shopaholic.
Unknown Speaker 1:09:03
And we would go, I take my mother, because my mother could wear they were the same size. The shares really petite, and my mother was petite. And, and we would buy, you know, we, I think we, once, we bought two giant green winged back chairs because he was redecorating. And those are in my mother's house for years and, and the first time we went to her garage sale, the first one that I went to, somebody bought one of those squash blossoms, which, back in the 70s, there were those big silver and turquoise necklaces, sort of Indian motif, and they bought it for $75 now this is the 70s, and they sold it for $2,000 the next week. So the next one I went to, I ran with my mother. We went right to the jewelry, grabbed the jewelry, but I remember my best moment with Cher was she's standing in the garage, and there's something for like $20 and I go share. I'll give you 15. She goes, it's mock 20.
Unknown Speaker 1:09:56
Okay, I'll pay 20. I'll pay 20. It's not about to have Garage.
Unknown Speaker 1:10:00
Sale prices. Yeah, 50 cents.
Unknown Speaker 1:10:04
That's so fun. Okay, here's my last pilot question, and it has to do with preparation for the show. So please be honest, did you have to practice like your scared faces in the mirror before your first day of work? Like,
Unknown Speaker 1:10:21
oh, there's a lot. There's so many scared places,
Unknown Speaker 1:10:26
you know. Well, first of all, I mean, I had been, I worked in, you know, I done, I started doing Shakespeare in New York, and it's Stratford and stuff like that. But, but I was on Days and stuff. But, in fact, there was one scene that Kathy and I did, we, we actually saw where we see our mother, and we start to cry and stop, and they stop to take and Bob Larry things. Bob la director came out said, Look, guys, this is too real. He said, Remember, this is Saturday morning. You got to pull it back a little bit, because it'll scare the kids too much. And so he said, it's just too real. And so Kathy and I had to pull it back. And no cat and Kathy, my gosh,
Unknown Speaker 1:11:07
episode you ever watched the episode The opening of the third season, where we lost our dad? Oh, I just saw it recently. I was crying like a baby. I because I never saw the episode before. Because remember back in the 70s, if you missed it, you missed it, you didn't get to see it, you know, because there's no, there's no recording anything or repeats, unless you were, you know, lucky enough to catch that one day that repeated. But the performance of her, you forget how amazing these child stars were. And there's a reason for famous and you know, we're around a lot of child stars, you know, from, from, you know, my gosh, this, you know, from Johnny Whitaker to Bucha Patrick to all these wonderful kids. And we forget sometimes, what an amazing what amazing actors practices they were, wow. So does that mean that when you're running away from the dinosaur. Can you see the dinosaur? Are you having to conjure something in your mouth?
Unknown Speaker 1:12:07
Well, it was the largest blue screen. So it was which, again, is now green screen, but it was the whole wall of a soundstage was blue. The floor was blue, and whatever was blue disappeared. So they, they the dinosaurs were on film and we were videotaped. And the first episode didn't work because they had never been able it's the first time in history in Hollywood they had melded live
Unknown Speaker 1:12:32
film and video tape at the same time. So it didn't work. The first episodes, they called the Disney people in and everybody worked on it, and the next week, they were able to fix it. But what they do is we, Kathy and I are Phil or Spencer Milligan, who played Marshall, our dad.
Unknown Speaker 1:12:47
We would be on on the blue screen, and they would say, look at that light up there. And that's going to be grumpy. His head run to the right, you know, and that's it. So we just look up there with we're all focusing on the same light, so it looks like we're looking at grumpy, and then we and they would shrink us down so we can see in the monitor, they'd have the dinosaurs on sale, and they would just shrink our bodies down to be proportionate to the dinosaurs. And it was all done live. Wow. And that must have been so exciting. How old were you when you were and when you started doing this? Well, I was actually I was 22 because I was playing 16, but I'd been on the soaps and stuff like that. And I remember, I was in New York. I was, I actually been flown to New York. I was going to star in Candide on Broadway, David Merrick and and I got called that. I got Land of the Lost. And I go, I don't know if I want to play 16, you know? I mean, I'm 22 and I'm on the soap. And anyway, one of the greatest decisions of my life is to say, well, it's impacted. I mean, look at to this day, it's still change, like you said at these, all of these events. And we just love that you and Kathy and Philip show up with the yellow raft. And I think you know this, this conversation with you, Wesley, we feel, at least the three of us feel, has been a long time coming, because you're so awesome listeners. Wesley has the just the most fun Instagram page, because he posts all these photos when they go to these fan events and you bring your yellow raft, and I've said many times to you, it's our bucket list to get on that raft. And you always reply to us and we're we get so excited. We share it in our in our little chat with each other. Wesley liked it. That means he wants us to be on the yellow raft, but we're hoping one day we're going to be on that yellow raft, and we all get to do the face that they all like bounce, and then they make the face where they go.
Unknown Speaker 1:14:30
Well, it was Kathy's idea, and we've done it for about 10 years. And that was a good idea 10 years ago. Now that I've gotten older, I need to craft to get up and down, but, but, you know, we bring the yellow raft. We put yellow light jackets on yellow oars. And we, you know, we a lot of performance. You go to these shows, you buy an autograph and get a photo. We thought, no, let's create an experience. And we put everybody in the raft on the floor. We get in, we pretend we're going for the waterfall. Everybody's screaming and yelling. And we have.
Unknown Speaker 1:15:00
And plus, every celebrity that you can imagine begs us to get a photo. Melissa Gilbert just
Unknown Speaker 1:15:06
was in the rap.
Unknown Speaker 1:15:09
Mind was in the rap John Schneider, Lonnie Anderson, Sam Jones,
Unknown Speaker 1:15:16
all these people come running and saying, We want a picture. We want to be the most famous in TV history, right? Yeah, exactly. Going back to how you did say this was the best decision you made, because it's understandable. At age 22 you would say, I don't know if I want to play 16 because at 22 you think you're all that, you know, but it's still Chinese day impacting people. But that's also thanks to you guys, because you're still going out and connecting with everybody, and that means the world to to all of the fans and to us and to our listeners. So yeah, we just have to thank you again for that. Thank you really. Yes,
Unknown Speaker 1:15:56
this has been so fun. Thank you so much for meeting with us. Oh yes, we are so excited. March you guys off. Thank you guys, thanks. I do want to ask you know, we're so excited to meet you in person on March 12. We will be there with bells on and do are you bringing the raft? Probably not right to the March 12 event. Do you think because it's not, it's a different type I'm coming from. I'm actually coming from my house. I'm coming from my house in Mexico. I live in Mexico six months out of the year, in Puerto Vallarta, and so I'll be just flying in for the day to LA
Unknown Speaker 1:16:28
and bringing the raft. You wouldn't object. Then if we brought our own raft, I'm hearing,
Unknown Speaker 1:16:35
oh my gosh. Are
Unknown Speaker 1:16:39
you crazy?
Unknown Speaker 1:16:41
There's
Unknown Speaker 1:16:42
a crazy.
Unknown Speaker 1:16:44
So excited to chat with you and with your friends, Chris and Greg. We're excited to chat with them, and Jimmy and Christy, absolutely we will see you on March 12. Perfect. I look forward to it. Thank you guys, thanks for having me on I appreciate it. Bye, guys, take care. When
Unknown Speaker 1:17:01
I look all around I can't believe the things I found now I
Unknown Speaker 1:17:07
need to
Unknown Speaker 1:17:09
find my way.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:17
Listeners, you are welcome. That was a Gen X Hollywood insider conversation of epic proportions land with the lost and Charo in the same room. I mean, who knew and share was an intersection of those two things, plus chair and her garage sales.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:33
All of that makes for a really good day for the pop culture Preservation Society. A very special thank you to Wesley. You are for his generosity with us today, and thank you all for listening. Stay safe out there and watch out for those flea stacks.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:47
And you guys, I'm gonna do my darndest to find that clip of Philip Paley flipping Johnny Carson. That would be great. And yes, if you're lucky enough right now to already be a subscriber to our Weekly Reader, you will get to see a clip. Cross your fingers, I find it. And if you're not already a subscriber, just go to our website or our link in Instagram to sign up. And also the Tenacious D clip of them doing the land of the last theme we've seen that. Let's put that into Yeah, yes, that will be in there too. So you don't want to miss it, peeps,
Unknown Speaker 1:18:20
today's episode was funded by our supporters on Patreon.
Unknown Speaker 1:18:25
But really, she's on NPR, but really, everyone who joins our team of supporters on Patreon gets a shout out on this podcast, because you are what makes all of this happen. Today, we'd like to give a big, humongous thank you to Christine, Nina, Sherry, Stacy, Donna, Kristen, Tracy, Margaret and Joanne. Thanks so so much for all of your support. In the meantime, let's raise our glasses for a toast, courtesy of the cast of Three's Company, two good times, two Happy Days, Two Little House on the Prairie cheers the information,
Unknown Speaker 1:19:01
opinions and comments expressed on the pop culture Preservation Society podcast belong solely to Carolyn the crushologist and hello Newman and are in no way representative of our employers or affiliates. And though we truly believe we are always right, there is always a first time the PCPs is written, produced and recorded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of the fictional wjm studios and our beloved Mary, Richards, Nanu. Nanu, keep on truckin and may the Force be with you.