H.R. Pufnstuf: The Movie in development

[Censored]

BTW, the reason McDonald's never uses the characters of Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac anymore is because they got into a copyright dispute with Sid and Marty Kroft over the characters and lost.

 

[D'Snowth]

H.R. Pufnstuf was really a very popular show when it was new and in syndication. From what I've read, the reason that there were only 17 episodes was because they ran out of money and couldn't afford to keep it going with the standards that the Krofts wanted. For example, Sid and Marty wanted to keep the show on film instead of tape. The very last episode is mostly a bunch of flashbacks because they couldn't afford to make anything new. The premise was that Jimmy got amnesia and everyone was bringing up old times to help him get his memory back. After the show had gone off the air in the early 70's, the reruns came on every weekday morning, all 17 episodes one after the other. I doubt if the new movie will be as good, because part of the magic was the whole era that it was made, but I will definitely go see it.

It's amazing that I work camera down at my PBS station, and I don't know the difference between show being "filmed" and show being "taped". I actually have seen the new Pufnstuf puppet (they used it for the 2003 TV Land convention)...it hardly looks like the Pufnstuf puppet used back in the 70's. Any chance of Lennie Weinrib reprising his role of the googly-eyed dragon?

 

[Censored]

It's amazing that I work camera down at my PBS station, and I don't know the difference between show being "filmed" and show being "taped". I actually have seen the new Pufnstuf puppet (they used it for the 2003 TV Land convention)...it hardly looks like the Pufnstuf puppet used back in the 70's. Any chance of Lennie Weinrib reprising his role of the googly-eyed dragon?

The best way to understand the difference between a filmed show and a taped show is to compare the look of an old "Happy Days" show with the look of an old "All In The Family" show. "Happy Days" was on film. "All In The Family" was on tape. It gives it a very different look. Although some fine shows (such as most of Sesame Street) were done on tape, film is considered superior in the quality of its look.

 

[That Announcer]

Forget film. HD cameras and HD tape are the best methods to use when doing... anything. All of Robert Rodriguez's movies after "Spy Kids" (the original) were totally shot with HD cameras. "KSY" was shot with HD, and Episodes II and III of Star Wars were shot with HD. That's really the way to go.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Using today's technology you can shoot shows on video or film (if you have the right equipment and crew) and it's hard for the casual observer to tell the difference when it's done right. The 70s shows you mention are a pretty dated comparison.

I think film still looks better than tape or HD, but HD is really, really nice. Expensive, but really, really nice.