Step back into the wild world of the 1991 Land of the Lost reboot! This retrospective dives into the chaotic charm of the ABC Saturday morning series, a remake of the 1974 cult classic. From dinosaurs and Sleestaks to the Porter family’s bizarre adventures in a parallel universe, we explore why this 90s show, with its quirky special effects and lighter tone, left a mark despite mixed reviews. Relive iconic moments, like the Crystal Sword and Tasha the baby dinosaur, and discover why Nickelodeon reruns (1995–1997) kept it alive for 90s kids. Share your favorite Land of the Lost memory below! #LandOfTheLost #1991Reboot #90sNostalgia #SaturdayMorningCartoons #SciFiTV #Nostalgia #90sTV #RetroTV #Sleestaks #Dinosaurs #ABCTV #Nickelodeon #Throwback #PopCulture #90sKids #VintageTV #SidAndMartyKrofft #CrystalSword #TashaDinosaur #SciFiAdventure #RetroVibes #TVHistory #90s #ForgottenTV #ChildhoodMemories #TVRetrospective
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00:00When people start getting all nostalgic about their childhood, the first thing
00:04they like to do is talk about the shows that they grew up with. You know, the ones
00:08that were appointment television. Shows who had catchphrases that were so
00:12popular that you're still using them. Shows that not only did you have to
00:16watch, but you had to also own every piece of merchandise from. When I was a
00:20kid, my love affair was with the real Ghostbusters. Look at that happy kid
00:25getting the firehouse. But then when you dig a little deeper into your memories,
00:30you start thinking about those shows that you kind of have a faint memory of,
00:33but it would be hard to look up because you don't even remember what the name of
00:36that show was. Now me being a 90s kid raised on Nickelodeon, that show for me
00:42happened to air, I don't know, like 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Coming up, it's Land of
00:49the Lost, followed by Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, only on
00:54Nick. Almost punishing you for waking up that early on a non-school day. When
00:59people start talking about their favorite 90s Nickelodeon shows, I'd say,
01:03remember that show? And they'd say, can we talk about Kenan and Kel again?
01:08Is it true? With back-to-back Kenan and Kel. Heck, I've heard more people talk about
01:12Space Cases than this show. But will they ever get home? Or are they forever
01:16destined to be Space Cases? Some people even older than me will talk about some show
01:23called 15 that used to be on Nickelodeon.
01:25Nick's high school saga continues with all new episodes of 15 every Sunday at
01:305.30, 4.30 Central. But that doesn't even sound like a real show to me. So in this
01:34memory I have, a family is driving their vehicle and gets sucked into the land
01:39where they live with dinosaurs. So that's when you go to your old friend Google
01:43and type in family, teleports, new world, dinosaurs. And what do I find? It's a 1970
01:50show called Land of the Lost.
01:57But from my memory, this did not look like a 70s show. So that's wrong? There's
02:05nothing on the 90s Nickelodeon page about the 70s Land of the Lost. That's
02:09because it's actually a revival that they made in the early 90s.
02:16But it wasn't a Nickelodeon show. It actually aired on ABC Saturday
02:25Morning. But they must have thought that Land of the Lost was gonna be a big hit.
02:28They even got the Family Matters cast and Step-by-Steps cast to help promote
02:33it. Yeah, they brought the big guns in Urkel and Carl Winslow to talk about how
02:53great this show was gonna be. And I think they really believed it
03:03because they also put out a major toy line by Tiger. Land of the Lost action
03:08figures from Tiger. Back in the 90s, toy commercials seemed to be able to build a
03:13set to show off play sets for toys. But they were even able to pull off the look
03:18of the Land of the Lost. Someday I'm gonna have to get into a
03:21discussion about these toy commercials. If you've never heard of Land of the
03:31Lost before, the commercial describes the plot of the show in pretty accurate
03:35detail. They're trapped. Annie, Krista, Tasha, and Kevin are being chased by Shun.
03:41The commercial is like the perfect elevator pitch on why you should watch Land of the Lost.
03:45A great beast has entered the Land of the Lost. And he's chasing Tasha.
03:55The Porter family and their friends do have to fight off Sleeve Stacks and
03:59Dinosaurs. And Dinosaurs on the show don't discriminate. They will attack
04:08Sleeve Stacks. And the show would go on to introduce a Cyclops Demon. And yes,
04:15Cyclops Demons will also eat the Sleeve Stacks.
04:23But Tiger didn't stop there. They also made an LCD handheld
04:29game for the show that starred Tasha the Dinosaur. And like any other Tiger
04:34electronic game, it's not very fun. And hey, don't want to feel lonely and have
04:39a hundred bucks to spend? Tiger also made a stuffed Stink the Monkey That Talks.
04:44They also had a toy line made by Just Toys Bendems.
04:52So I was curious and decided maybe I should give this show another chance. And
04:58when I started that first episode, it immediately hit me what it was that made
05:02me remember this show. It's the show's amazing opening. It
05:07immediately describes the plot of the show,
05:15why the Porter family was able to have all the necessities needed to live in
05:19this new world, and what it was that sucked him into this new world.
05:29Also making me forever fearful of running into a sinkhole.
05:38And the theme song? Well that's like a sleeper hit in the competition of best
05:43theme song of all time.
05:49They waste no time in telling you about all the hazards of this new world.
05:58But you're also told who in this new world is a friend of the Porter family.
06:09The guy is like the most passionate singer I've ever heard.
06:17And I love how the dinosaurs roar is synced up in the theme song.
06:24It's almost like the dinosaurs saying, hell yeah you found a dinosaur, I'm the
06:29dinosaur. And as the opener ends, we're introduced to the Porter family.
06:41This is a pretty great theme song, but it could use a rap remix.
06:46I'm in charge, yes I am. I'm the coolest leader in all the land. You know how well
06:51that worked out for Garfield and friends.
06:53Sticking with the fact, you can take it all back, he's so fat, he's so fat, and he loves a lasagna.
06:57So don't push me around, or get in my way, or you'll be grounded for the rest of the day.
07:02Oh wait, never mind. If that's the rapper, I want nothing to do with the rap remix.
07:07While watching this show, I started thinking, what show is kind of similar to this?
07:12Concept-wise, interaction-wise, and the closest thing I could think of was
07:18Gilligan's Island. On the pilot episode of Gilligan's Island, when the boat leaves
07:22everyone stranded, they have to go and build the huts. Well, Land of the Lost, we
07:28already have the Porter family living in their tree home. They don't waste time
07:32explaining how Tom built all this, and where they found all the necessary
07:38equipment needed to do the job. They even seem to have electricity. So it doesn't
07:43really seem like the Porter family is struggling to live in this new world.
07:46They're not living comfortably, but they're not in, like, dire straits. Then
07:51you start thinking, wait, shouldn't they be in dire straits? How is any of this
07:55possible right now? What are they eating? How much stuff did they bring with them
07:59on that vacation that they were supposed to have? That's when you have to take the
08:02advice of Mystery Science Theater's theme song.
08:05Don't repeat to yourself, it's just a show. I should really just relax.
08:11Our pilot begins not with the Porter family, but instead with a dinosaur mother
08:15protecting her eggs from an oncoming Tyrannosaurus Rex. Well, T-Rex, he, uh,
08:20kills your mama! So now we meet the Porter family. Dad Tom, who's a widower
08:28and a former workaholic. Him being a workaholic was a source of friction
08:32between him and his wife. They even had an argument the morning that she passed
08:36away. That trip that you saw in the opening, that was actually a healing trip
08:41so that Tom could bond with his kids after that tragedy. Then we have the
08:45teenage son, Kevin. Kevin's from California, and he also has that late
08:5380s, early 90s swagger that, uh, Zack Morris had. And also says cool 90s
09:04slang. Kevin, he's going through puberty. I think it's called being 16. He's a
09:12self-centered bum. But don't call him a nerd. Even back in his world, he spent a
09:19lot of his free time vlogging the way that you would in the 80s. Finally, we
09:23have little sister Annie, whose personality is sitcom little sister.
09:32Throughout the show, I felt like the Porter family started getting a little
09:35blasé about the whole idea of living on a planet with dinosaurs. It was almost
09:40like they were too cool to even react anymore. But the family does stay alert
09:45for T-Rex. Because if the family was to make too much noise, T-Rex would find
09:54them. And, well, it did find them. It found Dad.
10:01And that was our last episode.
10:07Where are you? No, I'm kidding. Apparently, the dad is a master electrician and even
10:15built a shock trap to shock T-Rex when he got too close. T-Rex has his look on his
10:20face like, how can this happen to me? But what we learned in that pilot is not all
10:28dinosaurs are bad. You know the egg that I was talking about in the very beginning
10:31of the episode? Well, Kevin and Annie stumble across that egg.
10:36You might recognize this as a Tyrannosaurus Rex egg. Kevin goes full
10:41Chappelle show mode and wants to make a dinosaur omelet. Hey, how do I want my
10:45omelet in the morning? It's big. You lay one finger on this, Kevin, and you'll be
10:51sucking your breakfast through a straw.
10:57Annie wants to let the egg out. Congratulations, you just gave birth to
11:04the show's comedic relief. And it's hideous. But also adorable? That baby dinosaur was so cute.
11:14As cute as moi. Well, I have to admit, there is a strong resemblance. Adorable, as long as you're
11:21not waking up in the middle of the night to see it doing it's Gene Simmons impression next to you.
11:29Remember earlier when I said that I was addicted to real Ghostbusters? You know
11:33when that show's Slimer took over the bulk of the storylines and became an
11:38almost mascot for the Ghostbusters? Well, on this show, Tasha's the pet slash
11:44mascot for the Porter family and tends to take over the storylines.
11:49She's still thunderlizard.
11:54And provide a good amount of comic relief.
12:00You know, when Tasha talks, it even kind of sounds like Slimer.
12:08A good amount of the show's plotlines seem to revolve around Tasha getting caught.
12:15Or being under attack.
12:20And other ones tending to be about misunderstandings caused by her.
12:34Or the fact that she's kind of a wild animal and not really a pet.
12:50Which is something that could probably easily get lost on you as a viewer,
12:54considering half the time she's treated like the family dog.
13:00Okay, I thought I was making an original connection, since through my research I
13:05hadn't seen his name pop up until now.
13:10Tasha has an appetite even Slimer the Ghost would envy.
13:15Then there was one episode where a sorceress came around and granted Tasha
13:19the ability to talk. Tasha having the ability to talk is terrifying.
13:28Why is it terrifying? Because Tasha sounds like Elmo.
13:35And sings like Elmo.
13:44And acts like Elmo.
13:51No wonder Kevin spends most of his time annoyed by Tasha.
13:59Though when I continue watching the show, Kevin kind of gets annoyed by everything.
14:11Hormones, am I right?
14:13Kevin is able to find himself a best friend in Stink the Monkey.
14:22Stink is another character that the Porter family meets and befriends.
14:29Though initially it didn't look like Stink was interested in becoming their friend.
14:33In fact it looked like he was going to monkey murder them.
14:36But instead he uses his monkey strength to fight off potential threats.
14:40Stink became a friend of the Porter family.
14:42And now he's able to barge into their house like he's a monkey creamer.
14:49Stink is able to communicate in broken English.
14:54And sort of has a grasp on basic human interaction.
15:02You could say that Stink's been 90's radicalized.
15:06Stink understands humans because he's a monkey boy hybrid.
15:11According to Just Toys.
15:13What's Stink like?
15:15Well, curious George come to life.
15:18Stink, like Tasha, is part of the show's comedic relief.
15:22And honestly became my favorite character.
15:26Chill, Stink.
15:28He looks like a baseball coach protesting a bad call.
15:37How can you not crack up laughing at his Macaulay Culkin impression?
15:44Shut up, Stink!
15:46Along with Stink we meet Krista.
15:48Krista.
15:50Krista is a human woman who's grown up in this world and adapted to the hazards of it.
15:55Dad, who is she?
15:57Oh my gosh, she's beautiful!
16:00She also is a protector of the Porter family.
16:03She also is a protector of the Porter family.
16:08Doing things like scaring off predators.
16:15And did I mention that Kevin is in love with her?
16:20Though a 23 year old woman dating a 14 year old might be a little frowned upon back in the real world.
16:27That's the problem.
16:29Everybody thinks I'm just a kid.
16:31Especially Krista.
16:34Krista, like Stink, also speaks in broken English.
16:37Krista teach Annie about jungle.
16:40So then you ask yourself, who taught Stink and Krista English?
16:43How do you know English?
16:45I don't know.
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