Land of the Lost (1974)

 

I remember seeing the previews for this show in the summer of 1974.  They always featured the dinosaurs, and that was enough to get me to watch it when it debuted on September 7, 1974.  It was on NBC, opposite Valley of the Dinosaurs on CBS.  That was a tough call, but Land won, at least until the reruns started.  It was a pretty easy choice, overall.  I really enjoy Valley, but it sure doesn't have the pedigree that Land does.

The first season is gold, which is due to David Gerrold not writing or supervising the scripts.  The third season is rather dire, especially since Rick Marshall left and was replaced with Uncle Jack.  Spencer Milligan left due to financial considerations.  He wanted the cast to get paid for the use of their images.  The gall he had to want more money.

All three seasons are watchable, but the first one is self contained.  Had they stopped there, the show would have been fine.  It was fun to see new creatures show up, but one of them was an animated armature.  That's kinda lazy.