Marty and his brother Sid were a huge part of Generation X’ Saturday mornings! This duo shook up the Hanna-Barbera-dominated landscape in the late Sixties to the late Seventies with their live-action shows. Many often starred SitCom stars such as Bob Denver, Charles Nelson Riley, Ruth Buzzi and Jim Nabors alongside psychedelic-looking puppets or people in silly costumes. Contrary to all the fan mail they received from stoned college students, I recall them telling an interviewer, “If we did the drugs you thought were required to come up with these things, we wouldn’t be alive today.”
Besides kid programming, the Krofft Brothers produced prime-time programs. They made Donnie and Marie’s variety show mandatory watching on Friday nights. You could tell they were involved too; the bright colors and the ridiculous skits (ice skaters during the opening every week!). They sure toned it down for Barbara Mandrell. I would’ve never guessed in a million years they produced her hit show. But for me, the biggest prime-time legacy I will always remember them for, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. It was PURE CHEESE. Yet it’s one humongous cultural moment it will live in infamy for, introducing mainstream America to KISS. I remember shortly after the special, “Beth” was on the radio all the time and all the bigger kids/teens in school were buying up Destroyer and Rock and Roll Over.
Thanks for everything you did Marty! I hope your brother Sid remains in good health so I can save up the other great history and things you all did for his obit.