In 1974, Land of the Lost was a scrappy, heartfelt Sid & Marty Krofft series that aired Saturday mornings on CBS, a weekly case study in how to wring every last penny out of a tight TV budget and somehow manage to create a few poignant moments out of a few bales of chicken wire, some papier-mâché, and a closet full of dinosaur puppets. As with all things Krofft, the aroma of cheese was often overpowering, but Land of the Lost’s uniquely oversized mythology set it apart from anything else on the Saturday morning dial, and helped the show earn an enduring cult following.

In 2009, Land of the Lost was a crappy, overblown Will Ferrell movie that tanked at the box office, suffered the wrath of critics, and even earned a condemnation from the American Medical Association for daring to show Ferrell’s character holding a pipe — a case study in how to take $100 million and piss it away on all the wrong things. In a deeply ironic twist, the new Lost is twice as cheesy, half as entertaining, and infinitely more expensive than the old one. Gotta love Hollywood, right?

The show, for those of you who don’t remember, related the adventures of scientist Rick Marshall and his kids, Holly and Will, following their accidental deposit in a strange parallel dimension that almost (but not quite) resembled prehistoric Earth. Because the filmmakers were smart enough to realize that Will Ferrell needs at least a PG-13 rating to be the least bit funny — and because it isn’t a Ferrell film unless his gross, fumbling sexual advances are being inexplicably accepted by a woman far more attractive than he is — there are no kids here; instead, Ferrell’s Rick Marshall is joined by a fellow scientist named Holly (played by Anna Friel) and a hygienically deprived gift shop owner named Will (played by a clearly coasting Danny McBride). (more…)