Will Ferrell remakes "Land of the Lost"

On June 5, 2009, Will Ferrell's next movie, "Land of the Lost", will open in theaters. Ferrall is popular with some people but his acting career is uneven for me. I don't like his cheap slap-stick humor but he has done a few roles I was able to live with.

Land of the Lost was Sid and Marty Krofft's attempt to produce a serious science fiction show in the 1970s. It was one of the best-produced shows of the decade, as far as the science fiction and fantasy genres were concerned. David Gerrold ("The Trouble With Tribbles", Day of the Triffids, etc.) oversaw the scripts.

The show followed the adventures of the Marshall family, who found their way into a mysterious world both like and unlike Earth. The lost world had once been home to an advanced civilization but its people had declined to the point were they were semi-wild creatures.

Dinosaurs roamed the landscape, brought to life by a mix of claymation (stop-animation photography), puppetry, and state-of-the-art video effects.

The show ran for three seasons from 1974 to 1977 but then languished until 1991, when a new Land of the Lost was produced. The second show ran two seasons before it was shu down. Unfortunately, the second version of the show was not nearly as well-produced as the first.

Will Ferrell's take on the story is a comedic production that plays to his strengths and which should appeal to his many fans. However, hard-core land of the Lost fanatics need to brace themselves for a jarring change.

I'm not saying the movie will be bad -- just different from the early show.

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