CROSSOVER MADNESS

 

In youth I watched some of the Sid and Marty Krofft live-action shows but avoided most of the producers' "suitmation" episodes of the decade. So I was unaware as to how often those shows-- H.R. PUFNSTUF, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS, and LIDSVILLE-- played host to crossovers between those franchises.  Probably the most notable one took place on LIDSVILLE. Though actress Billie Hayes had a regular role on that show, she also guested as her PUFNSTUF character Witchiepoo, wherein she had a romantic relationship with LIDSVILLE's comic villain Hoodoo. The two characters later showed up in "Horror Hotel," a segment of the 1978-79, but in a non-romantic context. "Hotel" also played host to comical versions of Dracula and an unnamed Frankenstein Monster.

     In 1972, when ABC was still seeking to publicize both PUFNSTUF and LIDSVILLE, the station aired THE BRADY BUNCH MEETS ABC'S SATURDAY SUPERSTARS. I've no idea if I saw the hour-long special in The Day, but at present only a brief clip appears on YouTube. This hype-special seems to have more of a narrative than most such specials, in which actors would most frequently just introduce clips from the TV shows being hyped. Apparently for the whole hour of SUPERSTARS, all six of the Brady Kids get zapped into a television set, meet both Witchiepoo and Hoodoo, and presumably watch clips of shows that needed hyping before getting returned to what passed for "Brady reality."