00:00When people start getting all nostalgic about their childhood, the first thing
00:04they like to do is talk about the shows that they grew up with. You know, the ones
00:08that were appointment television. Shows who had catchphrases that were so
00:12popular that you're still using them. Shows that not only did you have to
00:16watch, but you had to also own every piece of merchandise from. When I was a
00:20kid, my love affair was with the real Ghostbusters. Look at that happy kid
00:25getting the firehouse. But then when you dig a little deeper into your memories,
00:30you start thinking about those shows that you kind of have a faint memory of,
00:33but it would be hard to look up because you don't even remember what the name of
00:36that show was. Now me being a 90s kid raised on Nickelodeon, that show for me
00:42happened to air, I don't know, like 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Coming up, it's Land of
00:49the Lost, followed by Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, only on
00:54Nick. Almost punishing you for waking up that early on a non-school day. When
00:59people start talking about their favorite 90s Nickelodeon shows, I'd say,
01:03remember that show? And they'd say, can we talk about Kenan and Kel again?
01:08Is it true? With back-to-back Kenan and Kel. Heck, I've heard more people talk about
01:12Space Cases than this show. But will they ever get home? Or are they forever
01:16destined to be Space Cases? Some people even older than me will talk about some show
01:23called 15 that used to be on Nickelodeon.
01:25Nick's high school saga continues with all new episodes of 15 every Sunday at
01:305.30, 4.30 Central. But that doesn't even sound like a real show to me. So in this
01:34memory I have, a family is driving their vehicle and gets sucked into the land
01:39where they live with dinosaurs. So that's when you go to your old friend Google
01:43and type in family, teleports, new world, dinosaurs. And what do I find? It's a 1970
01:50show called Land of the Lost.
01:57But from my memory, this did not look like a 70s show. So that's wrong? There's
02:05nothing on the 90s Nickelodeon page about the 70s Land of the Lost. That's
02:09because it's actually a revival that they made in the early 90s.
02:16But it wasn't a Nickelodeon show. It actually aired on ABC Saturday
02:25Morning. But they must have thought that Land of the Lost was gonna be a big hit.
02:28They even got the Family Matters cast and Step-by-Steps cast to help promote
02:33it. Yeah, they brought the big guns in Urkel and Carl Winslow to talk about how
02:53great this show was gonna be. And I think they really believed it
03:03because they also put out a major toy line by Tiger. Land of the Lost action
03:08figures from Tiger. Back in the 90s, toy commercials seemed to be able to build a
03:13set to show off play sets for toys. But they were even able to pull off the look
03:18of the Land of the Lost. Someday I'm gonna have to get into a
03:21discussion about these toy commercials. If you've never heard of Land of the
03:31Lost before, the commercial describes the plot of the show in pretty accurate
03:35detail. They're trapped. Annie, Krista, Tasha, and Kevin are being chased by Shun.
03:41The commercial is like the perfect elevator pitch on why you should watch Land of the Lost.
03:45A great beast has entered the Land of the Lost. And he's chasing Tasha.
03:55The Porter family and their friends do have to fight off Sleeve Stacks and
03:59Dinosaurs. And Dinosaurs on the show don't discriminate. They will attack
04:08Sleeve Stacks. And the show would go on to introduce a Cyclops Demon. And yes,
04:15Cyclops Demons will also eat the Sleeve Stacks.
04:23But Tiger didn't stop there. They also made an LCD handheld
04:29game for the show that starred Tasha the Dinosaur. And like any other Tiger
04:34electronic game, it's not very fun. And hey, don't want to feel lonely and have
04:39a hundred bucks to spend? Tiger also made a stuffed Stink the Monkey That Talks.
04:44They also had a toy line made by Just Toys Bendems.
04:52So I was curious and decided maybe I should give this show another chance. And
04:58when I started that first episode, it immediately hit me what it was that made
05:02me remember this show. It's the show's amazing opening. It
05:07immediately describes the plot of the show,
05:15why the Porter family was able to have all the necessities needed to live in
05:19this new world, and what it was that sucked him into this new world.
05:29Also making me forever fearful of running into a sinkhole.
05:38And the theme song? Well that's like a sleeper hit in the competition of best
05:43theme song of all time.
05:49They waste no time in telling you about all the hazards of this new world.
05:58But you're also told who in this new world is a friend of the Porter family.
06:09The guy is like the most passionate singer I've ever heard.
06:17And I love how the dinosaurs roar is synced up in the theme song.
06:24It's almost like the dinosaurs saying, hell yeah you found a dinosaur, I'm the
06:29dinosaur. And as the opener ends, we're introduced to the Porter family.
06:41This is a pretty great theme song, but it could use a rap remix.
06:46I'm in charge, yes I am. I'm the coolest leader in all the land. You know how well
06:51that worked out for Garfield and friends.
06:53Sticking with the fact, you can take it all back, he's so fat, he's so fat, and he loves a lasagna.
06:57So don't push me around, or get in my way, or you'll be grounded for the rest of the day.
07:02Oh wait, never mind. If that's the rapper, I want nothing to do with the rap remix.
07:07While watching this show, I started thinking, what show is kind of similar to this?
07:12Concept-wise, interaction-wise, and the closest thing I could think of was
07:18Gilligan's Island. On the pilot episode of Gilligan's Island, when the boat leaves
07:22everyone stranded, they have to go and build the huts. Well, Land of the Lost, we
07:28already have the Porter family living in their tree home. They don't waste time
07:32explaining how Tom built all this, and where they found all the necessary
07:38equipment needed to do the job. They even seem to have electricity. So it doesn't
07:43really seem like the Porter family is struggling to live in this new world.
07:46They're not living comfortably, but they're not in, like, dire straits. Then
07:51you start thinking, wait, shouldn't they be in dire straits? How is any of this
07:55possible right now? What are they eating? How much stuff did they bring with them
07:59on that vacation that they were supposed to have? That's when you have to take the
08:02advice of Mystery Science Theater's theme song.
08:05Don't repeat to yourself, it's just a show. I should really just relax.
08:11Our pilot begins not with the Porter family, but instead with a dinosaur mother
08:15protecting her eggs from an oncoming Tyrannosaurus Rex. Well, T-Rex, he, uh,
08:20kills your mama! So now we meet the Porter family. Dad Tom, who's a widower
08:28and a former workaholic. Him being a workaholic was a source of friction
08:32between him and his wife. They even had an argument the morning that she passed
08:36away. That trip that you saw in the opening, that was actually a healing trip
08:41so that Tom could bond with his kids after that tragedy. Then we have the
08:45teenage son, Kevin. Kevin's from California, and he also has that late
08:5380s, early 90s swagger that, uh, Zack Morris had. And also says cool 90s
09:04slang. Kevin, he's going through puberty. I think it's called being 16. He's a
09:12self-centered bum. But don't call him a nerd. Even back in his world, he spent a
09:19lot of his free time vlogging the way that you would in the 80s. Finally, we
09:23have little sister Annie, whose personality is sitcom little sister.
09:32Throughout the show, I felt like the Porter family started getting a little
09:35blasé about the whole idea of living on a planet with dinosaurs. It was almost
09:40like they were too cool to even react anymore. But the family does stay alert
09:45for T-Rex. Because if the family was to make too much noise, T-Rex would find
09:54them. And, well, it did find them. It found Dad.
10:01And that was our last episode.
10:07Where are you? No, I'm kidding. Apparently, the dad is a master electrician and even
10:15built a shock trap to shock T-Rex when he got too close. T-Rex has his look on his
10:20face like, how can this happen to me? But what we learned in that pilot is not all
10:28dinosaurs are bad. You know the egg that I was talking about in the very beginning
10:31of the episode? Well, Kevin and Annie stumble across that egg.
10:36You might recognize this as a Tyrannosaurus Rex egg. Kevin goes full
10:41Chappelle show mode and wants to make a dinosaur omelet. Hey, how do I want my
10:45omelet in the morning? It's big. You lay one finger on this, Kevin, and you'll be
10:51sucking your breakfast through a straw.
10:57Annie wants to let the egg out. Congratulations, you just gave birth to
11:04the show's comedic relief. And it's hideous. But also adorable? That baby dinosaur was so cute.
11:14As cute as moi. Well, I have to admit, there is a strong resemblance. Adorable, as long as you're
11:21not waking up in the middle of the night to see it doing it's Gene Simmons impression next to you.
11:29Remember earlier when I said that I was addicted to real Ghostbusters? You know
11:33when that show's Slimer took over the bulk of the storylines and became an
11:38almost mascot for the Ghostbusters? Well, on this show, Tasha's the pet slash
11:44mascot for the Porter family and tends to take over the storylines.
11:49She's still thunderlizard.
11:54And provide a good amount of comic relief.
12:00You know, when Tasha talks, it even kind of sounds like Slimer.
12:08A good amount of the show's plotlines seem to revolve around Tasha getting caught.
12:15Or being under attack.
12:20And other ones tending to be about misunderstandings caused by her.
12:34Or the fact that she's kind of a wild animal and not really a pet.
12:50Which is something that could probably easily get lost on you as a viewer,
12:54considering half the time she's treated like the family dog.
13:00Okay, I thought I was making an original connection, since through my research I
13:05hadn't seen his name pop up until now.
13:10Tasha has an appetite even Slimer the Ghost would envy.
13:15Then there was one episode where a sorceress came around and granted Tasha
13:19the ability to talk. Tasha having the ability to talk is terrifying.
13:28Why is it terrifying? Because Tasha sounds like Elmo.
13:35And sings like Elmo.
13:44And acts like Elmo.
13:51No wonder Kevin spends most of his time annoyed by Tasha.
13:59Though when I continue watching the show, Kevin kind of gets annoyed by everything.
14:11Hormones, am I right?
14:13Kevin is able to find himself a best friend in Stink the Monkey.
14:22Stink is another character that the Porter family meets and befriends.
14:29Though initially it didn't look like Stink was interested in becoming their friend.
14:33In fact it looked like he was going to monkey murder them.
14:36But instead he uses his monkey strength to fight off potential threats.
14:40Stink became a friend of the Porter family.
14:42And now he's able to barge into their house like he's a monkey creamer.
14:49Stink is able to communicate in broken English.
14:54And sort of has a grasp on basic human interaction.
15:02You could say that Stink's been 90's radicalized.
15:06Stink understands humans because he's a monkey boy hybrid.
15:11According to Just Toys.
15:13What's Stink like?
15:15Well, curious George come to life.
15:18Stink, like Tasha, is part of the show's comedic relief.
15:22And honestly became my favorite character.
15:26Chill, Stink.
15:28He looks like a baseball coach protesting a bad call.
15:37How can you not crack up laughing at his Macaulay Culkin impression?
15:44Shut up, Stink!
15:46Along with Stink we meet Krista.
15:48Krista.
15:50Krista is a human woman who's grown up in this world and adapted to the hazards of it.
15:55Dad, who is she?
15:57Oh my gosh, she's beautiful!
16:00She also is a protector of the Porter family.
16:03She also is a protector of the Porter family.
16:08Doing things like scaring off predators.
16:15And did I mention that Kevin is in love with her?
16:20Though a 23 year old woman dating a 14 year old might be a little frowned upon back in the real world.
16:27That's the problem.
16:29Everybody thinks I'm just a kid.
16:31Especially Krista.
16:34Krista, like Stink, also speaks in broken English.
16:37Krista teach Annie about jungle.
16:40So then you ask yourself, who taught Stink and Krista English?
16:43How do you know English?
16:45I don't know.
