David Gerrold gave Land of the Lost an ending, then renewal ate it
We were lucky to grow up in the days of Saturday morning TV offering kids cereal, dinosaurs, and causality problems.
Thinking the show was doomed, legendary television sci-fi writer David Gerrold gave Land of the Lost an elegant series finale. Then the Marshall family got renewed, and the show promptly forgot it had happened.
In the Season 1 finale, “Circle,” the Marshalls learn that the Land of the Lost is caught in a time loop. The family’s arrival and escape are tangled together, and the only way to break the loop is to go home through the very doorway that brought them there. It is a surprisingly elegant ending for a show whose entire repertoire of effects consisted of running a fog machine as men in rubber suits stumbled around, and occasionally flashing a light.
And then Land of the Lost got renewed.
The series made it through a third season, which featured “Uncle Jack.” I remember not paying much attention to that season, and likely had moved on.
We were lucky to grow up in the days of Saturday morning TV offering kids cereal, dinosaurs, and causality problems.
Bonus: Best outro ever.