Customer Reviews

Bugaloos 2 [VHS]

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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In Tranquility Forest, the Bugaloos (handsome lads IQ, Harmony, and Courage; and Joy, the most captivating lass to ever grace Saturday morning television) live with their friend, Sparky the Firefly. As a band, they practice soft pop music that they perform for the hip and happening folks in nearby Rock City. The Bugaloos keep their surroundings clean, skysurf, and consistently find themselves thwarting the mad escapades of Benita Bizarre and her cronies. Probably the most obscure and arguably the least popular of the Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning live action shows, "The Bugaloos" retains an innocent charm that I feel surpasses the more well-known "Lidsville" and "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters." Credit this to some genuinely funny scripts, incredible color, and Martha Raye's over-the-top performance as Benita Bizarre. The songs are also a delight, an idealized cross between The Carpenters and The Archies (so don't be surprised to find yourself humming the tunes when you least expect it). A real treat for youngsters and those who were five- to ten-years old in 1970-71 and in time may have forgotten a lost treasure.

I loved this TV show as a child and I'm glad I can share the silly tales and sweet songs with my children. The "Sparky" doll
was a bit smaller than I thought he would be but he's cute all the same. If you're old enough to remember the Bugaloos and all the other wacky Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning shows, and loved them as much as I did, you need to have this video in your collection.

Even for a Krofft show, the Bugaloos was different. Most Krofft shows focused on heroes who wanted to get home (i.e. Pufnstuff or Land of the Lost). A few others focused on heroes who were on the look out for excitement (wonderbug, Electra Woman and Dyna-girl). The Bugaloos, however, were happy where they were. They didn't go looking for excitement, all they wanted was tranquility. The desire to just be at peace and play beautiful music set the distinctive tone for the series.

I won't bother reviewing the plots for the episodes on this tape. I'm sure anyone interested in them has already seen the show, and probably the episodes as well. I bought this tape and others for my daughters, and they just love them. They love the music, I've even caught them singing them to themselves. They think sparky is funny, and my oldest loves to pretend she's Benita Bizarre. I was concerned that they wouldn't like them, being kids of the the modern world, but even modern kids can appreciate Krofft craziness and vision, just like we did in the 70's.