Lidsville

Lidsville
Premiere	September 11, 1971
Finale	January 8, 1972
Network/Provider	ABC
Style	30-minute children
Company	Krofft Productions
Seasons	1
Episodes	17
Origin	USA

Lidsville is a children's show that aired on ABC.

The show involved a teenage boy named Mark (Butch Patrick) who fell into the hat of Merlo the Magician (Charles Nelson Reilly) and arrived in Lidsville, a land of living hats. The hats on the show are depicted as having the same characteristics as the humans who would normally wear them. For example, a cowboy hat would act and speak like a cowboy. The characters' houses were also hat-shaped.

The villain of the show was a magician named Horatio J. HooDoo (also played by Charles Nelson Reilly in a magician's costume and make-up). Among other notable characters were Raunchy Rabbit (Sharon Baird in mascot, but voiced by Walker Edmiston), Weenie the Genie (Billie Hayes who also reprised her H.R. Pufnstuf role, Witchiepoo, in one episode), and Rah-Rah the football helmet (portrayed by Jerry Maren, voiced by Lennie Weinrib).

The vain, short-tempered, but somewhat naive HooDoo flew around in his Hatamaran, blasting the good citizens of Lidsville with bolts of magic (referred to as "zapping") and keeping them in fear, demanding that they pay him their Hat Checks. Mark helped the good hats resist as he attempted to find a way back home. HooDoo, trying to reclaim control of the androgynous Weenie from Mark, often enlisted the services of four Bad Hats consisting of Mr. Big, Captain Hooknose, Bela the Vampire's Cowl, and Boris the Executioner's Hood.

In his high hat home, HooDoo was besieged by the taunting music of the Hat Band, as well as all of his talking knicknacks (the parrot, Mr. Skull, the mounted alligator head, the sawed-in-half lady, to list only a few). HooDoo also experienced further aggravation at the hands of his aides, the dim Raunchy Rabbit and his two-faced card guard, Jack of Clubs (a walking deck of playing cards). HooDoo watched the action going on in downtown Lidsville from his hat home by using his Evil Eye, a device similar to a TV set, but resembling an eyeball. He also had a hot hatline phone. The show relied on an endless array of puns based on hats.

Many of the episodes were about Mark trying to get back home, but the evil HooDoo prevented him from leaving. Weenie, being a nervous bumbler, was, in fact, a genie, but many of the tricks and spells didn't work right anymore after being a slave to HooDoo for so long. In the show's final episode, scenes from some of the past episodes were featured, as HooDoo's mother (played by Muriel Landers, but not listed in the closing credits) had paid a visit to find out what has been going on in Lidsville. Unfortunately for Mark, he did not return home at the end.

Music was also a part of the show, with songs being performed by the characters in several episodes.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
ABC
Season One	September 11, 1971	January 8, 1972	17

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Complete Series
The Complete Series	January 25, 2005	3	purchase

External Links

• opening credits