H.R. Pufnstuf.

                                                                     H.R. Pufnstuf.

H.R. Pufnstuf is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program.  The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast from September 6, 1969 to December 27, 1969. The broadcasts were successful enough that NBC kept it on the Saturday morning schedule until August 1972. The show was shot in Paramount Studios and its opening was shot in Big Bear Lake, California. Reruns of the show aired on ABCSaturday morning from September 2, 1972 to September 8, 1973 and on Sunday mornings in some markets from September 16, 1973 to September 8, 1974. It was syndicated by itself from 1974 to 1978 and in a package with six other Kroft series under the banner Krofft Superstars from 1978 to 1985.

Reruns of the show are now airing on Me-TV Network on Saturday mornings.

In 2004 and 2007, H.R. Pufnstuf was ranked #22 and #27 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.

Jimmy was taken in by Pufnstuf, who was able to protect him from Witchiepoo, as the cave where he lived was the only place her magic had no effect. Apart from Jimmy and Witchiepoo, all of the characters on Living Island were realized via large cumbersome costumes or puppetry. Since everything on Living Island was alive (namely houses, castles, boats, clocks, candles, books, trees,mushrooms, etc.), virtually any part of the Living Island sets could become a character, usually voiced in a parody of a famous film star, such as Mae West, Edward G. Robinson or most notably John Wayne as "The West Wind." A frequent plot device involves Witchiepoo and her henchmen Orson Vulture, Seymour Spider, and Stupid Bat trying to steal Freddy only to be thwarted by Pufnstuf. Another concerns Jimmy and Freddy's efforts to return home from Living Island with the same lack of success.

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