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The Bugaloos was a short-lived children's show created by Sid and Marty Krofft. Just 17 episodes were filmed, but NBC continued broadcasting the series every Saturday morning for a full two years until 1972.

It's a delightfully strange show, visiting a wonderland called "The Tranquility Forest" which is populated by "The Bugaloos" (played by four young adults wearing antennas and wings on their backs). Wires even simulated their flight above a green soundstage filled with giant abstract flowers (some of which could talk). The four characters all had hippy names like "Harmony" and "Joy," and the show's main focus is the fact that they also had a hip rock group. (Naturally, it was called "The Bugaloos." But fortunately, their band's earnest music is surprisingly good.

Unfortunately, this earns them the hatred of "Benita Bizarre," an eccentric musical wannabe played by Martha Raye. One of her sidekicks is a giant rodent named "Funky Rat" (who had an ominous German accent), and she uses them to further her career while abusing her talented bug neighbors. In one episode, she steals the voice of the Bugaloo's female singer, and in another she kidnaps the local deejay to stop him from playing the Bugaloos' songs. Benita provided most of the show's comedy, and her ruthless behavior contrasted with the likeable peaceful young adults.

In fact, the friendly Bugaloos could've been cloyingly sweet if the actors hadn't been naturally appealing. Joy (played by Carolyn Ellis) was a sweet, peppy Tomboy in a pink mini-skirt who always had a great smile. The other Bugaloos were male, including "I.Q." a lively, skinny blonde whose green vest and green-and-white striped pants were supposed to suggest a grasshopper, and "Courage," who was very gentle and very short. Even the group's songs continued the theme of innocent young people coming together to share real community and friendship.

Nearly 40 years after the show was filmed, you can still find the show's music segments on YouTube, capturing a forgotten moment in time. "If You Become a Bugaloo" suggests that joining with them meant spreading happiness and hope while freeing the world. "Fly Away With Us" describes an awareness of "the warmth in your soul," experiencing tranquility as you escape "to a place where love carries on." Their songs all had a genuinely "mod" sound, even if they sometimes seemed to suggest the existential-ness of a 60s acid trip. At least there was always a lot of harmony.

Caroline Ellis is nearly 60 years old now, but she still reaches out to her fans who remember her youthful stardom. One web page republished the emails she'd sent fondly remembering her time on the children's TV show, and Ellis later phoned the webmaster, who even uploaded a recording of the call. It's one of the miracles of the internet. As the star materializes on the fan page, she appears one click away from video footage of herself back in 1970 - when she was still a carefree 20-year-old doing a happy pirouette in a soundstage forest.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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