H.R. Pufnstuf returns to freak out a new generation
2015 is the new 1971, and not just because H&M is nothing but bellbottoms right now: The Associated Press reports that beloved children’s character/barely disguised stoner icon H.R. Pufnstuf is returning to TV to encourage a new generation of kids to tune in, turn on, and drop out (of preschool). The title character will appear on an episode of Nickelodeon’s Mutt & Stuff, which debuted in July and stars 16-year-old Calvin Millan—son of famed “dog whisperer” Cesar Millan—and a dog mascot named Stuff, who together dispense advice and training tips to help preschoolers bond with their family dogs:
If the giant yellow dog didn’t give it away, Mutt & Stuff is produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. Pufnstuf will appear as Stuff’s uncle, suggesting that the Pufnstuf clan got into some pretty groovy cross-species experimentation back in its free-love days. “We don’t mess with our characters,” 78-year-old Marty Krofft says in a statement, adding that’s not all he and Sid don’t mess with: “If we did the drugs everybody thought we did, we’d be dead today,” he says. “You cannot work stoned.” Tell that to Sam and Criminy Kraffft.