Streaming Sci Fi TV: Land of the Lost Is Available on The Roku Channel and More

Streaming Sci Fi TV: Tracking down sci fi and fantasy shows of interest available on the streaming services.

What Is It?

A family of three–Elder Rick Marshall along with his teen-aged son Will and pre-teen daughter Holly–fall through a dimensional doorway that leads to a planet in another universe inhabited by dinosaurs and the remnants of an ancient civilization. They must find a way to survive in this dangerous land while also looking for a means to return to Earth.

Aired: NBC, 1974-76, 3 Seasons Totaling 43 Episodes

Starring: Spencer Milligan, Wesley Eure, Kathy Coleman, Phillip Paley, Walker Edmiston, Ron Harper

Created By: Sid & Marty Krofft, David Gerrold

Why Watch It?

This series arrived on Saturday mornings at a time when there was not much in the way of sci fi TV on the Prime Time schedule, so it attracted genre fans with its lost universe populated by dinosaurs, lizard men known as Sleestak, monkey-like creatures known as Pakuni, and its many mysteries. It was a kids’ show, but Star Trek veteran David Gerrold was brought onboard to develop the series, and he created an interesting setting with many mysteries that the characters explored throughout the show’s run. He also brought on sci fi writers to pen some of the scripts.

Still, Land of the Lost was a Saturday Morning show put together on a shoestring budget (though they did a good job with the stop motion animation for the dinosaurs), and the acting definitely was not Emmy quality. In addition, the directors tended to dumb down the scripts to appeal to the younger viewers. But the strengths of the show still managed to shine–through the first two seasons at least–and this has become a well-remembered gem from the 1970s. A reboot is currently in the works at Netflix (hopefully keeping Will Ferrel a million miles away), so sci fi fans may have an interest in going back and watching the original. You need to adjust expectations due to the low production values, but there is certainly much to like about this retro-series from the 70s. (Read more about the show at Cult-SciFi.com.)

Where Is It Streaming?

All three seasons of the show are streaming for free on The Roku Channel as is the ersatz 90s reboot of the series (which is not directly linked to the original). That service is similar to Hulu when it first started and it has quite a lot of movies and television shows in its catalog which you can stream for free with ads. The ad spots are not too intrusive, with usually only one break per thirty-minute episode. The Roku Channel ap is available on Roku devices, and I believe it is also available on other devices. You can also watch from their website.  Land of the Lost is also streaming for free (with ads) on Tubi TV and Fawesome TV.

Stream or Purchase VOD

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