| Sigmund and the Sea Monsters | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Children's television series |
| Starring | Billy Barty Johnny Whitaker Scott Kolden Mary Wickes Joe Higgins Rip Taylor Fran Ryan Fred Spencer Paul Gale Van Snowden Walker Edmiston Sharon Baird Sparky Marcus Margaret Hamilton |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Sid and Marty Krofft |
| Running time | 0:25 (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 8, 1973 – October 18, 1975 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters was a children's television series that ran from 1973 to 1975. The show was a Sid and Marty Krofft production and was shown on Saturday mornings. There were 29 episodes spanning two seasons. Its basic premise was that Sigmund (Billy Barty), a friendly (if somewhat cowardly) sea monster who runs away from his comically dysfunctional undersea family, is discovered and befriended by brothers Johnny (Johnny Whitaker) and Scott Stuart (Scott Kolden), who let Sigmund stay in their hideout. Plotlines were very simple and straightforward, usually some variation on the idea of Sigmund doing something silly to arouse attention and the boys working to prevent him from being found by Sigmund's brothers, Blurp (Bill Germaine, Larry Larsen) and Slurp (Fred Spencer, Paul Gale). The brothers also worked feverishly to hide Sigmund from their overbearing housekeeper Zelda (Mary Wickes), elderly neighbor Mrs. Eldels (Margaret Hamilton) and Sheriff Chuck Bevans (Joe Higgins). In Season Two, Rip Taylor joined the cast as a magical 'Sea Genie' named Sheldon. Sigmund and the Sea Monsters was the first Krofft Saturday morning production that was produced for a second season. Previous entries H.R. Pufnstuf (1969), The Bugaloos (1970), and Lidsville (1971) were only in production with new episodes for a single season.
Trivia
- Sigmund appears briefly in the music video for the 2000 song "AM Radio" by Everclear.
- In 2004, on the cartoon website Homestar Runner, as part of that year's Halloween cartoon, The Cheat dressed as Sigmund as his Halloween costume.
- In a 2006 episode of My Name Is Earl, Earl and Randy can be seen watching Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.
- In the song Fazers on the 2003 album Take Me to Your Leader, MF Doom (as King Geedorah) references the show in a line saying "He been rhymin' longer than sigmund and sea creature been on saturday feature".
- In 2007, on an episode of The Tonight Show in which Zach Braff was a guest, Braff brought out a Sigmund and the Sea Monsters lunch box.
