Nick is already set to revive a slew of ’90s shows, but now the network is reaching a few decades further back into their archive.
To the delight of child TV watchers and adult stoners everywhere, Nickelodeon has officially ordered “H.R. Pufnstuf Comes to Mutt & Stuff,” a special episode of Mutt and Stuff in which characters from co-creators Sid and Marty Krofft’s first show will make an appearance on their current one. According to The Wrap, the special will air sometime early next year.
The live-action puppet show’s original run weighed in at a mere 17 episodes broadcast in the fall of 1969, but as with so many psychedelic children’s shows, H.R. Pufnstuf found cult appeal outside its core audience. The Kroffts will attempt to bridge the 45-year gap between H.R. and Mutt and Stuff with this nifty setup, also courtesy of The Wrap:
In “H.R. Pufnstuf Comes to Mutt & Stuff!,” Stuff’s favorite uncle H.R. Pufnstuf decides to visit him at the canine school. When Pufnstuf arrives with his friends from Living Island, Stuff goes overboard in an attempt to impress him and make sure everything is perfect.
Presumably, the cast will include puppets like H.R., Wilhelmina, and Freddy the Flute and not humans like Jimmy, now well into middle age. Then again, anything’s possible where revivals fueled by childhood and/or dorm room nostalgia are concerned.