Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Land of the Lost (1991 - 1992): "Future Boy" (October 17, 1992)

In “Future Boy,” Annie Porter (Jenny Drugan) laments the fact that her father (Timothy Bottoms) treats her like a child.  Annie believes she is fully able to handle herself, even considering the perils of the jungle.

One day, while exploring the wild alone, Annie spots a teenage boy, Simon (Danny Gonzalez), who suddenly materializes nearby. He has been in some kind of temporal collision with a menacing alien cyborg, one that is “bigger, meaner and smarter” than a T-Rex.   

After knocking out Scarface, the cyborg hones in Simon, hoping to steal his time belt, the device that has allowed the boy to transport from the year 2062 all the way back to 1992.  

Protecting Simon from harm, and defeating the cyborg (who has a flaw in his “thermal vision,”) Jenny proves to her Dad that she is capable of defending herself.

“Future Boy,” like “Day for Knight” or “The Sorceress” is a story about a visitor who comes into the Land of the Lost, helps teach the Porter a valuable lesson, and then is on his or her way.

No muss, no fuss.

A woefully familiar tale, “Future Boy” doesn’t feature much that is new, or of interest.  Annie already met a teenage contemporary in the aforementioned “Day for Knight,” and in this story, she and Simon basically commiserate about the fact that their parents just don’t understand them.

In terms of visualizing the story, Simon’s costume – a silver jump-suit -- is the most clichéd “look” imaginable in terms of futuristic garb.

On the other hand, Simon does check a wrist device at one point in “Future Boy “and does the equivalent of “googling” information to learn about his nemesis, the Cyborg. 

That nice touch -- anticipating the Internet and the easy availability of information on the Web -- makes up for the trite costuming selections.

Another interesting factoid: Simon is from San Francisco, which becomes an island following an Earthquake in the year 2047, according to this episode.  Since the Porters, Christa and Simon are all from San Francisco, viewers might theorize that there is a long-standing link between S.F. and the alien world depicted on the series.

I mentioned “The Sorceress” above, and that story landed not only a female wizard in the Land of the Lost, but her cursed nemesis as well, who was depicted by a embarrassingly bad stop-motion monster. 

“Future Boy” resurrects that approach too. 

The Cyborg villain that arrives with Simon looks incredibly silly, and not at all menacing.  He looks like a pig with Borg implants, in particular.

Although “Future Boy” tends toward preachy didacticism with lines of dialogue such as “we need to talk about out our problems. Less blaming, more trust,” it also features a truly funny moment as Simon is introduced to Tasha, the baby dino.

“He’s a time traveler, she’s a dinosaur,” Annie deadpans.

Yep, just another regular day in the Land of the Lost.

Next week: “Siren’s Song.”