Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: The Bugaloos: "Today I am a Firefly"

In “Today I am a Firefly,” Sparky (Billy Barty) attempts his first solo flight, and fails. The Bugaloos attempt to cheer him up, but he decides to run away from home.

While the Bugaloos deal with this crisis, Benita Bizarre’s (Martha Raye) minions accidentally break her favorite music box.  They also manage to set their zapper to a “shrink” setting.  Suddenly, they have the perfect way to rectify their crisis.

They shrink the Bugaloos and force them to play music for Benita inside the music box.

Fortunately, Nutty Bird is able to inform Sparky about Benita’s capture of the Bugaloos, and he’s off to the rescue

Alas, there’s no new song in this week’s episode of The Bugaloos to enliven the proceedings.

Instead, audiences get the high-concept of the week: a shrink device. This shrink ray -- the zapper gone haywire -- is essentially an early version of the device we see in the Kroffts’ Dr. Shrinker (1976).

Indeed, the shrinking effects are achieved through the same technique in both series: chroma key.

The plot of the week involves Sparky, once more, making trouble. He fails badly on his first flight, and runs away. Fortunately, he saves the day because when he returns to the forest he learns what has happened to the Bugaloos.

And what has happened?

Benita’s minions have captured and shrunken the group to perform inside Benita’s favorite music box, which the minions accidentally broke.

The episode also ends with a familiar twist. The weapon of the villain (in this case the shrink ray), is turned don that villain. So we end, here with a “bitsy Benita.”

Next week “The Bugaloo Bugaboo.”