Barney
(Chuck McCann), Junior (Bob Denver), and Honk (Patty Mahoney) run out of water
on an alien planet. Junior and Honk go
out in a rover to find some of the much-needed liquid, but find colored alien coconuts instead. The milk inside
tastes like chocolate.
Though Barney refuses to taste the milk until it is tasted, Junior shows no such
restraint. After drinking the liquid, he transforms into a hairy green monster
every time he sneezes.
Meanwhile, Trentor -- the leader of the Crystallites (John Carradine) -- spies on the stranded
Earthlings and decides that they could be useful. In particular, he wants to
transform Junior into a Crystallite, after making him king.
The only downside is that Junior will be made
of glass. And, well, that his role as monarch lasts only a day.
Honk
and Barney escape from the Crystallites, and make Junior sneeze so that he can
stop the attack of the Crystallites.
The
second episode of the Sid and Marty Krofft live-action Saturday morning series The
Far Out Space Nuts (1975) follows very closely the format of the first
episode, “It’s All in Your Mind.”
Last
week, it was a computer, G.A.L. that wanted to capture and absorb Junior. This
week, it is an alien Crystallite, played by the legendary John Carradine, who
has a malevolent plan for the clumsy Junior.
In
both cases, the alien leader has exactly three followers, who fly around on a
hover device, and chase our heroic “space nuts.”
In
this case, the Crystallites are also armed with transparent glass rods that can crystallize all living matter. And the aforementioned
hovercraft resembles giant salt and pepper shakers.
This
episode also establishes that the space nuts have no weapons. When tasked with
defending themselves, they resort to a tennis racquet, a beach ball, and a fly
swatter. Not very effective. But these items create a secondary problem
(and one that was frequently seen on Lost in Space [1965-1968]).
What exactly
are these items doing on a spaceship where there are weight limits, and space
is at a premium? What’s the function, after all, of one tennis racquet, and a
beach ball?
John
Carradine is our villain of the week, and he acquits himself well, especially considering
his silver costume and glitter make-up. Carradine makes for an effective bad guy, but
it is sad to see an actor of his stature and reputation relegated to a cheap
Saturday morning series, and a guest part like this one.
Finally, this episode is not as creepy as last week's installment, because the villainous minions "ham" up their act, slipping, and sliding, and exaggerating their zombie-like stomp to comic proportions.
Next
week: “The Robots of Pod.”
"Though Junior refuses to taste the milk until it is tasted, Junior shows no such restraint. " I'm so confused! lol
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