The Lost Saucer was yet another of Sid and Marty Krofft Productions' Saturday morning children's series involving characters being whisked away to another land, and spending the entire length of the series (one season, in this case) trying in vain to get home.
This time around, two androids named Fi (Ruth Buzzi) and Fum (Jim Nabors) land their saucer on a residential street in modern-day (1975) Earth. There, they attract the attention of a young boy named Jerry (Jarrod Johnson) and his babysitter, Alice (Alice Playten), whom Fi and Fum invite aboard their saucer to show them what it can do. Unfortunately, Fi and Fum also attract the attention of local police and fire departments, and in a panic, take off... with Jerry and Alice still on board.
Since the Lost Saucer had the ability to travel through time, each attempt to bring Jerry and Alice back home results in them landing back on Earth, either in the past or in the future.
This series provides examples of:
- Amnesia Episode: An episode involves Fum losing his memory bank, and an evil empress trying to use him to carry out her sinister plot.
- Courtroom Episode: Inverted in the pilot episode, where Jerry and Alice are arrested and put on trial for not "wearing their numbers", as in that particular period in the future they visited, all people must wear outfits with numbers printed on them, and those numbers are their identification (no names, just numbers).
- Foreign Cuss Word: In the pilot, an angry Fi pushes a button on her tape deck, resulting in her gibbering indistinctly at Fum for his latest screw-up, while Fum tells her to be mindful of her language in front of the Dorse (who covers his ears with his paws).
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Dorse is one.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Fi and Fum are actually robots, but look more like people wearing futuristic space outfits.
- Short-Runner: Lasted for one season (16 episodes).
- Team Pet: Fi and Fum's pet Dorse... a creature with the head of a small horse, and the body of a big shaggy dog.
- Wave-Motion Gun: A low-powered, kid-show-friendly example: Most threats in the stories are dealt with by the use of a laser beam that emerges from Fum's right elbow. Holding off the threat long enough for Fum to charge and aim the laser is a frequent plot point.
