Motivated by the success in syndication of the cult 1974 series Land of the Lost, Sid and Marty Krofft created a new version of it.

Frequent writers Len Janson and Chuck Menville had previously crafted numerous scripts for assorted Filmation series, while producer Jerry Golod had earlier collaborated with George A. Romero on Tales from the Darkside.

It featured the Porter family - teenager Kevin, his young sister Annie, and their widowed father Tom - trapped in a parallel universe after their Jeep Cherokee fell through a time portal while exploring the back country.

Another major obstacle faced by the Porters was a one-eyed Tyrannosaurus rex named Scarface, who lived near the area where the family made their home and frequently chased after them in an attempt to eat them.

Another character added in the second season was Namaki, a strange fish-like humanoid who befriended Christa when she was just a little girl.

One of the main dinosaurs in the show is Tasha (performed by Ed Gale, voiced by Danny Mann), an orphaned baby Parasaurolophus.

Through pantomime, body language, and an extensive range of vocal emotions she is surprisingly capable of communicating with humans.

Also, upon being hit by a "light gun" found by Kevin and Stink in old Sleestak ruins, Scarface quickly recovered.

A race of intelligent, reptilian humanoids, the Sleestaks were highly advanced until their own pollution drove them to live in caves to avoid the dinosaurs ("thunder lizards" in their tongue).

Unique to this world is a peculiar type of quartz-like crystal that can be found in various caves throughout the Land.

The Sleestaks often use Pakuni slave labor to mine these special crystals which can function as an energy source.

Exposure to the sun reactivates this crystal and it causes it to pulsate, exerting a force which draws Kevin towards it when he tries to climb out of the shaft.

They find a number of crystals, varying in length, set into a device very similar to the matrix tables of the 1974 series.

This particular table is able to create very realistic illusions (but with physical substance) drawn from one's mind, designed to lure them in to a carefully constructed - but very real - trap.

In this version of Land of the Lost they seem to materialize at random but can be tracked through their electromagnetic interference using the Porter's portable TV.