As did its predecessors, Lidsville combined two types of characters: conventional actors in makeup taped alongside performers in full mascot costumes, whose voices were dubbed in post-production.

The show involved a teenage boy named Mark (portrayed by Butch Patrick) who fell into the top hat of Merlo the Magician (portrayed by Charles Nelson Reilly) (HooDoo's alter ego), following Merlo's show at Six Flags Over Texas.

The vain, short-tempered, but somewhat naive HooDoo flew around in his Hatamaran, blasting the good citizens of Lidsville with bolts of magic (referred to as "zapping") and keeping them in fear, demanding that they pay him their Hat Tax.

HooDoo also experienced further aggravation at the hands of his aides, the dimwitted Raunchy Rabbit and his two-faced card guard Jack of Clubs.

HooDoo watched the action going on in downtown Lidsville from his hat home by using his Evil Eye, a device similar to a TV set that resembled an eyeball.

Weenie, being a nervous bumbler, was in fact a genie, but many of the tricks and spells did not work correctly after having been HooDoo's captive for so long.

As the show only ran one season of original episodes, Mark never returned home—his fate remained unresolved.

A three-disc complete series set was released on DVD in the United States in January 2005 by Rhino Entertainment.

The set contained all seventeen episodes in digitally remastered, uncut and original broadcast form, plus interviews with Charles Nelson Reilly, Butch Patrick, and Billie Hayes.