A Routine Expedition: The "Land of the Lost" Quiz

Answer: They were in a raft.

This sequence was shown during the opening credits of the show when the Marshall family was seen traveling on a river (said to be the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon) in an inflatable raft. The raft went over a waterfall and the family was transported to the Land of the Lost.

The opening credits also showed the Marshalls grabbing their gear from the raft and running for the cave that would become their home when threatened by attack from a dinosaur (probably meant to be Grumpy the Tyrannosaurus Rex).

Answer: Pakuni

Pakuni like Cha-ka were a primate-like species that could walk upright and were covered with fur. They were capable of handling objects and could create and use simple tools and weapons. In addition to Cha-ka, the show featured two other Pakuni, Sa and Ta.

The relationship of the older Pakuni to Cha-ka was not always clear, but appeared to be older siblings. Incidentally, the language the Pakuni used isnot nonsense. A linguist actually created an actual language for the Pakuni, complete with rules of grammar and a 300-word vocabulary.

Answer: Enik

Enik was biologically related to the Sleestak. Initially he thought the primitive Sleestak were the ancestors of his people, the Altrusians. He was dismayed to discover that the Sleestak were the ancestors of the devolved Sleestak. In many cases, basketball players wore the prosthetic costumes if the Sleestak, who appeared to be taller than average humans. Actor Walker Edmiston portrayed the character of Enik.

Answer: Brontosaurus

The dinosaur, which Holly named "Dopey", was a baby brontosaurus. The others were less enthusiastic about the idea than she was. She attempted - with limited success - to harness Dopey to a wooden cart that she and Will had been using to transport food and other supplies. Kathy Coleman portrayed Holly Marshall. Dopey first appeared in the third episode of the first season (suitably titled "Dopey").

Answer: Civil War

His full name was Jefferson Davis Collie III and he had fought on the Confederate side in the US Civil War. He was played by Walker Edmiston, the same actor who also portrayed Enik. "Sarah" was a cannon that Jefferson used to scare away the Sleestak. Jefferson and the Marshalls joinEd forces to attempt to travel downstream on the main river in the Land of the Lost to escape.

They found instead that the river was a closed circle when they ended their journey where they started.

Answer: Can be harmed by emotions

Van Snowden portrayed the physical form of the Zarn while Marvin Miller provided the voice. Negative emotions such as hate, fear, or pity cause the Zarn physical pain and harm. The highly intelligent Zarn was capable of creating artificial creatures that resemble humans or dinosaurs.

When the Zarn tried to fly his crashed space ship away from the Land of the Lost, the energy waves nearly destroyed the Land of the Lost.

Answer: Rick Marshall

Rick Marshall, the father, appeared prominently in the first two seasons, but only appeared in a brief shot during the credits of the third season. Spencer Milligan, the actor who portrayed Rick, was in dispute with the producers over his contract and chose not to return to the show. A member of the crew wore a wig similar to Milligan's curly hair and was shot from the back to show Rick accidentally leaving the Land of the Lost through a portal.

Will (the son) and Holly (the daughter) were present for all three seasons. Their Uncle Ron Marshall (Rick's brother) was in the third season cast to provide an adult guardian for the children. There was no human character named Alice in the show. The children referred to an adult female allosaurus as "Big Alice".

Answer: Pylons

The pylons tended to be pyramid-shaped, but flattened at the top and narrow for their height. An unusual feature of the pylons was that they were bigger on the inside than the outside. Dialogue within episodes and comments made by writers for the show suggested that the Altrusians created the pylons and the Land of the Lost itself, but each have decayed over time. Crystal matrix tables within the pylons appear to be control panels for various functions such as weather.

Answer: Holly

Though not directly stated, the character Rani was generally considered to be an adult version of Holly. She wore a blue dress and had long blind hair. She explained to Holly that her family saw her as the baby of the family and she should help them as she could.

She also stated that she came from a future where her other family members were no longer in the Land of the Lost--though whether through death or leaving the Land of the Lost is unclear. Rani was played by Erica Hagen.

Answer: Dopey

Spot the dinosaur was also trapped in the tar pit but was able to get out on his own. Dopey's size compared to the humans and Pakuni made teamwork necessary. Rick Marshall first attempted to use a homemade tackle and pulley to free Dopey, but was unsuccessful. Dopey was finally freed when Rick and Will attached a harness to Emily the dinosaur and used her to free Dopey.

Interestingly, the significant roles of Cha-ka, Sa, and Ta led to an episode where less than half of the dialogue was in English (with the rest in Pakuni).