LAND OF THE LOST' IS FOUND AGAIN 

Los Angeles Daily News, 1991 

by Renee Tawa

AND YOU THOUGHT Los Angeles was the land of the lost. But freeway overpasses and
cinderblock walls from Southern California to San Francisco bear reminders of the ''Land of the
Lost'' television show, which ran on Saturday mornings from 1974-77. An 18-year-old graffiti
vandal had scrawled ''Chaka'' - his nickname from a character on the show - on 10,000 locations
in a spray-paint spree that authorities called unprecedented. 

Funny thing is that as graffiti ''tagger''Daniel Ramos went to trial May 1, ''Land of the Lost'' 
was found again. ABC has ordered 13 episodes of a new ''Land of the Lost'' for its fall Saturday 
morning lineup, said Marty Krofft, of Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, creators of the show. The old 
show was about a family with a young girl named Holly that got lost in an alien land of dinosaurs 
and other odd creatures. The new show is about another family that is transported to an alien land 
of dinosaurs and other odd creatures. And alas! They encounter a jungle girl named Holly. The show's 
producers aren't saying what happens from there. 

Krofft won't say who will play Holly, the only surviving member of the original family. But 
29-year-old Kathy Coleman, the original Holly, said she has talked to Krofft about the part. 
''First of all, she is me,'' said Coleman, a single mother of 8- and 10-year-old sons. ''If
they're going to do it as me growing up, I've grown up, so yes, I'd definitely want to be her. I
know who she is. I created her.'' Coleman played a lithe, wholesome girl with straight bangs and
braids who always wore a red-and-white checked shirt and corduroys. ''The only bad thing, I
think, about the whole show was I never got to change clothes,'' she said. ''I was supposed to
have gone over there with just the clothes on my back.'' 

People don't recognize her now. Her hair is bleached white blond (it has been black and red before)
and bobbed just below her chin. But almost everyone remembers the show. ''When I say, 'You probably 
don't remember, but I used to do this show,' '' she began, and jumped up and down on the couch, raising 
her voice in imitation of former fans, ''they'll say, 'Oh my God! You were Holly!' And they just go nuts. 
It's fun seeing people get a kick out of something you did.'' She still gets fan mail from old and new 
fans. Last Thanksgiving and Christmas, CBS showed ''Land of the Lost'' repeats, and the show occasionally
turns up on local cable channels. Coleman said ''Land of the Lost'' videos, which feature two
episodes of the show, are displayed in the cult section of stores. The show, which was rated No. 1
in its time slot, inspired ''Land of the Lost'' lunch boxes and game boards, and a Holly doll based
on Coleman's character. ''The show is far more popular, I think, than anyone could ever imagine,''
Coleman said. ''There are not too many people who don't know about the show. . . . It does have
a cultish following.'' 

At home in Beverly Hills, her boys sometimes watch ''Land of the Lost'' videos and romp with their two 
dogs. Coleman said she keeps busy with her children. ''We're just like a three-ring circus at my house,'' 
said Coleman, a bubbly and energetic woman who gives the impression that she handles the chaos well. 
After the show, Coleman continued acting and began singing in the Mi ke Curb Congregation until she got 
married at age 18. She and her husband worked on a dairy farm in Nevada for a few years before they were 
divorced. She understands the trials of former child stars who have brushes with the law, including Danny 
Bonaduce (''Partridge Family''), Adam Rich (''Eight Is Enough'') and Dana Plato (''Diff'rent Strokes''). 

''I've had to fight through some problems because I was in the business, too,'' she said on a recent
afternoon while her younger son was taking a piano lesson. ''It's just that, when you're a kid,
you're trained to try to get everybody to like you. That's all people teach you to do, to get other
people to like you, so you'll get the part. ''And as you grow up, and as a adult, you can't go
around saying, 'Do you like me? Do you like me?' because people will stomp all over you. It's
hard because I was treated like a little princess when I was a kid, and it's hard to not get that
attention anymore.'' Coleman said she'd be happy to play Holly again, but if she doesn't, she'll be
happy being a mom. Meanwhile, she has gotten a kick out of news reports on Ramos, the graffiti
vandal. ''When people destroy property, I know that's not funny, but I had to laugh, because all
these years, I've seen (Chaka on all the freeway overpasses and everything. And all I used to think
was, wouldn't it be funny if (the show turned out to be where he got it from?''