In 2004, the 1970′s Saturday morning staple ‘Land Of the Lost’ was released on DVD. Wesley Eure (Will), Cathy Coleman (Holly), Phillip Paley (Cha-Ka) and other cast members gladly took time to film some commentary for the set. Noticeably absent was Spencer Milligan, better known as Rick Marshall. The website http://landofthelost.com/ sent out a call to find him, both for the release of season 2 and the upcoming 2008 ‘Land Of the Lost’ movie.
I immediately gathered up my provisions of Doritos and Mountain Dew, and took to the interwebz for an all-nighter. Oddly enough, I found him quite quickly.
It seemed that he was living right in my home state of Wisconsin. I found his street address and phone number. However, I also learned that he had no interest in that part of his career, and did not appreciate anyone finding him.
And so, I buried my findings, and informed them of my findings. Spencer Milligan was left alone to live his life.
Still, the cast was hopeful to find him. On July 7th, they got their wish.
Wesley Eure, Cathy Coleman and Philip Paley, along with a small camera crew, hopped into a van for a non-routine expedition, sponsored by Troy Kinunen from Mears Auctions. They made the 17 hour, 500+ mile trek to Milligan’s home. The adventure was recorded for posterity, and was well documented on their Facebook pages. Several thousand fans followed the journey, waiting to see the outcome, with cheers of luck and support.
and were rewarded with an amazing reunion. After 38 years, they stood at the home of their television dad.
After the experience, Wesley Eure stated ‘Finally being with Spencer, we completed our circle…we had come home and were once again with our dad! It is hard to explain the deluge of emotions, but please know you all were with us…and not just figuratively. Through Facebook you became an integral part of today’s story. A big part.’
Upon returning home, Eure discovered over 10,000 friends, fans and the curious had stopped by to see the photo of the reunion.
It was the ending all fans of the series had waited for. They entered a golden Pylon and found the right combinations of crystals on the matrix table to open the Time Portal. The fog appeared and they walked through the misty doorway of the Time Space Continuum. Their dad was there waiting for them. After so many years, they were all together again.