‘Land of the Lost’ crew gets unexpected company in the desert

Any time a film crew goes to an intense environment in a remote area, anything can happen, but the “Land of the Lost” team found some truly unexpected challenges last year when they set up their cameras in the desert past Palmdale. There’s plenty of military in the desolate area and when word reached pilots that Will Ferrell and Danny McBride were filming nearby, the highflying (and high-decibel) sightseers came by to check it out. First, there was the F-18 that came in. “It was so fast, you didn’t hear it until it passed over, and then it was just thunderous,” said director Brad Silberling. “Then we had an Apache helicopter hovering over one of these foothills and . . . it puts out this big old roar. We had to call the base to say, ‘Can you please ask your pilot to leave us alone?’ ” And then there was the wildlife. The set fell inside the California Desert Conservation Area, so any time an endangered desert tortoise crossed the set, they would have to halt. “Just think of everyone sitting there staring at it, waiting for the slowest animal in the world while the meter was running,” moaned producer Marty Krofft. “You think that’s funny? I don’t.”

-- Geoff Boucher