Lamb Chop's Play-Along

Lamb Chop's Play-Along! is an American half-hour preschool children's television series that was shown on PBS in the United Statesfrom January 13, 1992 to September 22, 1995. It was created and hosted by puppeteer Shari Lewis, and featured her puppet characters Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy.

Production[]

PBS commissioned the show from Shari Lewis in May 1991, and the show premiered in January 1992. This marked Lewis' return to television after about 15 years (following the BBC version of The Shari Lewis Show in 1975). Lamb Chop's Play-Along was shot at the CBC Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The series honoured Lewis's father, college professor Abraham Hurwitz - "the official magician of New York City".

Ellensburg Daily Record explains: "each half hour is filled with jokes, games, songs, and tricks".

Philosophy[]

Shari Lewis said her goal for the audience is "participation, not passive observance". She said: "our goal is, don't just sit there - come play with me". She wanted to "attack the shorter attention span of today's children with a fast-paced show using colorful electronic effects". She said in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer: "I know that when children watch TV, they go into a stupor. Parents think (their children) are interested, but what they really are is [bored]".

Lewis testified that making smart content for children was not that hard to produce and should be done with increasing frequency. She said that if children are challenged, they will be productive members of society. She said, "I don't care if you tack a prosocial message at the end of the show. You have not done a quality show".

Synopsis[]

Appropriately, Lamb Chop is an anthropomorphic sheep; other characters are puppets of other farm animals, including Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.

Cast[]

Shari Lewis - Host/Lamb Chop/Hush Puppy/Charlie Horse
Pat Brymer - head puppeteer
Gord Robertson - Buster the Bus, featured puppeteer
Norma McKnight - additional puppetry
Bonnie Martin - Big Lamb Chop
Mark Gamez - Big Charlie Horse

Lamb Chop's playmates

Brian Ito Amanda McAdam Sabrina Sánchez Emma Pollard Annick Obonsawin John Creery Bryan Robinson Ramon Choyce Phillip Boutte Jade Schwartz Talia Gilboa Darren Doran Jason Guadalajara Zack McLemore Katie Orm Toni White Kevin Yee Rachel Sandor-Gough Zack Moses Emily Harrison Andrew Francis

Episodes[]

86 half-hour episodes produced.

Season 1 (1992)[]

Air Charlie
Stop Biting Your Nails
Too Sick to Go to the Circus
The Bully
Hiccups
Charlie's Magic Show
Lamb Chop Works Out
The Charlie Newspaper
Robin Hoof
Charlie's Toothache
The Baseball Show
The Planet Yzarc
Maurice
Charlie Horse Western
Runaway
The Lemonade Wars
Have I Got A Girl For You
Lamb Chop's Make-over
The Ring
Charlie Horse's Birthday
Switcheroo
Hail to the Chief
Obedience School
Going Going Gone
The Chicken Show
Lamb Chop's Allowance
Talentless
On Thin Ice
Bigger is Better
Lamb Chop: Star
Sherlock's Last Case

Season 2 (1993)[]

So Long Freddy
Shari Makes a Beanstalk
School Daze
The Circus
I'm Back!
Shari Tells the story of Tikki Tikki Tembo
Farnsworth
A Cat By Any Other Name
Born To Dance
Super Angelo
I Write The Songs
United We Stand
Lucky Puppy
The Wallet
Trading Bases
Return to Zarc
Fear of Biking
Segnorita Lamb Chop
Forget It
Little Red Riding Hood
Chickenpox
The Guys
Get Up and Dance
Trading Bases
When You Grow Up
Lamb Chop's Cold
Musical Chopsticks
Principal Swanson
Gold Diggers
The Story of How Baby Lamb Chop Learned to Walk
Peer Pressure
Toulouse La Chop
Anchor Desk
The Dark
Lamb Chop's Lullaby

Season 3 (1994)[]

The Horse of a Different Color
Monopoly
Tattle Tale
So Mad
Lamb Chop's Pet
Togetherless
What A Mess
Buster and Butch the Bully
Busted-Up Buster
Lamb Chop Practicing Violin

Season 4 (1995)[]

Charlie Horse Tells a Lie
Shari's Favorite?
Lamb Chop's Art Embarresses Charlie Horse
A Yo-Yo for Hush Puppy
Lamb Chop's Glasses
Counting on Your Knuckles
Your Mitt or Mine
Fighting Fair
The Job
Sea Creatures

Segments[]

Introduced in Season 1[]

At Home with Lamb Chop
Comedy Barn
Knock! Knock!
A Baby Lamb Chop Story
Betcha
Riddles
Funny Little Poem
Animals from the San Diego Zoo
Tongue Twisters
Story Time
Sing a Little Sing-Along Song
Playtime With Emma
- More Playtime With Emma

Introduced in Season 2[]

BUSter the Bus
Alphatoons
Something Unusual/Fascinating
A Baby Shari Lewis Story
A Teddy Bear Tale
A Baby Hush Puppy Story

Introduced in Season 3[]

Any Kid Can Draw
Take a Look at a Book
Buster's Brain Busters
Magic is the Thing for You
You Can Do It

Introduced in Season 4[]

Clip from The Shari Lewis Show

Production notes[]

WTTW jointly distributed it with Paragon Entertainment Corporation to PBS stations across the country. The rights to the show are currently owned by NBCUniversal Television Distribution on behalf of DreamWorks Classics.

Opening and closing[]

Both the opening and closing songs were written by Broadway composer Norman Martin. Other songs were written by Square One TV songwriter, John Rodby. Two versions of the opening song with different lyrics have been used; one involves bouncing, the other strength. The ending theme song is "The Song That Never Ends", as sung by the children and puppets while Lewis frantically attempts to stop them.

An instrumental version of the show's theme song was used for a most recent show of Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop.

Critical reception[]

The show received a rating of 8.0 based on 128 votes, at TV.com, and score of 7.8/10 at IMDb based on 407 ratings. Greensboro News & Record said of this show, "she (Lewis) made the sort of mischief that gave a vicarious thrill to millions of children watching at home".^[10]

Awards and nominations[]

Year	Award	Recipient	Result	1992	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis	Won
1992	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design	Molly Harris Campbell	Nominated
1992	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series	Bernard Rothman, Jon Slan, Richard Borchiver, Shari Lewis	Nominated
1992	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series	Bernard Rothman, Shari Lewis	Nominated
1993	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis	Won
1993	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis, Ken Steele, Bernard Rothman, Mallory Tarcher, Lan O'Kunx, Aubrey Tadman	Won
1993	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction	Carl Gibson	Nominated
1994	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis	Won
1994	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series	Richard Borchiver, Shari Lewis, Bernard Rothman, Jon Slan	Nominated
1994	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series	Mallory Tarcher, Ken Steele, Steve Edelman, Bernard Rothman, Lan O'Kun, Shari Lewis, Aubrey Tadman, Tibby Rothman, Jeremy Tarcher, Michael Lyons, Kimberley Wells	Nominated
1995	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis	Won
1995	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series	Shari Lewis, Bernard Rothman, Jon Slan, Richard Borchiver	Nominated
1995	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series	Bernard Rothman, Shari Lewis, Mallory Tarcher, Ken Steele, Lan O'Kun, Aubrey Tadman	Nominated
1996	Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series	Shari Lewis	Won
1996	Daytime Emmy Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series	Jon Slan, Richard Borchiver, Shari Lewis, Bernard Rothman	Nominated
1996	Daytime Emmy Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series	Mallory Tarcher, Shari Lewis, Aubrey Tadman, Ken Steele, Tibby Rothman, Lan O'Kun, Bernard Rothman	Nominated