Lamb Chop's Play-Along

Lamb Chop's Play-Along!
Genre Children's television series
Written by Lan O'Kun
Bernard Rothman
Directed by Michael Watt
Stan Jacobson
Presented by Shari Lewis
Opening theme "It's Lamb Chop's Play-Along!"
Ending theme "The Song That Doesn't End"
Composer(s) Bob Golden
John Rodby
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 85
Production
Location(s) Chicago, Illinois, USA
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Paragon Entertainment Corporation
WTTW Chicago
DreamWorks Classics
Distributor A&M Video
Release
Original network PBS (USA)
Original release September 15, 1991 (1991-09-15) – August 29, 1997 (1997-08-29)
Chronology
Related shows The Charlie Horse Music Pizza

Lamb Chop's Play-Along! is an American half-hour preschool children's television series that was shown on PBS in the United States from 1991 until 1997. It was created and hosted by puppeteer Shari Lewis, and featured her puppet character Lamb Chop.

Production

PBS commissioned the show from Shari Lewis in May 1991, and the show premiered in September 1991.[1] 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' father, college professor Abraham Hurwitz - "the official magician of New York City".[2]

Ellensburg Daily Record explains: "each half hour is filled with jokes, games, songs, and tricks".[3]

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".[3] 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 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]".[4]

Lewis testified that making smart content for kids was not that hard to produce and should be done with increasing frequency. She said that if kids are challenged, they will be productive members of society.[5] 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".[6]

Synopsis

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

Cast

Lamb Chop's Playmates

Episodes

86 half-hour episodes produced.

Season 1 (1991–1993)[7]

  1. Charlie's Basketball Shoes (4 acts)
  2. Stop Biting Your Nails (4 acts)
  3. Too Sick to Go to The Circus (5 acts)
  4. Hush Puppy and the Bully (4 acts)
  5. Lamb Chop Gets The Sniffles (5 acts)
  6. Lamb Chop's Hiccups (3 acts)
  7. Charlie's Magic Kit (2 acts)
  8. Lamb Chop Works Out (4 acts)
  9. The Charlie Newspaper (4 acts)
  10. Robin Hoof (3 acts)
  11. Charlie's Toothache (4 acts)
  12. Hush Puppy Practices Baseball (3 acts)
  13. Hush Puppy's Trip to Yzarc (4 acts)
  14. Lamb Chop's Imaginary Friend (3 acts)
  15. Charlie Horse Directs a Movie (4 acts)
  16. Lamb Chop Runs Away (5 acts)
  17. Charlie's Lemonade Stand (4 acts)
  18. Lolly Crushing on Hush Puppy (4 acts)
  19. Rings and Cookies (4 acts)
  20. Happy Birthday Charlie Horse (4 acts)
  21. Shari and Lamb Chop Switch Places (4 acts)
  22. Charlie Horse for Class President (4 acts)
  23. Shari's Obedience School (4 acts)
  24. Lamb Chop and the Necklace (4 acts)/Shari Tells the Story of the Musicians of Bremen
  25. Lamb Chop's Allowance (4 acts)
  26. Lamb Chop Practices for a Talent Show (3 acts)
  27. Hush Puppy and the Ice Show (3 acts)
  28. Lamb Chop Wants to be Big (2 acts)
  29. The Lamb Chop Show

Season 2 (1993–1994)[7]

  1. So Long Freddy (3 acts)
  2. Shari Makes a Beanstalk
  3. School Daze (3 acts)
  4. The Circus (1 act)
  5. I'm Back! (2 acts)
  6. Shari Tells the story of Tikki Tikki Tembo
  7. Farnsworth (3 acts)
  8. A Cat By Any Other Name (3 acts)
  9. Born To Dance (3 acts)
  10. Super Angelo (3 acts)
  11. I Write The Songs (1 act)
  12. United We Stand (3 acts)
  13. Lucky Puppy (3 acts)
  14. The Wallet (3 acts)
  15. Trading Bases (4 acts)
  16. When You Grow Up (3 acts)
  17. Lamb Chop's Cold
  18. Musical Chopsticks (3 acts)
  19. Principal Swanson (3 acts)
  20. Gold Diggers (3 acts)
  21. The Story of How Baby Lamb Chop Learned to Walk
  22. Peer Pressure (3 acts)
  23. Toulouse La Chop (3 acts)
  24. Anchor Desk (3 acts)
  25. The Dark (3 acts)
  26. Lamb Chop's Lullaby

Season 3 (1994–1995)[7]

  1. Horse of a Different Color (2 acts)
  2. Monopoly (3 acts)
  3. TATTLETALE! (3 acts)
  4. Sooo Mad! (3 acts)
  5. Lamb Chop's Pet (3 acts)
  6. Togetherness (3 acts)
  7. What A Mess (3 acts)
  8. Buster and Butch the bully
  9. Busted-up Buster (3 acts)
  10. Lamb Chop practicing violin

Season 4 (1995–1997)[7]

  1. Charlie Horse tells a lie (3 acts)
  2. Shari's Favorite? (3 acts)
  3. Lamb Chop's Art embarresses Charlie Horse (3 acts)
  4. A Yo-Yo for Hush Puppy (3 acts)
  5. Lamb Chop's Glasses (3 acts)
  6. Counting on Your Knuckles

Segments

Introduced in Season 1

Introduced in Season 2

Introduced in Season 3

Introduced in Season 4

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 Universal Television on behalf of DreamWorks Classics.

Theme songs

Both the opening and closing theme 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,[8] and score of 7.8/10 at IMDb based on 407 ratings.[9] 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 LewisNominated
1992 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series Bernard Rothman, Shari LewisNominated
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 TadmanWon
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 RothmanNominated
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

Syndication

Reruns of the first 26 episodes were broadcast on Qubo's digital channel, which is partially owned by Classic Media. In 2012 Kids & Teens TV started airing the series. The show can be seen as a skit in the Fairness segment from episode 5 of the 4th season of the series which is used for Kids for Character.

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SJ9EAAAAIBAJ&sjid=07UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6374,4822438&dq=lamb+chops+play-along&hl=en
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sYlGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U-kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1201,1095357&dq=lamb+chops+play-along&hl=en
  3. 1 2 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C1dUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EI8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2524,3080265&dq=lamb+chops+play-along&hl=en
  4. ↑ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2A2C71377387E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
  5. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=icdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L9AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2598,1454942&dq=lamb+chops+play-along&hl=en
  6. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g_ZOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BhUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4587,3649147&dq=lamb+chops+play-along&hl=en
  7. 1 2 3 4 http://www.tv.com/shows/lamb-chops-play-along/episodes/
  8. ↑ http://www.tv.com/shows/lamb-chops-play-along/
  9. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166048/
  10. ↑ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=GB&p_theme=gb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF87D5ADD6BF2B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
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