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Lamb Chop's Play-Along! is a half-hour preschool children's television series that was shown on PBS in the United States from January 13, 1992, until September 22, 1995, with reruns airing on PBS until January 4, 1998, and on KTV FAVE - KIDZ in 2019. It was created and hosted by the puppeteer Shari Lewis, and featured her puppet characters Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy. The series was based on several home videos Lewis created throughout the 1980s, particularly the 1988 video Lamb Chop's Sing-Along, Play-Along. Lamb Chop's Play-Along! was followed by the short-lived spin-off series, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza.

Premise

Lamb Chop is an anthropomorphic sheep puppet who lives with her guardian Shari Lewis and her two siblings, Charlie Horse (an anthropomorphic horse puppet) and Hush Puppy (an anthropomorphic dog puppet). In each episode, Lewis encourages the audience to participate or interact in a number of activities through several segments, including those involving crafts, songs and stories. The shows are wrapped around with a multiple-act segment known as At Home With Lamb Chop, which typically revolves around a situation involving one of the puppet characters.

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 in Canada, first in Burnaby, British Columbia and then at the CBC Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The series honored Lewis' father, college professor Abraham Hurwitz, who died in 1981. He is referred to as "the official magician of New York City".

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

Broadcast

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.

Format

Philosophy

Shari Lewis explained 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 ".

Lewis testified that making smart content for children was not that hard to produce and should be done with increasing frequency. She explained 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".

At the end of each show, Charlie Horse would sing "The Song That Doesn't End" with Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy and the kids, much to the annoyance of the character Shari (as part of the joke).

Opening and closing sequences

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, and the other strength. The ending theme song is "The Song That Doesn't End", as sung by the children and puppets while Lewis frantically attempts to stop them. The song eventually fades even before beginning a sixth verse. Finally, at the end of the end credits sequence, Charlie Horse returns. He tries to get to sing the song again but loses that song forever because Lewis successfully stops him (by putting her hand over his mouth). She (covering Charlie's mouth) orders him to go away and not let the song come back in her sight again. As Charlie leaves, he slams the door before Lewis could tell him to close the door properly. Despite Charlie slamming it, her only consolation is that everything is now silent (as a result of Charlie, the other puppets, and the singing group children "gone"). However, she glares at the viewers at fade-out.

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

Cast

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

Lamb Chop's Playmates

• Andrew Francis
• Brian Ito
• Amanda McAdam
• Sabrina Sánchez
• Kevin Yee
• Rachel Sandor-Gough
• Talia Gilboa
• Bryan Robinson
• Zack Moses
• Phillip Boutte
• Annick Obonsawin
• John Creery
• Ramon Choyce
• Jade Schwartz
• Emma Pollard
• Maddie Lewis

Episodes

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85 half-hour episodes produced.

Season 1 (1992)

1. Air Charlie (4 acts)
2. Stop Biting Your Nails (4 acts)
3. Too Sick to Go to the Circus (5 acts)
4. The Bully (4 acts)
5. Hiccups (3 acts)
6. Charlie's Magic Show (2 acts)
7. Lamb Chop Works Out (4 acts)
8. The Charlie Horse Newspaper (4 acts)
9. Robin Hoof (3 acts)
10. Charlie's Toothache (4 acts)
11. The Baseball Show (3 acts)
12. The Planet Yzarc (4 acts)
13. Maurice (3 acts)
14. Charlie Horse Western (4 acts)
15. Runaway (5 acts)
16. The Lemonade Wars (4 acts)
17. Have I Got A Girl For You (4 acts)
18. Lamb Chop's Make-Over (4 acts)
19. The Ring (4 acts)
20. Charlie Horse's Birthday (4 acts)
21. Grown Up For A Day (4 acts)
22. Charlie Horse For Class President (4 acts)
23. Shari's Obedience School (4 acts)
24. The Necklace (4 acts)
25. The Chicken Show
26. Lamb Chop's Allowance (4 acts)
27. Talent-Less (3 acts)
28. On Thin Ice (3 acts)
29. Bigger Is Better (2 acts)
30. Lamb Chop: Star

Season 2 (1993)

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. What's Your Name?
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. Twinkle, Twinkle (3 acts)
16. The Return of Zark (3 acts)
17. Fear of Biking (3 acts)
18. Segnorita Lamb Chop (3 acts)
19. Forget It! (3 acts)
20. Little Red Riding Hood (2 acts)
21. Chicken Pox (3 acts)
22. The Guys (3 acts)
23. Get Up & Dance
24. Trading Bases (4 acts)
25. When You Grow Up (3 acts)
26. Lamb Chop's Cold
27. Musical Chopsticks (3 acts)
28. Principal Swanson (3 acts)
29. Gold Diggers (3 acts)
30. The Emperor's New Clothes
31. Peer Pressure (3 acts)
32. Toulouse La Chop (3 acts)
33. Anchor Desk (3 acts)
34. The Dark (3 acts)
35. Lamb Chop's Lullaby

Season 3 (1994)

1. The Horse of a Different Color (2 acts)
2. Monopoly (3 acts)
3. Tattletale! (3 acts)
4. So Mad! (3 acts)
5. Lamb Chop's Pet (3 acts)
6. Togetherless (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)

1. Charlie Horse Tells a Lie (3 acts)
2. Shari's Favorite? (3 acts)
3. Lamb Chop's Art Embarrasses 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
7. Your Mitt or Mine (3 acts)
8. Fighting Fair (3 acts)
9. The Job (3 acts)
10. Sea Creatures (3 acts)

Specials

2 one-hour episode specials were produced:

• Special: Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah
• Special: Shari's Passover Surprise

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
• A Whale Of A Tale

Introduced in Season 2

• Buster the Bus
• Alpha-Toons
• Something Unusual/Fascinating
• A Baby Shari Lewis Story
• A Teddy Bear Tale
• A Baby Hush Puppy Story
• Sing a Little Sing-Along Song

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

Critical reception

The show received a rating of 8.0 based on 128 votes, at TV.com, and a 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".

Awards and nominations

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External links

• Lamb Chop's Play-Along at IMDb

References

1. "Daily Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
2. Conner, Shawn (2012-08-16). "Game shows, captains' chairs, kids' entertainment new at this year's PNE". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
3. "The Daily Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
4. ^ "Ellensburg Daily Record - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
5. "Philadelphia Inquirer: Search Results". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
6. "Daily Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
7. "Star-News - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
8. TV.com. "Lamb Chop's Play-Along". TV.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
9. "Lamb Chop's Play-Along". Retrieved 12 July 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
10. "Search The News & Record Archive". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.

• 1992 American television series debuts
• 1995 American television series endings
• 1990s American children's television series
• 1992 Canadian television series debuts
• 1995 Canadian television series endings
• 1990s Canadian children's television series
• American preschool education television series
• American television shows featuring puppetry
• Canadian preschool education television series
• Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
• 1990s preschool education television series
• American English-language television shows
• PBS Kids shows
• PBS original programming
• Television series by Universal Television
• Television series by WTTW
• Television shows filmed in Burnaby
• Television shows filmed in Vancouver