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 [bored]". 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

Lamb Chop's Playmates

Episodes

85 half-hour episodes produced.

Season 1 (1992)

Season 2 (1993)

Season 3 (1994)

Season 4 (1995)

Specials

2 one-hour episode specials were produced:

Segments

Introduced in Season 1

Introduced in Season 2

Introduced in Season 3

Introduced in Season 4

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