I could spout off a number of choices for this and feel quite fine with myself. I’d say Sesame Street but I already covered that…and it wasn’t my absolute favourite as a child…I’d say the animated Arthur and it’s actually a close runner up or the American history spoof (don’t ask why...and I'm not American) that I always remember fondly - Hysteria but when I think of my childhood I remember a certain incongruously hilarious puppets and the woman in charge of them – Shari Lewis’ Lamb Chops Play Along.
I think Shari Lewis’ was the first person on TV I remember dying, I still remembered when her tragic death was reported and I couldn’t help thinking that there’d be no Lamb Chops after that. Her affable charm was the very reason for the show’s success. Lamb Chops is a bit of an odd choice, and perhaps my love of it is more retrospective and nostalgic than actual but it was one of those oddly brilliant children’s show that never aimed at condescension and always gave their children audiences more credit than most other shows of the era. I’m not sure what the dynamics of the show really were, but Shari would be present each episode in full human form with her three puppet friends that I remember considering as her children (which is obviously wrong) there was the older, wiser and somewhat sarcastic Charlie Horse, the Ebonics-speaking and wisecracking Hush Puppy and the sometimes annoying and sometimes clever but ostensibly sweet Lamb Chop. True, they were all sock puppets voiced by Ms. Lewis, but they are all different people. The episodes would find these three puppets and Shari meeting children, reading, telling stories and doing whatever odd things came to their mind and as a child of the nineties few things were as divertingly educational.
What I remember foremost about Lamb Chops though was its closing song which became a childhood theme for a few years. Each show ended with the three puppets, and their children friends singing a rather silly refrain – “This is the song that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing without knowing what it was…and they continued singing it forever just because, this is the song that never ends…” and it’d go on forever. A beleaguered Shari would implore them to stop singing and Charlie would slam the door just before she asked him not to do that very thing. A few weeks ago I asked a friend of mind if he remembered Lamb Chops and he gave me a blank look, so I’m guessing he didn’t. Still, even though Shari’s never-ending song has obviously ceased to play, I wonder if anyone gets nostalgic for this children’s show too…I mean, I didn't dream up the entire charade.
Anyone?
PS. Ugh...a late posting. I am such a flake.
These constant thoughts on TV are all because of a meme...
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