Zoom (1972 TV series)
Zoom | |
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PBS | |
Release | January 9, 1972 February 10, 1978 | –
Related | |
Zoom (1999 series) |
Zoom (stylized as ZOOM) is a half-hour
The show was revived in 1999 and aired on PBS until 2005.[3]
Description
On the show, a cast of seven kids (ten in Season 4) known as ZOOMers presented various activities such as games, plays, poems, recipes, jokes, movies and science experiments, all suggested by viewer contributions. These activities were introduced by such titles as ZOOMovie, ZOOM Play of the Week, ZOOMgame, ZOOMdo, ZOOMgoody, ZOOMphenomenon, etc. The cast also had informal chats on subjects such as hospitals, school, family and prejudice, titled ZOOMraps. Each episode ended with a choreographed song performed by the cast.
The ZOOMers were only identified by first names, and in the early seasons half the cast were replaced every six months, allowing a set of veteran cast members to help new members become accustomed to the show.[4] The cast was chosen by audition, and the producers made efforts to include children of multiple cultures and backgrounds.[5]
The mail-in request became a pop culture reference for its musical exhortation to "Write ZOOM, Z-double-O-M, Box 3-5-0, Boston, Mass 0-2-1-3-4: send it to ZOOM!". The lines were mostly spoken, but the ZIP Code was sung.
In the opening sequence, each cast member performed a brief "signature move," and second season cast member Bernadette's "arm thing" (a helicopter-like series of arm moves) became famous among the show's young audience. By popular demand, Bernadette eventually explained on the show how to perform the move.[6]
The program featured its own language,
Each show had one or two ZOOMguest sequences, short film documentaries about children with special talents (singing, tap-dancing, instrument-making, etc.) or interesting hobbies or jobs. The premiere episode featured a boy who built a boat by making a ring of sticks and twigs and covering them with a tarpaulin.
Throughout the show's run, Newton Wayland was the musical director, while Billy Wilson handled choreography during the first four seasons.[7][8]
In the show's first two seasons, Tracy hosted a "Tracy Asks..." sequence in which she asked a question, e.g., "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" or "What is the world's longest word?", and local children were filmed giving their answers. In later episodes, other cast members hosted and the segment was retitled "ZOOM in the Street." The first two seasons had "quickie" comedy routines modeled after
The performers in the original series were known for wearing
The first ZOOM series lasted six seasons (1972–1978) and featured 49 ZOOMers. During the second and third seasons, cast members were transitioned with a catchy production number that introduced the new cast members to the continuing cast members. The same song was used for each transition ("How do ya do do-dee-do, how do ya do-dee-do-dee-do, how's your sister, how's your brother, how are you?"), based on the Woody Guthrie song "Howjadoo." In the last three seasons, entirely new casts were used.
Several episodes were available with captions for the hard-of-hearing.
Cast (in order by introduction in the opening song)
Season | Cast Member #1 | Cast Member #2 | Cast Member #3 | Cast Member #4 | Cast Member #5 | Cast Member #6 | Cast Member #7 | Cast Member #8 | Cast Member #9 | Cast Member #10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (1972) | Joe Shrand | Nina Lillie | Kenny Pires | Tracy Tannebring | Tommy White | Nancy Tates | Jon Reuning | |||
2 (1972-1973) | Maura Mullaney | Kenny Pires | Ann Messer | David Alberico | Nancy Tates | Jay Schertzer | Tracy Tannebring | |||
Luiz Gonzales | Bernadette Yao | Leon Mobley | ||||||||
Edith Mooers | Lori Boskin | Danny McGrath | Leon Mobley | Neal Johnson | ||||||
3 (1973-1974) | Danny McGrath | Edith Mooers | Mike Dean | Donna Moore | Timmy Pruce | Lori Boskin | ||||
Mike Dean | Rose Clarkow | Hector Dorta | Shawn Miranda Reed | Danny Malloy | ||||||
4 (1974-1975) | Harvey Reed | Tishy Flaherty | David "Red" O'Brien | Cate Wadsworth | Norman Christian | Tracey Dellaria | Tommy Schultz | Carmen Hernandez | David Azzoto | Andrae Wyatt |
5 (1976) | Chris Blackwell | Jennifer Gold | Ron Richmond | Arcadio Gonzales | Karen Wing | Levell Gethers | Nell Cox | |||
6 (1977-1978) | Amy Clark | John Lathan | Carolyn Malcolm | Nicholas Butterworth | Shona de Nile | Chee Kim | Susan Wolf |
Some PBS stations continued to broadcast reruns of the series until September 12, 1980.
Merchandise
In 1973, the cast members from the first season released an album called Playgrounds (LP
In 1974,
In 1977, Rounder Records released ZOOM Tunes, featuring cast members from the fourth season.[10] John Nagy and Newton Wayland produced the latter two albums.
Two books for children were based on the 1970s ZOOM series:
- The ZOOM Catalog (ISBN 0394825322), published by Random Housein 1972, was a collection of stories, poems, plays, jokes and activities from the show, featuring the second cast.
- Do a ZOOMdo, published by Little Brownin 1975, was a collection of activities from the show, featuring cast members from the second and third seasons.
On December 1, 1998, WGBH released the video-and-book set Best of the 70s and ZOOMers Revisited — Where Are They Now? (
On October 28, 2008, WGBH released a two-DVD set, ZOOM Back to the '70s. The first DVD was a reissue of Best of the 70s, with extras consisting of behind the scenes stills set to the theme song and a 10-question quiz asking what a few of the cast members are doing today. The second DVD consisted of four episodes from the series.
50th Anniversary
At the show's 50th anniversary in 2022, WGBH posted all surviving episodes online.[11] On January 28, 2022, original executive producer Christopher Sarson and members of the first cast appeared in online video chats,[12] followed on February 2, 2022, by a chat with Sarson and cast members from the second and third seasons.[13]
See also
- Studio See, another PBS children's program that used content from viewers
- Zoom (1999 TV series), 1999 remake of the 1972 series
- Play School, the series Zoom was inspired by
References
- ^ Julie Salamon (February 15, 2002). "Grabbing Viewers 'Tween 8 and 14". The New York Times.
- ^ Emily Nussbaum (August 24, 2003). "That 70's Show: The Bouncy Everykids of 'Zoom'". The New York Times.
- ^ Newton, Catherine (January 20, 1999). "It's Ubbi-Dubbi all over again: "Zoom" zooms back to TV". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
- ^ Nicholas Butterworth. "Being on Zoom".
- Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
- ^ IMDB, accessed October 29, 2022, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7051437/
- ^ "Billy Wilson | Additional Crew, Director, Actor". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Playgrounds {full album}, retrieved 2023-12-20
- ^ Discogs, accessed February 25, 2022, https://www.discogs.com/release/4430719-Various-Zoom-Tunes-Songs-From-The-Three-Time-Emmy-Award-Winning-Childrens-TV-Show
- ^ "American Archive of Public Broadcasting Search Results". americanarchive.org. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ COME ON AND ZOOM! 50th Anniversary Virtual Celebration, retrieved 2023-12-20
- ^ “C’MON AND ZOOM” 50th Anniversary Virtual Event, Feb 2, 2022, retrieved 2023-12-20
External links
- Zoom at IMDb
- “'Come on and ZOOM!': ZOOM and 1970s American Childhood" by Leslie Paris
- Sunny Days (book) by David Kamp