Zoom

We're gonna zoom, zoom, zoom-ah-zoom, we're gonna zoomah zoomah zoomah--zoom. I think that was how it went. I loved that show, I would love to watch it with my little boy. I didn't remember it being on as long as it was. It seemed that I must have lost interest around 4th grade in 1977. I remember watching it in school though. It's amazing to me that some of the people who wrote comments remember particular characters. I don't remember them but I do remember them reminding viewers that they mustn't forget "the SASEY." I see some of the shows that my 4 year old daughter watched and I felt so sorry for her. Blues clues comes as close to being as "cool" as the shows that I watched when I was 4.

I loved this show, too. I'm glad that they brought it back for the next generation but I'm just not in to the new show. It seems more rehearsed than the old one did which was a lot more spontaneous. Kids were just kids on the old show, feeling free to do whatever they wanted, including doing the show in bare feet (which I thought was so cool, since I went barefoot all the time as a kid...still do). It's hard for me to believe that the new cast of kids honestly chooses to wear shoes and socks instead of going barefoot. Bare feet was the show's trademark, giving it a unique feel that I haven't seen any other shows have. It was a really cool thing to come home from school to.

I started watching this during junior high school. I was probably a little older than the "target" group, but the kids on the show were about my age. At first a few of my cool friends laughed at me, but pretty soon they were hooked and we all watched it together. It was like a secret society. But it still appealed to us, as the features and segments were interesting and well-done, educational but not boring and preachy. It worked because the creators did not treat kids as morons and had respect for their audience's intelligence.

"ZOOM" was a daily television program that came along in the nick of time. Just as the first generation on "Sesame Street" fans became too old for Big Bird, "ZOOM" hit the scene. Targeted at elementary school aged kids, "ZOOM" featured young boys and girls in orange and brown striped rugby shirts learning about art and science in a way that made them fun. Viewers were encouraged to write letters to the cast that might be read on the show, or could write in to request "ZOOM cards". These colorful cardboard pamphlets provided information about the topics discussed on the show and covered issues from baking cookies to protecting the environment. I still remember the address..."That's ZOOM! Z-"double O"-M, Box 3-5-0, BostonMass, Oh!-Two-One!-Three-Four!!"

PBS will be re-introducing "ZOOM" in 1999. I'm sure that twenty-something "ZOOM" fans everywhere are happy to know that their own kids will learn that great theme song..."Come on and Zoom, Zoom, Zooma-Zoom. Come on and Zooma-Zooma-Zooma-Zoom. Come on and give it a try...We're gonna show you to fly. HIGH! Come on and Zoo-oom. Come on and Zoom Zoom. Come on and Zoo-oom"

Why don't....you sit....down and....write some....things for....us to....do on....

Zoom!....

Zoom!....

Zoom!....

ZOOM!

Oh, how I loved this show! I was 8 in 1972 and 14 when it went off the air in 1978 -- THE target audience. I don't think there has ever been a kids show that equaled ZOOM. The 1990's version wasn't bad, but it still didn't have the coolness of the 70's original.

I had 3 or 4 ZOOM Cards and submitted a play at one point. Our PBS affiliate would show the episodes in the afternoon during the week and then on Saturday afternoons would show the entire week over a 2.5 hr block. I never missed it.

If only I'd had a way to record those shows back then. Maybe someday PBS will release a box set instead of the 2-DVD set. Until then, I just have my great memories.