ZOOM (1972 TV series)
| ZOOM | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Educational |
| Created by | Christopher Sarson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 130 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Christopher Sarson (1972–1974) Kate Taylor (1975–1978) |
| Location(s) | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Camera setup | Segments |
| Production company(s) | WGBH-TV |
| Distributor | WGBH-TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS |
| Picture format | Closed-Captioned, Color |
| First shown in | United States |
| Original release | January 9, 1972 – March 24, 1978 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Zoom (1999 series) |
| Related shows | Zoom (1999 series) |
ZOOM is a half-hour educational television program, created almost entirely by children, which aired on PBS originally from January 9, 1972 to March 24, 1978. It was produced by WGBH-TV in Boston.
ZOOM encouraged children to "turn off the TV and do it!" On the show, a cast of (usually) seven kids (known as ZOOMers) present or perform various activities such as games, plays, poems, recipes, jokes, songs, movies, science experiments, and informal chats on such subjects such as hospitals, prejudice, etc., all suggested by viewer contributions. These activities were introduced by such titles as ZOOMovie, ZOOM Play of the Week, ZOOMrap (later ZOOMchat), ZOOMgame, ZOOMdo, ZOOMgoody, ZOOMphenomenon, etc.
The mail-in request became a pop culture reference for its music exhortation to "Write ZOOM, Z-Double-O-M, Box 3-5-0, Boston, Mass 0-2-1-3-4: send it to ZOOM!". The line was mostly rapped, but the ZIP code was sung.
The program also had various language games, including Ubbi-Dubbi, where the syllable "ub" was added before each vowel sound in each syllable of each word ("H-ub-i, fr-ub-iends," etc.). A deductive example is "Fannee Doolee," in which a series of absurd statements about the titular character (e.g., "Fannee Doolee likes sweets but hates candy") is presented to the audience without further explanation. Eventually, it is hoped, they will deduce the key: that the character likes any person, place, thing or concept with double letters in it, but hates its non-double-lettered equivalent.
Each show had a "ZOOMguest" sequence, a short film documentary about a child with a special talent for singing, piano-playing, tap-dancing, instrument-making, performing in the Ice Capades, etc. The premiere episode featured a boy building a boat by making a ring of brush and covering it with a tarp.
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 are interviewed to give their answers to the question in a "man on the street" vein. The first season had "quickie" comedy routines modeled on those on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.
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