Old School Thursday

Welcome to another installment of Old School Thursday. Today we honor:

It's Lamb Chop's Play-Along, where kids come to play along, and fun things are all we ever do! [click here to watch the show's intro].

The show aired on PBS from 1992-1997. Shari Lewis, an American ventriloquist and puppeteer, lives with Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse in a farm setting. It's a variety show setup as the show features fun and hilarious segments such as knock-knock jokes, Betcha-Time and "This is the Song that Doesn't End," which was used to end every episode.

Shari Lewis, who died in 1998, was one extremely talented woman. The program was basically a one-woman show as Lewis voiced and controlled all three of her four-legged co-stars, sang and did stand-up comedy.

Personally, I thought Hush Puppy was cute, but I don't understand--was he supposed to be foreign? Charlie Horse was hideous, but Lamb Chop was the cutest sock puppet I've seen. But it was not just her looks--oh no--it was her sharp wit coupled with her sweet little innocent voice that made her the barnyard's best.

I learned some pretty awesome tricks from Lamb Chop's Play-Along, and plenty of jokes that I found hilarious when I was 7 years old. (...but who ho am I kidding? I'm sure I still would.)

The only thing that creeped me out a little was when they brought out the 6-foot, life size Lamb Chop for dance numbers and she would dance with Shari and the kids.

...that, and when during the intro, Shari Lewis directed children to bounce their bottoms everywhere and proceeded to demonstrate. That was a little weird. But oh, to be young again.