She had a Passover special and Chanukah special that would air on PBS when I was a kid. Basically the only place I was able to see my culture represented at that age.
@@JamesLewis2 this was my first thought as well when i read the comment. thought maybe the passover special that Sheri did was late 80s or something. but after a google, it seems that they actually came out around the same time. rugrats ep in 95, and Shari special in 96. i'm surprised i never knew about the special. i always appreciated rugrats bringing a bit of jewish culture into the show.
It's a shame that shari Lewis seems to be mostly forgotten, she deserves to be as fondly remembered as Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. I also find that there's not many biographies about her really odd. It's probably for the best that her puppets haven't been used since her death( outside of her daughter and Lamb Chop) is probably for the best, it just wouldn't feel right her puppets being performed by someone else.
Honestly, I'm surprised the creator of this series even remembers him fondly: I'm about two years older and only knew of him as someone my parents watched.
I have a theory as to why The Shari Show aired on Nick. As Poparena stated Shari Lewis didn’t do that much in the ‘80s but it’s evident she was developing what became Lamb Chops Play Along. It’s possible she called in a favor to Nickelodeon to air The Shari Show as a test to see if there was a market for her brand and if she could do a new show.
I love how Lamb Chop looks so animated. Like, I can tell Shari Lewis has her hand in a sock, but she's nailed the movements, voice, and timing, and I can suspend my disbelief so easily. That's how you give a fictional character a spirit of their own.
So I missed Lambchop as a kid and wasn't familiar with Shari Lewis before this, so thank you for this great mini-bio. Preserving an entertainer's work, especially a female artist, is so important.
She was such a singular performer and that must be the hardest thing about continuing Shari Lewis’s legacy. Even with Fred Rogers, some genius figured out that the Make Believe stuff could stand on its own and we got Daniel Tiger. But what is Lambchop without Shari? Her unique charisma was the whole appeal and that’s impossible to recreate without her.
Daniel Tiger is still a pale shadow of what Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was all about. Sorry, but DTN feels more like a carbon-copy of Dora the Explorer than a continuation of Mr. Rogers, no matter WHAT the PBS suits say. Fred Rogers had a way of reaching out to kids of ALL ages...even those who *were* kids when Mr. Roger's premiered who were now adults with kids of their own...in a way that made you feel respected, which DTN just fails to do. DTN is *clearly* a show for kids...however, even today, my 37 year old self can happily watch Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and gain something from it... That's a legacy that no studio can imitate...
I was way too old for Lamb Chop when it aired (I was about to enter High School by they point), but I can't help but feel robbed that Shari Lewis didn't have her own show airing along side Sesame Street and Mr Rogers while I was growing up because I know I would've absolutely loved her. She was extremely talented and you can tell she genuinely loved what she was doing.
Been enjoying the series so far, but this one was special for me. I was mesmerized by Shari Lewis in the 90s and utterly devastated by her loss, almost like an aunt or grandmother. Now that I’m older I’ve rewatched many of her skits and available PBS episodes, and have been sharing that with my niece and nephew. I mimic her teaching style when I work with preschoolers. Now if only I could throw my voice… I agree that it’s a shame much of her brilliance has been lost to time, and hadn’t considered the fact that most of her projects were short lived. Her life might make for a great bio flick one day. Would need a real talent to pull off what she did.
I may be wrong on this, but at 21:34, the guy playing a doctor next to Lamb Chop may be Fred Gwynne, aka Herman Munster. Considering Greg mentioned that Shari was on Car 54, Where Are You? (Fred's previous sitcom before the Munsters) for a few episodes, it may explain why he came on her show as well.
Wow, I recognized Lamb Chop but I had no idea Shari Lewis was such an incredible, versatile treasure!!!! Bless you for bringing her some light to her career. I had to have seen her on Lamb Chop's Play-along on PBS or something. I'm tickled to see this many views so soon after this came out. I hope that bodes well for the trajectory of this series and your channel.
Shari is still missed. I was introduced to her through Lamb Chop’s Play-Along on PBS, and I currently have the entire “Shari Show” in a DVD set (“The Shari Lewis Collection,” which is currently out of print so good luck trying to get a copy on eBay or wherever). I wish a documentary on her could be made (that is, if daughter Mallory is up for it), for there isn’t one that covers her entire life story. I also wish the rest of Shari’s work could be out on DVD and/or Blu-Ray (hello, DreamWorks Classics? You own Lamb Chop’s Play-Along and Charlie Horse Music Pizza, don’t you?), for it has yet to happen (possibly due to music licensing issues or whatever). I guess time will tell..... EDIT 1/5/2024: Time just told: Mallory recently did a documentary on Shari and Lamb Chop with White Horse Pictures. So far, from what I heard, it has premiered around New York but has yet to earn a wide release.
One weird but oddly sweet way her legacy lives on: you can't go into a pet store without seeing stuffed Lamb Chop toys for dogs. Yeah, I'm sure a fair few of them have met some less than dignified fates, but it's adorable to watch my pupper walk around the house carrying her own little Lamb Chop toy and cuddling with it on the couch.
I have a deep dark confession to make: I watched Nick Jr. long after I was the target age (till I was like, 10). Usually when there was a snow day or I was home sick. It was before I discovered trashy talk shows. I remember Lamb Chop's Play-along, too. I found the puppet kids very relatable and Shari a lot of fun.
They apparently make Lamb Chop pet toys. I’m a bagger at a grocery store, and just today, someone came through with something that made me think “this looks like Lamb Chop”, then I saw the tag with her name on it. I’m sure I’ve seen these before, but I’m young enough that I didn’t really know who Shari Lewis was until Nick Knacks started getting close to this episode.
I work at a wholesale retailer that sells that same toy as well. I actually talked to a customer about it and we had a nice conversation about Lamb Chop.
I would say that partly the reason why Shari ultimately became forgotten was that she sold the majority of the rights of Lambchop and her friends to Classic Media just before she passed away and they barely done anything with them since. Live stage and internet performances were the exemption. Which her daughter has done.
Wow you really did Shari Lewis justice with this one. I really enjoyed learning about her career and life. Thanks for putting so much work into this one.
Imagine a crossover between this and Dusty's Treehouse, in which Dusty and Shari bond over their beloved puppet children and eventually marry and form one big happy blended family.
I'm familiar with the character Lambchop (just because my Nana has an old Lambchop puppet). Her final show looks familiar but if I saw it I had to be young. But I didn't know the story of Sheri or really anything about the character except for its name. Thanks for sharing this. I'm honestly really inspired and excited to look more into her. Puppeteering has always fascinated me, maybe partly because it looks challenging and we see so little of it. It's evident to me that she's passionate about her craft.
Shari Lewis was an amazingly talented woman. Remember watching "Play Along" and "Charlie Horse Pizza" on PBS as a kid. Hush Puppy was my favorite of the puppets. :)
I watched Lamb Chop's play along as a toddler. Was nice to learn about this one. RIP Shari Lewis. edit: listening to lamb chop buzzed rant about bourbon makes everything feel full circle. my childhood can be buried with a smile. You have that theme music in my head for the first time in 24 years. Thank you Greg...
I Just Saw That 24 Episodes Of The Shari Show Were Made From 1975 To 1976. There Is Also A Book Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop The Team That Changed Children's Television By Nat Segaloff And Mallory Lewis Which Is An Wonderful Book. There Is A Documentary About Shari Lewis To Premiere Sometime This Year. There Is An A&E Biography On Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop.
I teared up when the theme for Lamb Chop’s Play-Along played, tbh. One of my favorite stuffed animals was a Lamb Chop my grandma got me for Christmas when I was toddler that I still have to this day.
I really appreciate this show for the way it breaks the illusion of a static “past”. I grew up on my grandma and grandpa’s VHS tapes and I always viewed them as….just old media. Like old old. Seeing Lambchop I remembered I watched a lot of these and I’m realizing they were much more recent than I originally thought.
I don’t remember The Shari Show on Nickelodeon aired it, but I do remember watching Lamb-Chop’s Play-Along when PBS aired it 30 years ago. I enjoyed that program as a kid. I am also familiar with The Shari Louis Show from the ‘60s. It was my dad’s 48th birthday when Shari Louis passed away in 1998.
I first remember Shari Lewis as having a show on Saturday Morning at 10. It began in 1960 and lasted three years. Shari was quoted as saying."Just as I'd replaced Howdy Doody, cartoons like Underdog replaced me."
Sorry, Lamp Chop et. al., but it’s hard for me to take my eyes of Shari while watching this. Having grown up knowing only her bubble-permed, PBS-era iteration, she is simply striking to look at here.
KK Akuoku Yeah, she was a gorgeous woman, no doubt. And shockingly charismatic. Probably made her ventriloquist act even harder because you don’t want to look at the puppet!
This is the first time I've ever heard of Shari and Lambchop. It's sad that Shari never made it up to the ranks of Mr. Rogers or Kaptain Kangeroo, despite her all those awards she won. However, maybe the downfall of Shari's fame was that most, if not ALL of her shows (except for the Shari Show) followed the same exact formula. But...maybe...that's all what she wanted to do, entertain kids with the same format. She didn't expect be the next Jim Henson or Brad Williams; all she just wanted to show her passion for puppetry and she was one of the lucky ones to make what she loved for a living. R.I.P Shari Lewis.
What a talented and beautiful person Shari Lewis was! Lamb Chop's Play Along came out the same year I was born so it occupies this incredibly distant yet poignant spot in my brain. Can barely remember watching the damn thing but something about Lamb Chop has always made me feel a very deep comfort and nostalgia--I started tearing up near the end there. Great episode once again
I barely watched the show and it pops up now and then. For some TV stage show she finally let the song end. Or it might have been a Thanksgiving Day parade.
When a car comes in with a myriad of issues that seems to never end, I sing a variation called "this is the job that never ends" Goes over the heads of millennials. I try to show clips of Lamb Chops Play Along on TH-cam and they think it's cringy. A shame, sadly.
I remember seeing a VHS tape as a kid of Shari Lewis’ “1 Minute Bedtime Stories” with Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse as a kid years ago. I didn’t know she had a show that aired on Nickelodeon! I certainly wouldn’t have made that connection as a kid. It’s amazing just how many topics and people are linked to Nickelodeon in some way, even people & topics you wouldn’t think have any connection to them.
Oh wow. I shared this with my local family, and one of them responded with this obituary from the local paper, dated April 12th: www.pantagraph.com/obituaries/pat-brymer/article_12ae6a80-209a-5e6a-bd44-b5b6517592ae.html "He gained attention for his puppeteer skills in the film “Caddyshack,” animating the irrepressible golf course gopher. Pat was best known for his work with the renowned ventriloquist Shari Lewis. He built the “new and improved” woolly Lamb Chop sock puppet Lewis had created in the 1950s. He assisted Lewis as master puppeteer in her stage shows, videos and award-winning PBS shows."
Awh man, I used to watch Lamb Chop during day care. That was a time in my life where I barely remember anything, but I could pick out that iconic voice anywhere. Also, I appreciate the BLM plug. I'm glad we're not letting ourselves just forget about it, or drown it out. Especially not when it looks like we might actually be making progress with it.
I just noticed Mallory Tarcher (Shari's daughter) is credited as a puppeteer on the Shari Show. She would have only been about 12 years old at the time.
This is the song that never ends, Yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, And they'll continue singing it forever just because...
I remember watching Lamb Chop's Play Along and thinking Shari Lewis looked like my grandmother. (She had a similar haircut.) Oh shit, I also had One-Minute Bedtime Stories as a kid! I haven't thought about it in so long!
I saw it a few weeks on his “Oddity Archive” episode where Ben was talking about “The Shari Lewis Show”, her first TV kids show from 1960 after she took over from “Howdy Doody”, the long running kids show on TV when it first ran on NBC from 1947 until 1960.
As someone who was raised in the early 2000's they stopped showing reruns of Lambchop before i was old enough to enjoy it. However I will forever know Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop from the hilarious episode of The Nanny. Glad to know the history of this great lady, I wish I could've seen more of her as a kid. I feel like my generation missed out on something special.
I had known about the various Shari Lewis shows that came before Lamb Chop's Play-Along, but had no idea that any of them aired on Nickelodeon (though it seems it was almost a decade before I knew about Nickelodeon).
I grew up on Lamb Chop's Play Along, and at the time, I didn't realize she was doing ventriloquy. I rediscovered her on a YTV nostalgia binge a few years back and found footage of her performing at Canada's Wonderland. That was when I truly came to appreciate what she was doing! I also didn't realize until then just how long she'd been at it!
I don't remember this being on Nickelodeon but have seen in around 1985 and 1986 when it was on CBN (later The Family Channel, now FreeForm) every Sunday at Noon, every one of the 12 said episodes mentioned. My father hated it but what the heck he knows. I loved it. My guess on why Nickelodeon picked it up whether it was true or not was that during the first half of the 1980s, the network had 3 puppet shows which all made the top 3 for the network. One of those, Dusty's Treehouse, was swapped in 1984 for Danger Mouse and Nickelodeon probably picked up The Shari Show in place belatedly for the said program. Not enough running through a full year, the show was obviously ignored from a time slot where most kids were at school as those that stayed home were mostly younger than 4 years old and high school graduates (18 and up) and was quickly dropped whereas the network's two other puppet shows, Pinwheel and Today's Special lasted well into the front pivot of the 1990s, one in which was replaced with the network's own Eureeka's Castle. It would be Nickelodeon's only puppet show for a long, long time while Shari Lewis found her greatest success in her career on PBS where she remained until her passing in 1998. Gone too soon before Social Security age, that is.
I saw THE SHARI SHOW on Boston UHF when PBS was showing PLAY-ALONG. I remember I liked Shari Lewis when I was a kid, but I only saw her sporadically as a guest on other people's shows. It was the same thing with Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. I wonder why nobody showed her BBC series here?
I never remember seeing Shari Lewis on TV (Which, considering I was born a whole 5 years after her death isn't too surprising) but I had a Lamb Chop stuffed animal that scared the crap out of me as a little kid. It's probably still stuffed behind the armoire somewhere lol
One of my favorite episodes of this series now. From the clips show, the show honestly seems extremely charming to me, but I'm also so thankful to have been introduced to Shari by this video. I had a dim awareness of the Lambchop character but certainly did not know the name of its creator - but this video made me a fan, because Shari seems like she was a remarkable talent as a children's entertainer. A real shame she's an obscure figure.
I didn't see this show, I mean I knew the lambchop stuff (but forgot about the more adult stuff, definitely laughed at the tipsy lambchop bit, haha.) but I was familliar with lambchop's play-along! cool to see her daughter take up where she had to leave off with lambchop though, I had no idea!
You missed one little appearance, but it's interesting. One segment on a Henson special had her dancing with a body-length puppet of Fred Astaire -- which she played, natch.
I watch these videos in a random order based on whatever seems interesting at the time and god whenever I do I learn the most fascinating stuff! Great work as always
@ULGROTHA Looking things over, here's what premiered on Nick that year: David the Gnome, Count Duckula, Dr. Snuggles, Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, Don't Just Sit There, Kids' Court, Looney Toons, Heathcliff, and Noozles. (And Family Double Dare but that's been covered.) The Patty Duke Show also started on Nick at Nite and I'm 99% sure it aired on Nick as well, but maybe not in '88, so we'll see how he handles that. I have NO idea what Dr. Snuggles is and have no memory of it despite beng an avid late-'80s Nick viewer. Wikipedia tells me it's another cartoon import, and one of only 13 episodes. So I'm going to boldly predict that that one leads off '88, since he tends to start with a less substantial program so he can talk about what happened with the channel at large in that year.
@@pronkb000 I thought he's been going strictly chronologically by premiere date? And it just so happens that most shows that premiere early in the year tend to fit that description. :P
@@Idran No, he only breaks it down by year. Less consequential shows to open each new year up (so he can talk about what happened with Nick at large), "bigger" shows and shows requiring more time and research go towards the end. The stuff in-between depends on what he can do the quickest, and/or when.
I remember nickelodeon running ads for it. Based on what time the narrator said the show aired, I was in school or watching Saturday morning cartoons. Maybe you were too.
I actually forgot about this show until the intro played and you started talking about it. That's the power of a good intro. It's a fun idea and one that other puppet shows have visited, including a web show not for kids set in a monster TV station. Even the Muppets did this a few times, not counting the original Muppet Show.
Im shocked!! I dont remember this show but I remember the red girl puppet for some reason. But I never know this is the same Shari from Lambchops Play along, which was my show.. Question: could you do Sharon, Lois, and Bram next? (26:42 NOW i remember why I here I saw that puppet)
I don't remember watching this show at all, but I'm pretty sure I had a book that had pictures of the characters. I want to say I was vaguely frightened of them lol
Shari was a throwback to the slower-paced, live adult performer-based children's programming that was on during the first couple years of Nickelodeon. Puppets have always had their place on the channel (dare I mention Cousin Skeeter?) but that kind of television is sorely missed on the all-animation Nick Jr. now.
I seriously only remember watching the last few minutes of Lamb Chop and the ending theme because I didn't like it. I don't even remember what was on after it aired that I was waiting for lol. But I do remember Nick got the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks in the 90s.
She had a Passover special and Chanukah special that would air on PBS when I was a kid. Basically the only place I was able to see my culture represented at that age.
I remember specials for both observances on Rugrats, but they may have aired later.
@@JamesLewis2 Might not have had cable though.
@@JamesLewis2 this was my first thought as well when i read the comment. thought maybe the passover special that Sheri did was late 80s or something. but after a google, it seems that they actually came out around the same time. rugrats ep in 95, and Shari special in 96. i'm surprised i never knew about the special. i always appreciated rugrats bringing a bit of jewish culture into the show.
It's a shame that shari Lewis seems to be mostly forgotten, she deserves to be as fondly remembered as Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. I also find that there's not many biographies about her really odd. It's probably for the best that her puppets haven't been used since her death( outside of her daughter and Lamb Chop) is probably for the best, it just wouldn't feel right her puppets being performed by someone else.
Honestly, I'm surprised the creator of this series even remembers him fondly: I'm about two years older and only knew of him as someone my parents watched.
Not to mention appearing on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 8 times, her last being 1997.
Her daughter has been using her puppets for years
Probably one of the best Knick Knacks so far. This was basically a love letter to Shari Lewis' wonderful work.
Shari deserves to be remembered with the same respect and fondness as Jim Henson.
I have a theory as to why The Shari Show aired on Nick. As Poparena stated Shari Lewis didn’t do that much in the ‘80s but it’s evident she was developing what became Lamb Chops Play Along. It’s possible she called in a favor to Nickelodeon to air The Shari Show as a test to see if there was a market for her brand and if she could do a new show.
RIP Shari Lewis she was a good puppeteer.
And she was the puppeteer that doesn’t end.
@@Musicradio77Network that is true.
I love how Lamb Chop looks so animated. Like, I can tell Shari Lewis has her hand in a sock, but she's nailed the movements, voice, and timing, and I can suspend my disbelief so easily. That's how you give a fictional character a spirit of their own.
So I missed Lambchop as a kid and wasn't familiar with Shari Lewis before this, so thank you for this great mini-bio. Preserving an entertainer's work, especially a female artist, is so important.
She was such a singular performer and that must be the hardest thing about continuing Shari Lewis’s legacy. Even with Fred Rogers, some genius figured out that the Make Believe stuff could stand on its own and we got Daniel Tiger. But what is Lambchop without Shari? Her unique charisma was the whole appeal and that’s impossible to recreate without her.
Daniel Tiger is still a pale shadow of what Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was all about. Sorry, but DTN feels more like a carbon-copy of Dora the Explorer than a continuation of Mr. Rogers, no matter WHAT the PBS suits say. Fred Rogers had a way of reaching out to kids of ALL ages...even those who *were* kids when Mr. Roger's premiered who were now adults with kids of their own...in a way that made you feel respected, which DTN just fails to do. DTN is *clearly* a show for kids...however, even today, my 37 year old self can happily watch Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and gain something from it...
That's a legacy that no studio can imitate...
I was way too old for Lamb Chop when it aired (I was about to enter High School by they point), but I can't help but feel robbed that Shari Lewis didn't have her own show airing along side Sesame Street and Mr Rogers while I was growing up because I know I would've absolutely loved her. She was extremely talented and you can tell she genuinely loved what she was doing.
Two kids overheard at my old job: "Ya know who plays Lamb Chop?" "Who?" "Marilyn Monroe!".
Been enjoying the series so far, but this one was special for me. I was mesmerized by Shari Lewis in the 90s and utterly devastated by her loss, almost like an aunt or grandmother. Now that I’m older I’ve rewatched many of her skits and available PBS episodes, and have been sharing that with my niece and nephew. I mimic her teaching style when I work with preschoolers. Now if only I could throw my voice…
I agree that it’s a shame much of her brilliance has been lost to time, and hadn’t considered the fact that most of her projects were short lived. Her life might make for a great bio flick one day. Would need a real talent to pull off what she did.
I may be wrong on this, but at 21:34, the guy playing a doctor next to Lamb Chop may be Fred Gwynne, aka Herman Munster. Considering Greg mentioned that Shari was on Car 54, Where Are You? (Fred's previous sitcom before the Munsters) for a few episodes, it may explain why he came on her show as well.
You are indeed correct :)
Wow, I recognized Lamb Chop but I had no idea Shari Lewis was such an incredible, versatile treasure!!!! Bless you for bringing her some light to her career. I had to have seen her on Lamb Chop's Play-along on PBS or something.
I'm tickled to see this many views so soon after this came out. I hope that bodes well for the trajectory of this series and your channel.
Shari is still missed. I was introduced to her through Lamb Chop’s Play-Along on PBS, and I currently have the entire “Shari Show” in a DVD set (“The Shari Lewis Collection,” which is currently out of print so good luck trying to get a copy on eBay or wherever).
I wish a documentary on her could be made (that is, if daughter Mallory is up for it), for there isn’t one that covers her entire life story.
I also wish the rest of Shari’s work could be out on DVD and/or Blu-Ray (hello, DreamWorks Classics? You own Lamb Chop’s Play-Along and Charlie Horse Music Pizza, don’t you?), for it has yet to happen (possibly due to music licensing issues or whatever). I guess time will tell.....
EDIT 1/5/2024: Time just told: Mallory recently did a documentary on Shari and Lamb Chop with White Horse Pictures. So far, from what I heard, it has premiered around New York but has yet to earn a wide release.
One weird but oddly sweet way her legacy lives on: you can't go into a pet store without seeing stuffed Lamb Chop toys for dogs. Yeah, I'm sure a fair few of them have met some less than dignified fates, but it's adorable to watch my pupper walk around the house carrying her own little Lamb Chop toy and cuddling with it on the couch.
I almost bought one for my older sister's new puppy just the other day but I had left my wallet at home.
I just wanted to learn about Nickelodeon and now I'm crying???
This is a fantastic send up to Shari💛
I have a deep dark confession to make: I watched Nick Jr. long after I was the target age (till I was like, 10). Usually when there was a snow day or I was home sick. It was before I discovered trashy talk shows.
I remember Lamb Chop's Play-along, too. I found the puppet kids very relatable and Shari a lot of fun.
Thanks Shari for all the joy you brought us throughout the years. Rest In Peace.
They apparently make Lamb Chop pet toys. I’m a bagger at a grocery store, and just today, someone came through with something that made me think “this looks like Lamb Chop”, then I saw the tag with her name on it. I’m sure I’ve seen these before, but I’m young enough that I didn’t really know who Shari Lewis was until Nick Knacks started getting close to this episode.
As another grocery worker, I can corroborate this. Every time one goes through my line I think "Poor Lamb Chop, reduced to getting chewed on by dogs."
PinkieLopBun 🍿
I work at a wholesale retailer that sells that same toy as well. I actually talked to a customer about it and we had a nice conversation about Lamb Chop.
I would say that partly the reason why Shari ultimately became forgotten was that she sold the majority of the rights of Lambchop and her friends to Classic Media just before she passed away and they barely done anything with them since. Live stage and internet performances were the exemption. Which her daughter has done.
Wow you really did Shari Lewis justice with this one. I really enjoyed learning about her career and life. Thanks for putting so much work into this one.
Imagine a crossover between this and Dusty's Treehouse, in which Dusty and Shari bond over their beloved puppet children and eventually marry and form one big happy blended family.
I'm familiar with the character Lambchop (just because my Nana has an old Lambchop puppet). Her final show looks familiar but if I saw it I had to be young.
But I didn't know the story of Sheri or really anything about the character except for its name. Thanks for sharing this. I'm honestly really inspired and excited to look more into her.
Puppeteering has always fascinated me, maybe partly because it looks challenging and we see so little of it. It's evident to me that she's passionate about her craft.
phantom130 5 😜
Shari Lewis was an amazingly talented woman. Remember watching "Play Along" and "Charlie Horse Pizza" on PBS as a kid. Hush Puppy was my favorite of the puppets. :)
I know who Shari Lewis was, but not from this show--Lambchop's Play-Along was my introduction to her.
That's actually the show that I thought this episode was going to be about when he hinted about the new episode on the last video.
Mine too. I still have The Song That Never Ends in my mind. That's proof that the song never ended.
I watched Lamb Chop's play along as a toddler. Was nice to learn about this one. RIP Shari Lewis.
edit: listening to lamb chop buzzed rant about bourbon makes everything feel full circle. my childhood can be buried with a smile. You have that theme music in my head for the first time in 24 years. Thank you Greg...
man the effect of using sock puppets when you're used to muppets and things is that she seems like SUCH a close talker
I Just Saw That 24 Episodes Of The Shari Show Were Made From 1975 To 1976. There Is Also A Book Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop The Team That Changed Children's Television By Nat Segaloff And Mallory Lewis Which Is An Wonderful Book. There Is A Documentary About Shari Lewis To Premiere Sometime This Year. There Is An A&E Biography On Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop.
This is interesting to know. I always thought that Shari Lewis just did Lamb Chop's Play-Along. Great analysis once again, Greg.
The worst of the show was the closing song called “The Song That Doesn’t End” and it was annoying.
There was a short lived spinoff show in the 90s called Charlie Horse's Music Pizza right before she died
@@Musicradio77Network it wasn't as bad as the Barney ending theme. In fact, I still sing a variation at work called " the work that never ends"
I teared up when the theme for Lamb Chop’s Play-Along played, tbh. One of my favorite stuffed animals was a Lamb Chop my grandma got me for Christmas when I was toddler that I still have to this day.
I really appreciate this show for the way it breaks the illusion of a static “past”. I grew up on my grandma and grandpa’s VHS tapes and I always viewed them as….just old media. Like old old. Seeing Lambchop I remembered I watched a lot of these and I’m realizing they were much more recent than I originally thought.
Now I want a Shari Lewis biopic starring Tom Hanks.
He plays Shari? Back to the bossom buddies days, eh?
I don’t remember The Shari Show on Nickelodeon aired it, but I do remember watching Lamb-Chop’s Play-Along when PBS aired it 30 years ago. I enjoyed that program as a kid. I am also familiar with The Shari Louis Show from the ‘60s. It was my dad’s 48th birthday when Shari Louis passed away in 1998.
I first remember Shari Lewis as having a show on Saturday Morning at 10. It began in 1960 and lasted three years. Shari was quoted as saying."Just as I'd replaced Howdy Doody, cartoons like Underdog replaced me."
Sorry, Lamp Chop et. al., but it’s hard for me to take my eyes of Shari while watching this.
Having grown up knowing only her bubble-permed, PBS-era iteration, she is simply striking to look at here.
KK Akuoku Yeah, she was a gorgeous woman, no doubt. And shockingly charismatic. Probably made her ventriloquist act even harder because you don’t want to look at the puppet!
This is the first time I've ever heard of Shari and Lambchop. It's sad that Shari never made it up to the ranks of Mr. Rogers or Kaptain Kangeroo, despite her all those awards she won. However, maybe the downfall of Shari's fame was that most, if not ALL of her shows (except for the Shari Show) followed the same exact formula. But...maybe...that's all what she wanted to do, entertain kids with the same format. She didn't expect be the next Jim Henson or Brad Williams; all she just wanted to show her passion for puppetry and she was one of the lucky ones to make what she loved for a living.
R.I.P Shari Lewis.
A nice tribute to Sherri Lewis, she's among one of the finest puppeteers of the 20th Century along with Jim Henson.
What a talented and beautiful person Shari Lewis was! Lamb Chop's Play Along came out the same year I was born so it occupies this incredibly distant yet poignant spot in my brain. Can barely remember watching the damn thing but something about Lamb Chop has always made me feel a very deep comfort and nostalgia--I started tearing up near the end there. Great episode once again
Who else just got the song that doesn't end stuck in their heads 'cause of this episode?
I was able to drown it out with the Lamb Chop song, but it was a fight.
IT'S BEEN ALMOST 30 YEARS AND IT'S STILL IN MY HEAD!
I barely watched the show and it pops up now and then. For some TV stage show she finally let the song end. Or it might have been a Thanksgiving Day parade.
I do now. Thanks.
When a car comes in with a myriad of issues that seems to never end, I sing a variation called "this is the job that never ends"
Goes over the heads of millennials. I try to show clips of Lamb Chops Play Along on TH-cam and they think it's cringy. A shame, sadly.
I remember seeing a VHS tape as a kid of Shari Lewis’ “1 Minute Bedtime Stories” with Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse as a kid years ago. I didn’t know she had a show that aired on Nickelodeon! I certainly wouldn’t have made that connection as a kid. It’s amazing just how many topics and people are linked to Nickelodeon in some way, even people & topics you wouldn’t think have any connection to them.
I remember watching this on vhs as a super young kid. Thank You so much for highlighting such an amazing performer. I remember her PBS show.
What a wonderful tribute to such a special person.
Best ventriloquist. Never saw her lips even twitch
Oh wow. I shared this with my local family, and one of them responded with this obituary from the local paper, dated April 12th: www.pantagraph.com/obituaries/pat-brymer/article_12ae6a80-209a-5e6a-bd44-b5b6517592ae.html
"He gained attention for his puppeteer skills in the film “Caddyshack,” animating the irrepressible golf course gopher. Pat was best known for his work with the renowned ventriloquist Shari Lewis. He built the “new and improved” woolly Lamb Chop sock puppet Lewis had created in the 1950s. He assisted Lewis as master puppeteer in her stage shows, videos and award-winning PBS shows."
Awh man, I used to watch Lamb Chop during day care. That was a time in my life where I barely remember anything, but I could pick out that iconic voice anywhere.
Also, I appreciate the BLM plug. I'm glad we're not letting ourselves just forget about it, or drown it out. Especially not when it looks like we might actually be making progress with it.
I just noticed Mallory Tarcher (Shari's daughter) is credited as a puppeteer on the Shari Show. She would have only been about 12 years old at the time.
This is the song that never ends,
Yes it goes on and on my friends.
Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because...
I remember watching Lamb Chop's Play Along and thinking Shari Lewis looked like my grandmother. (She had a similar haircut.)
Oh shit, I also had One-Minute Bedtime Stories as a kid! I haven't thought about it in so long!
I saw it a few weeks on his “Oddity Archive” episode where Ben was talking about “The Shari Lewis Show”, her first TV kids show from 1960 after she took over from “Howdy Doody”, the long running kids show on TV when it first ran on NBC from 1947 until 1960.
I've watched movies & TV from every decade, & that is hands-down the weirdest theme song I've ever heard.
As someone who was raised in the early 2000's they stopped showing reruns of Lambchop before i was old enough to enjoy it. However I will forever know Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop from the hilarious episode of The Nanny. Glad to know the history of this great lady, I wish I could've seen more of her as a kid. I feel like my generation missed out on something special.
This was a very sweet and informative tribute!
But her shows would live on and it doesn’t really end.
I had known about the various Shari Lewis shows that came before Lamb Chop's Play-Along, but had no idea that any of them aired on Nickelodeon (though it seems it was almost a decade before I knew about Nickelodeon).
Rip Shari she was a great puppeteer...😔 I remember lamb chop she was a pretty solid and fun character it’s insane awesome work dude love your stuff!👍
Shari was the puppeteer that doesn’t end.
I have an autograph from sheri somewhere in storage. Met her when I was little, great person.
I really gotta wonder how Shari Lewis would have felt knowing her most famous creation's ultimate legacy would be as a popular dog toy.
I loved Shari Lewis. I was so sad when she died. It was like one of my aunts had passed away.
Who else burst into song when the Lamb Chop's Play-Along theme started?
She was good 50s to PBS show. Well done she will be missed. RIP
22 years??? I can hardly believe it's been that long... I miss her.
I grew up on Lamb Chop's Play Along, and at the time, I didn't realize she was doing ventriloquy. I rediscovered her on a YTV nostalgia binge a few years back and found footage of her performing at Canada's Wonderland. That was when I truly came to appreciate what she was doing! I also didn't realize until then just how long she'd been at it!
I don't remember this being on Nickelodeon but have seen in around 1985 and 1986 when it was on CBN (later The Family Channel, now FreeForm) every Sunday at Noon, every one of the 12 said episodes mentioned. My father hated it but what the heck he knows. I loved it. My guess on why Nickelodeon picked it up whether it was true or not was that during the first half of the 1980s, the network had 3 puppet shows which all made the top 3 for the network. One of those, Dusty's Treehouse, was swapped in 1984 for Danger Mouse and Nickelodeon probably picked up The Shari Show in place belatedly for the said program. Not enough running through a full year, the show was obviously ignored from a time slot where most kids were at school as those that stayed home were mostly younger than 4 years old and high school graduates (18 and up) and was quickly dropped whereas the network's two other puppet shows, Pinwheel and Today's Special lasted well into the front pivot of the 1990s, one in which was replaced with the network's own Eureeka's Castle. It would be Nickelodeon's only puppet show for a long, long time while Shari Lewis found her greatest success in her career on PBS where she remained until her passing in 1998. Gone too soon before Social Security age, that is.
I saw THE SHARI SHOW on Boston UHF when PBS was showing PLAY-ALONG. I remember I liked Shari Lewis when I was a kid, but I only saw her sporadically as a guest on other people's shows. It was the same thing with Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. I wonder why nobody showed her BBC series here?
I know Shari Lewis and Lambchop appeared on an episode of "The Nanny".
I actually had no clue there were 12 episodes of this show! I had a DVD with 6 episodes, so I assumed that’s all there was.
I never remember seeing Shari Lewis on TV (Which, considering I was born a whole 5 years after her death isn't too surprising) but I had a Lamb Chop stuffed animal that scared the crap out of me as a little kid. It's probably still stuffed behind the armoire somewhere lol
One of my favorite episodes of this series now. From the clips show, the show honestly seems extremely charming to me, but I'm also so thankful to have been introduced to Shari by this video. I had a dim awareness of the Lambchop character but certainly did not know the name of its creator - but this video made me a fan, because Shari seems like she was a remarkable talent as a children's entertainer. A real shame she's an obscure figure.
I didn't see this show, I mean I knew the lambchop stuff (but forgot about the more adult stuff, definitely laughed at the tipsy lambchop bit, haha.) but I was familliar with lambchop's play-along! cool to see her daughter take up where she had to leave off with lambchop though, I had no idea!
How...can a lady get pregnant with a Puppet?
Edit: Looks like it's time for the Nick Jr era.
Maybe it's an asexual/Virgin birth deal
@@Zezlemet O-oh...
TV Logic, obviously
Ask Cousin Skeeter's parents
You missed one little appearance, but it's interesting. One segment on a Henson special had her dancing with a body-length puppet of Fred Astaire -- which she played, natch.
I just saw another clip on TH-cam of the same routine on a Canadian special.
I watch these videos in a random order based on whatever seems interesting at the time and god whenever I do I learn the most fascinating stuff! Great work as always
Oh! This is the show with Lampchop!
And it doesn’t end.
Can't wait for when you review Inspector Gadget, which was acquired by Nick in 1987. :)
@ULGROTHA Looking things over, here's what premiered on Nick that year: David the Gnome, Count Duckula, Dr. Snuggles, Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, Don't Just Sit There, Kids' Court, Looney Toons, Heathcliff, and Noozles. (And Family Double Dare but that's been covered.) The Patty Duke Show also started on Nick at Nite and I'm 99% sure it aired on Nick as well, but maybe not in '88, so we'll see how he handles that.
I have NO idea what Dr. Snuggles is and have no memory of it despite beng an avid late-'80s Nick viewer. Wikipedia tells me it's another cartoon import, and one of only 13 episodes. So I'm going to boldly predict that that one leads off '88, since he tends to start with a less substantial program so he can talk about what happened with the channel at large in that year.
@@pronkb000 I thought he's been going strictly chronologically by premiere date? And it just so happens that most shows that premiere early in the year tend to fit that description. :P
@@Idran No, he only breaks it down by year. Less consequential shows to open each new year up (so he can talk about what happened with Nick at large), "bigger" shows and shows requiring more time and research go towards the end. The stuff in-between depends on what he can do the quickest, and/or when.
Does anyone remember when The Muppet Show aired on Nick Jr? Probably to compete with Disney Channel, that was airing reruns of Muppets Tonight.
Curiously, the example of a one-minute bed-time story took 45 seconds, rather than one minute.
10:04 Hey, it's Anthony Kiedes Bear!
I was too young for for anything lamb chop related and was always confused seeing parodies of it on shows or TH-cam sketches
I had Nick then, I don't remember this show ever being on.
Erykthebat me too☺️
I remember nickelodeon running ads for it. Based on what time the narrator said the show aired, I was in school or watching Saturday morning cartoons. Maybe you were too.
Nick is where I first heard about Shauri Lewis, when Nick at Night aired her guest spot on The Nanny
I actually forgot about this show until the intro played and you started talking about it. That's the power of a good intro. It's a fun idea and one that other puppet shows have visited, including a web show not for kids set in a monster TV station. Even the Muppets did this a few times, not counting the original Muppet Show.
Still waiting for the early 2000s, that's the Nick I grew up with 👍👍😀📼
Pelswick, anyone? 😀
Lost media and Lego fan The brick dude I grew up with nick in 1990 I was 6 remember seeing today’s special got a good memory🥳
only257
I wish I was around in 1985 to 1986. So I could see Turkey Television when it aired, keeping episodes of it from becoming lost media 👍📼📼
Dang, l vaguely remember that. Purple shirt, cap, and wheelchair, right?
@@TheDanishGuyReviews Correct.
Im shocked!! I dont remember this show but I remember the red girl puppet for some reason. But I never know this is the same Shari from Lambchops Play along, which was my show..
Question: could you do Sharon, Lois, and Bram next?
(26:42 NOW i remember why I here I saw that puppet)
What is the name of the announcer for Nickelodeon commercials during this era (mid 80’s to early 90’s)
My dog is obsessed with Lamb Chop.
I saw her on an old episode of Love, American Style a couple weeks ago on Decades.
where exactly did you find more episodes of this show? Everywhere I look I get the same four episodes
I don't remember watching this show at all, but I'm pretty sure I had a book that had pictures of the characters. I want to say I was vaguely frightened of them lol
I think Aunt Arctica is my new favorite Shari Lewis Punny Puppet Name.
Shari looks beautiful here:
23:51-23:57
So freaking weird that episode of Star Trek was just on yesterday, Saturday night, on MeTv!
This show is ether the muppets preschool addition with one voice actor or a woman’s descent into madness
What an amazing woman.
What about that one show with lambchop on pbs kids oh wait the end had it
Fireflowflame I remember that show though it was a ripoff of fragile rock 😌
Shari was a throwback to the slower-paced, live adult performer-based children's programming that was on during the first couple years of Nickelodeon. Puppets have always had their place on the channel (dare I mention Cousin Skeeter?) but that kind of television is sorely missed on the all-animation Nick Jr. now.
"Overpaid Star Wars Fanfic writer." Damn. I actually liked the Aftermath books but I know that Chuck Wendig can be a volatile person online.
I seriously only remember watching the last few minutes of Lamb Chop and the ending theme because I didn't like it. I don't even remember what was on after it aired that I was waiting for lol. But I do remember Nick got the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks in the 90s.
Are you still going to make that nick knack video of the nick splat logo
He talked about it in the Nick Rocks video. I don’t think he ever said it was getting a dedicated episode.
PinkieLopBun oh
Do a show on Nickelodeon's Animorphs
I am more a fan of her PBS show that aired in the early 90s.