I know it's only natural for someone to say that modern shows aren't as good as the shows he/she grew up with. It's the nostalgia factor that keeps our childhood shows sacred in our hearts. But nostalgia aside, Lamb Chop's Play-Along was still awesome. Shari Lewis and her personality-packed puppet gang were head-and-shoulders above their contemporaries like Mr. Rogers and Barney, because they went places and did things that other shows never thought to.
While most other shows were (and still are) pounding things like spelling and counting into children's brains, Shari taught her viewers magic tricks, riddles, Mother Goose parodies, drawing, boredom-busters and more. Today, the average five-year-old is wiggling around with the Teletubbies. When I was five, I was making jumping origami rabbits out of business cards. Somebody really needs to put this show back on the air. It's hard to stomach the idea that a generation will grow up without Shari, Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy.
Oh, yeah, and they also taught kids how to annoy the heck out of their parents: "This is the song that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friend....." ;)
