Come On and ZOOM (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4: Back to Basics

This is Kate Taylor (on the right). She was the executive producer of ZOOM in the 70s, and was also the executive producer of Arthur from 1996 to 2000 and Peep and the Big Wide World. In the early 90s, there were rarely any live-action shows on PBS for kids, so Taylor decided it was best for WGBH to bring back ZOOM.

…And so a pilot was made in 1996. The ZOOMers in this pilot were Enid (whose family is from Puerto Rico), Marcus, Hayley Denker, Esther Mira, Daniel, Georgina, and Chad Nelson. To make ZOOM appealing to 90s kids, WGBH and PBS would have to leave some of the 70s staples behind - gone were the song covers and the red and blue shirts - the ZOOMers would now wear their own clothes.

The new ZOOM would have many segments from the original series, but one that the original didn't - ZOOMSci, a science experiment segment. Because of this, the National Science Foundation would sponsor the new ZOOM when it launched.

The "Best of the 70s" video that I mentioned in the previous chapter had a preview of the new ZOOM, which had different ZOOMers - Alisa Besher, Lynese Browder, Zoe Costello, Keiko Mathewson, Jared Nathan, David Toropov, and Pablo Velez Jr. ZOOMSci was mentioned, as well as a few other segments (ZOOMBarrels were renamed ZOOMZingers). At the end of the preview, it said that the new show would premiere in 1999.

…And it did, on January 4th. The new ZOOM had many new ZOOMGames, ZOOMZingers, ZOOMPlayhouses (formerly ZOOMPlays), CafeZOOMs (formerly ZOOMGoodies), ZOOMScis, ZOOMAlongs (another new segment), Zoops (yet another new segment), Whatzups (sort of like a rehash of Tracy Asks), ZOOMa Cum Laudes, ZOOMGuests, ZOOMVids (formerly ZOOMVideo), ZMail (formerly ZOOMMail), ZOOMChats (formerly ZOOMRaps), Fannee Doolees, uband ubof cubourse Ubbububbi Dubbububbi (err…Ubbi Dubbi). 

Also during this season, the direct-to-video specials "Party with ZOOM" and "The Making of ZOOM" were released, both starring the Season 1 cast as they did fun party stuff and gave us a behind-the-scenes look at their show respectively.

The new ZOOM was slowly proving popular, almost as much as the original show in the 70s. Not only was a card game called ZOOMOut released…

…But two books were also published, ZOOMZingers and Fun with Friends, both complied by author Amy E. Sklansky. 

Once 1999 became 2000, not only was it a whole new decade and a whole new millennium, but it was also time for Season 2 of ZOOM, which premiered in January after a showing of The Making of ZOOM. Zoe and Alisa stayed in the cast, while we were introduced to five new ZOOMers, who were…

Caroline Botelho…

…Kenny Yates…

…Claudio Jimenez…

…Jessica (or Jessie) Ogungbadero…

…and Ray Filme.

Just because Pablo, Jared, Keiko, David, and Lynese were no longer in the cast doesn't mean they were forgotten. The five former ZOOMers returned for the second-to-last Season 2 episode and had their own pages on the ZOOM section of pbs.org. 

During this season, new books were published also by Miss E. Sklansky - ZOOMDos You Can Do and Fun Outside. Both books featured activities from both Seasons 1 and 2, information on Ubbi Dubbi and Fannee Doolee, a behind the scenes look at Season 2, and what the Season 1 cast is up to now.

The second season had a few changes - there were new segment openings (such as ZOOMSci and CafeZOOM) and ZOOMAlong was renamed ZOOMPhenom. However, the next season had even MORE changes!

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