Joseph Shrand, from the first season: We were just a bunch of kids hanging out together having fun, and it was really exciting.īecton: There was also a great artistic team working on Zoom at that time. It had to feel professional, but the crew also kept in mind that the kids were kids. What they were getting into was a show made largely on the fly, and centered on the actors themselves. The later casts knew that they were auditioning for Zoom and they’d seen it and heard of it, but those of us in that first group of seven really had no idea what we were getting into. We had no idea what we were auditioning for. Tracy (Tannebring) Tomson, from the first season: I was in the original cast. By not making it, that lit a fire under me so at the next audition I really tried my hardest and made it. I really felt as if I should have made it. Leon Mobley, from the second season: I was very disappointed. So, I thank Billy Wilson, who was also my ballet teacher, for me being on Zoom. After the first audition, they pared it down to 13 of us. Why don’t I bring a bunch of kids out to audition?” He brought Kenny and me and Leon and a slew of other kids. He said, “Well, listen, I work at a fine arts school.

Channel 2 had hired Billy Wilson, who was the choreographer of Zoom.

Nancy (Tates) Walker, from the first season: I went to the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts, which was an after-school art program in Roxbury. Read on for how it all happened, in the words of nearly two dozen people who were there.Ĭhristopher Sarson, series creator: My kids were 7 and 8 when the show started. Or, as the Zoomers themselves might put it in Ubbi Dubbi: Zuboubom fubocubusubed ubon fubun. Zoom quickly gained a critical and popular following, with The New York Times hailing it in 1972 for its “non-violent, non-hardsell, often delightful fun and games.” And unlike other programs vying for the attention of the younger audience - notably Sesame Street and The Electric Company, with their defined educational goals - Zoom focused on fun. For 155 episodes across six seasons, a rotating cast of preteen children told jokes, acted out skits, sang and danced, and rapped about their thoughts and feelings. Here, the grown-ups were behind the camera. From the first episode, which premiered on Channel 2 on January 9, 1972, Zoom differed from other shows for kids that all relied on the presence of adults. Zoom became the first television program for children and by children.

Zoom movie theme song