Evie and John guest star on Yo Gabba Gabba!

ZOOM is thrilled to announce an super exciting and super Gabbariffic collaboration with Nick Jr's award-winning children’s musical show, Yo Gabba Gabba!

ZOOM’s week of Gabba fun features guest appearances, contests, the release of a special playlist of The Wiggles, Baby Einstein, Zoom and Yo Gabba Gabba, Highlights include:


On August 25th, the episode "Together" will feature a segment before the credits where Evie and John will take you on a tour of ZOOMLand and the ZOOMZone.

And finally, be sure to check out this playlist of songs from The Wiggles, Baby Einstein, Zoom & Yo Gabba Gabba. They’re sure to get you and your little ones up and moving!

Five Things we learned from Yo Gabba Gabba

Collaborating with Nick Jr. dance show Yo Gabba Gabba has been a huge thrill for all of us at WGBH. Before Yo Gabba Gabba! debuted in August 2007, Us ZOOMers had already been entertaining and educating kids all over the world in there mid-90s and early 2000s. We always admired their songwriting, their talent as 5 weird costumed characters and a DJ, the way that their early education backgrounds informed their songs, and the respect with which they treat children and families. Here are a few things we learned from working with Yo Gabba Gabba’s team.

Be Kind

From our first meeting, every person from Yo Gabba Gabba's organization we’ve met with has been so nice and easy to work with. From the band themselves, to management, to their social media team…the whole crew acts as a family and have treated us like old friends. Yo Gabba Gabba is incredibly busy, touring the world and producing new songs and shows and videos. They are working all the time but have always been so generous with their time with us, and every interaction has been a pleasure. You can see why they’ve been able to maintain such a great connection with their fans. Being kind is part of their team culture.

Be Open

When dealing with a brand as big as Yo Gabba Gabba, Baby Einstein, or The Wiggles, there is some reasonable expectation that things are going to be done their way. However, The Gabba is incredibly open and flexible to trying new things, and actively encourage experimentation and thinking outside of the box. “We’d love to do a playlist together with you, Baby Einstein, and the Wiggles. What else can we do? Shoot a guest spot on And Now A Word from Us Kids? Absolutely! Let us know what we can do to help!” That openness allows them to make connections with their fans (and make new connections) in ways that are convenient to the fans.

Be Earnest

Yo Gabba Gabba really really cares about what it does. Everybody on the team is all in. One thing that we’ve always loved about YGG is that they stay very true to who they are. They entertain and educate children. They also happen to have guest musicians, so parents enjoy their music as well, but it’s unapologetically for kids.

Give it Your All

We initially had scheduled a day for The ZOOMers to shoot a segment of Yo Gabba Gabba! in April of 2019. On the day Evie and John shoot their YGG segment, it was an unusually warm day and the studio heated up. But they were so gracious and generous with their time during the shoot. When you see that kind of professionalism up close, it makes it easy to understand how The Gabba has stayed at the top of its game since 2007.

Have Fun

The Gabba Gang clearly loves what they do. It’s infectious. When Evie and John themselves visited the Gabba set, they had such a great time singing and dancing together. Their love of music and entertaining shines through at all times.

We had an amazing time working with Yo Gabba Gabba for And Now A Word from Us Zoomers. We hope you’ll subscribe to their YouTube channel and catch their concert next time they are in your town. You’ll have a great time, guaranteed.

Long Hours and Late Nights

Hello...Hello...Hello...Hello...Hello...hello

Echo...Echo...Echo...echo

6 TV Shows your Child must watch

Pediatricians recommend that kids spend most of their time being active outdoors and playing with their peers. However, that doesn’t mean TV has to be taken out of the picture. There are several educational TV shows that help your children learn before they enter school. Take a look at these six TV shows that your kids need to watch.

1. Yo Gabba Gabba
Based on Rachel Riddle's 1975 book series and the 1991 movie, Yo Gabba Gabba is a favorite among Celebrities that are parents. It teaches kids about sharing, friendship, and other important values. Through catchy jingles, lessons are interpersed like "Don't bite your friends". Your kids will meet and fall in love with DJ Lance, Muno, Foofa, and Plex. For a real world charm, the show even includes guest appearances from athletes, politicans, actors, and music legends.

Although in 2008 Colorado banned the show due to its "kids who like to dance", Yo Gabba Gabba has aired on Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon. Plus most TV packages include both networks, so you don't have to pay money for your kids to be both educated and entertained.

2. Super Why
Everybody likes Superheroes. Woofster, Super Why, Alpha Pig, Wonder Red, and Princess Presto lead fairytale characters into teaching literary skills. It's for kids ages 4-7. It first aired on August 13 2007 to positive, high-rated, reviews. It has aired on PBS Kids and Universal Kids Preschool.

3. Dora the Explorer
This interactive TV show has kids help a latino 5 year old named Dora solve problems while having fun. This show helps kids get ready for school with its diverse backgrounds. It has aired on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. since 2000. Go Diego Go, in 2005, followed its success.

4. Thomas and Friends
Based on the Awdry Railway series, this show is about trains who live on the Island of Sodor. Each episode is about an idea or the chance to try something new. Anyways, the slogan of the show is "I think i can". Thomas and Friends aired in 1984, and ITV rebooted in in 2004.

5. Zoom
Zoom is a TV Series about a group of kids from Boston that like to teach kids about manners, many good habits, food and eating right, having good hygine, and sharing. Zoe, Jared, Keiko, Pablo, Alisa, David, and Lynese all hang out in Zoomland, where they teach life lessons through music. Note: While washing the dishes, you may be singing "Don't, Don't, Don't bite your friends!". After each episode, kids will be singing "C'mon and Zooma Zooma Zooma Zoom" and "E-Mail or Zmail. pbskids.org". It has aired on PBS Kids from 1999 until 2005, HBO picked up the show for reruns in 2016.

6. Teletubbies
From the UK, Teletubbies is about 4 kids named "Tinky Winky", "Dipsy", "La La" and "Po". They teach kids about literary and numeracy skills. For instance, there is a sun with a baby (Jess Smith)'s face, and then a Vaccum named "NooNoo". The lessons, along with the theme song "Teletubbies say eh-oh" teach kids about having fun. Teletubbies aired on PBS Kids from 1997 until 2001, Nick Jr. revived in in 2015.

TV is full of things that your children shouldn’t see, which is why you should carefully select the programs that they’re allowed to view. The TV shows mentioned here are some of the best because of their educational value. What other children’s TV shows would you recommend to parents? Leave a comment below.

the Art of Animation of Kids Shows

Children's TV Shows get lots of well-deserved props for the musical guests that perform on the show. Whether it’s indie soft-rockers or electro-funk act. there is no shortage of cool on Kids' TV.

Bedtime Lullaby from ZOOM (PBS)

"Bedtime Lullaby" is a song by Mark Kozelek which invovles a Little Boy's dream with animation from Rachel Riddle. Watch here

Insence and Peppermints from School and the Backyard Gang (Nick Jr.)

Ah, "Incense Peppermints", it's our favorite song from BYG. This song from the Parrelelograms features a boy in a weird candy world.

Sweet Dreams from Super Simple Songs

"Sweet Dreams"- This song from Emmi Morton (School and the Backyard Gang/Sun Kil Moon) perfectly sums up Bedtime. With animation by BE's creator Patricia Joyce Parsons is a sweet tune. Watch Here.

Train from Yo Gabba Gabba (Nick Jr.)

“Train” – This sunny, catchy tune from Tahiti 80 takes a little girl through 3-D, candy-colored wonderland and an adventure inside a dinosaur’s stomach. This animated piece from PandaPanther is probably my personal favorite. Watch now online.

Here comes the Sun from Bubble's Beautiful Day (CBeebeis/Nick Jr)

"Here comes the Sun"- This song from the Trembling blue Stars is a classic. The animation from Bran Dougherty-Johnson will remind you of both the retro cartoons you used to catch on the Disney Channel in the 80’s (non-Mickey ones) 

Sleep Lullaby from Jolly Farm Revue (PBS)

"Sleep Lullaby"- Another Lullaby, this time from Rachel Redd (ZOOM/I Know, I Know). The animation from Jesse Ledoux has Mothers lull their babies to sleep. Watch here

Sleep Baby Sleep from ZOOM (Sprout/Universal Kids)

"Sleep Baby Sleep"- Animation house Pinkfong takes this beautiful song from Isaac Mirror (Swound/Flaming Lips) and immerses it into an equally beautiful animated segment. Watch Here

ZOOM: the Art of Animation part 2

C'mon and Zooma Zooma Zooma ZOOM!

ZOOM was a send it variety show produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston, and aired from 1999 through 2005. It was the third installment of 1970s show "ZOOM" -- the show's various segments were culled from thousands of ideas submitted by viewers (by mail to the address above). Sometimes these kids were featured in the clips themselves.

Ubbi-Dubbi? Well, let Wikipedia break it down for you.
Wait, that was no fun... better yet, pbs.org has a Flash-based Ubbi-Dubbi Translator. I had it translate its own instructions into Ubbi-Dubbi:
"Uball yubou hubave tubo dubo ubis subay UBUB bubefubore ubevuberuby vubowubel subound. Uband thubis Ububbubi Dububbubi mubachubine hubas bubeen prubogrubammubed wubith thube ubabubilubituby tubo rubecubognubize whubich vubowubels ubare suboundubed, uband whubich ubare subilubent!"

Wikipedia also comes close to de-funnifying Fannee Doolee: "Fannee Doolee is a fictitious girl acted in the playhouse by the ZOOMers on ZOOM. During the play, Fannee Doolee does not face the audience and she does not speak; instead, Fannee Doolee's unheard dialog is exposed when the person she was seen talking to turns to talk with others. The play is a comedy and the repeating gag is that Fannee Doolee likes and dislikes things that are similar and the people around her are perplexed by this inconsistency. For example, she likes stools but not chairs; she likes coffee but not drinks; she likes rolls but not bread; she likes cheese but not dairy.

Here are some segments:

- Roll out the ZOOM Sci, It's fun. I remember Cabbage Juice Incinerator
- ...doo-wah-zoom-doo, Do A ZOOMDo! Lynese does Pomander
- Smoosh sings "Pajama Party Time"

They also performed it on Educational Nickelodeon show "Yo Gabba Gabba!"
- ZOOM Playhouse: Caroline can't sleep, she thinks there's monsters! The full episode is included on PBS Sleepytime Stories.
- A Nice Piece of Music
"Rest your head it's time for bed

Rest your head it's time for bed

Dream of counting sheep
Dream of gazing stars
Dream of happy birthday
Dream of planet Mars

Just rest your head
Rest your head it's time for bed
Rest your head it's time for bed

Dream of autumn leaves
They circle as they dance
Dream of golden gates
Dream of Paris, France

Just rest your head it's time for bed
Rest your head it's time for bed"

And, as a bonus, here's the first episode of ZOOM, which was included on PBS Friends and Family

• Cow Toy
• Star
• ZOOM Vid- Too Little, Too Late (Ray MacMore, Kyle Larrow, Justin Bieber (LOL), Patrick Patterson, and Tim Strohmeyer) perform "Oh the Thinks you can Think" from Seussical
• Jingle- the Apples in Stereo (Robert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine) sing "We R Superheroes"
• Jack and Jill
• Fish
• Slideshow
• Bricks
• Another Cow Toy
• Credits (Zoe Costleo playing Peek a Boo)

The show had auditions for a 8th Season and they picked the KIDS

• Caleb
• Rosario
• Kelly
• Ashley
• Noreen
• Emily
• Nick

But the show was cancelled due to low ratings, so Season 7 was the last season. No Season 8. 

The set was flooded into a Pond. After David Larrow (Kyle's Dad) flooded it, petitons were made. the Show was originally going to have 12 Seasons.

In September 2017, Netflix revived the show with more ZOOMers.

• Jack
• Patrick
• Hannah
• Ian
• Michael
• Charlotte
• Jessica
• Josie
• Madigan
• Evan
• Emerson
• Maggie
• Ashley
• Miles
• Kota

Here are the Recollections:

• PBS Kids Compliation Videos (PBS Animal Tales, PBS Playtime Pals, PBS Trick or Treat Tales etc) use the episodes. 
• FETCHer Taylor was on the show 
• The term "ZOOMers" was picked up by ZOOM, when Ms. Stitch started her own club, the Stitchers . (EKA: S1E5 Sleep) All of the children wore Orange Shirts with the word "Stitchers" on them. Mr. Nitch followed suit with the Nitchers (EKA: S3E2 Silas the Nitcher)
  Since then, the number of "-ers" on ZOOM has grown to include the Sitchers, the Rhonaers, the Tenderers, the Weehawkeners and the Schoolers.