Image from here.My favorite celebrity sock puppet to date is a knitted wool sheep named Lamb Chop. She was so cute and sassy, and I just loved her name - Lamb Chop. My older brother thought the name was hilarious, seeing through the irony. At that time I didn't even show sheep were edible.
When I was in kindergarten, I watched her every weekday morning on The Shari Show.
Image from here.The Shari Show was a children's program hosted by puppeteer and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. Shari and Lamb Chop worked at a TV station totally run by puppets. There was a lion named Lionel, another lion named Dandy Lion and a kangaroo named Captain Person. It wasn't quite as educational as the more popular Sesame Street, but it did have a lot of singing and good values.
Thank you Shari, for the Shari Show.
As a kid I'd wondered why her name was spelled "Shari" (I saw it on the hand-painted heart on the opening of each episode), but it was pronounced Sherry. It was then I began to realize that Americans pronounced their vowels differently, depending on how the rest of the word is spelled. I obsessed over the letter A for a while and observed how it differed in words like mango, car and Franchesca.
Thank you Shari, for showing me that Teacher was not really that good in teaching English .
Image from here.I really missed the program it when it stopped running. I missed Lamb Chop most of all, and wondered if she did any more shows (Of course I knew she was a puppet! But I still adored her).
Thank you Shari, for sharing Lamb Chop with the world.
The next - and last - time I caught a glimpse of them was wen I was in third or fourth grade; Imagine my excitement. It was in a TV Christmas program of sorts with a segment featuring Lamb Chop and an older Shari. By that time, my brother had forgotten who Lamb Chop and Shari were, so I had to explain we used to watch them.
All grown up, none of my friends remember The Shari Show. I was beginning to think it might have all been figments of my imagination, so I Googled for proof. Voila! Lamb Chop really did exist!
I am also pleased to find that videos of Shari's programs are available at Amazon. Not that I intend to buy any of them, I just think it's nice to know.
I also found that Lamb Chop dolls are being sold. Now that's tempting, considering I've always coveted Lamb Chop whenever I saw her on screen. But instead of buying a ready-made doll, it might be more fun to acquire a Lamb Chop knitting pattern and try to make one myself.
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