"Lamb Chop's Play Along: Lamb Chop Practices For A Talent Show" TV Show Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

As a kid, I used to watch Lamb Chop’s Play Along on PBS. I loved the characters Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy. As an adult, I revisit this show on Youtube. From there, I got to know some of the episodes. Case in point: “Lamb Chop Practices For A Talent Show.”

            Now, for this episode, I wouldn’t say that this one is by-far my favorite episode, because not all of the episodes of Lamb Chop’s Play Along are on Youtube. I would say that this episode was fair. So let’s not waste time: this is Lamb Chop’s Play Along- the talent show episode.

 

Act 1:

            Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse are arguing. Shari Lewis walks in and asks what’s wrong. Lamb Chop complains that she can’t be in the school talent show, because she wasn’t old enough like her brother Charlie Horse.

-Why Charlie Horse has to be so cocky about this, IDK.

            Then Lamb Chop sings about “waiting for someday” and getting tired of waiting.

-What’s wrong with waiting to grow up? I mean, what's the rush? You’re only six. Be a kid.

 

Act 2:

Lamb Chop is upset that Charlie Horse lies to her about… (well, you’ll hear her say why in a few seconds…)

            Shari comes over and asks what’s wrong.

-Dang! How can you not know what’s happening to your kids?

            Lamb Chop explains to Shari that Charlie lied to her about not being in the school talent show because she was too young. (In other words, there’s no age limit to join the talent show.)

Charlie gets called into the… see-through living room, and is then punished for lying.

-How Shari punishes Charlie is unbelievable. It’s like she’s treating him like a rebellious teenager, instead of an 8-year-old.

After Charlie gets the boot, Shari asks what Lamb Chop wants to do for the show talent show. And guess what… Lamb Chop has no idea. Shari suggests that Lamb Chop sing for the show. But here’s the catch: Lamb Chop has to sing by herself, which leads her to a new problem.

 

We then cut to Lamb Chop sitting on her bed trying to remember any song possible. Shari comes into her room (that’s also see-through…)…

-Wow, Shari keeps popping out of nowhere like a jack-in-a-box…

            Shari asks how she’s going; and Lamb Chop confesses that she can’t remember any song that she was taught.

-She can’t even remember the Barney song. That song is so easy!
-Oh, wait. We had to find that out through the confusion within the dialogue and the repetition and blah blah blah… the back-and-forth talking. The talking-back-and-forth dialogue is like a yo-yo that’s constantly going up and down.

After the brief confusion and what-not serving as comic relief, Shari suggests that Lamb Chop write her own song. Lamb Chop decides to write her own song.

 

Act 3:

 

Lamb Chop, Shari, and Charlie Horse watch Hush Puppy do magic tricks at the school talent show. Hush Puppy makes a bird appear and it’s… wow!
-The bird didn’t appear or anything. It’s just sitting there on Hush Puppy’s wand. Not that that’s important…

            After the performance, Hush Puppy thanks the audience.

 

-It’s a school talent show, not the Emmy’s. Save your acceptance speech for future stuff.

            Lamb Chop begins to have second thoughts about performing on stage, but then her name gets called up. So she makes her way onto the stage. She peeks through the stage curtains and is highly nervous. Charlie Horse makes fun of her for her stage-fright.

 

-Look at how Lamb Chop holds the curtains. It’s like she’s holding onto the curtains for dear life.

-Plus, Charlie Horse is still making fun of her. Are there any lines that can’t be crossed with you, Charlie?! You get punished for lying, but you’re still being a jerk-off!

            However, Lamb Chop gets mad at Charlie for making fun of her. She then dedicates her song to her brother, as a way to get back at him. She then sings her song, which is just telling everyone that they may know her and see her, but to not underestimate her.

 

-Doesn’t her performance look like a Marilyn Monroe knock-off?

 

            Now, from what I can gather from this episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along, the morals are the following:

-Respect your siblings
-Don’t chase stardom like fouls’ gold
-Express yourself

            Overall, this episode was okay. However, I felt like it was bland in some ways. We didn’t get the true conflict(s) until the second act. Some of it was corny- well, the funny parts were either too obvious or a little forced.

Finally, what’s with Charlie Horse? He was a bad kid the entire show. Too bad Shari didn’t have the sense to beat him with the faja (Spanish for “belt”), because he was conceded the whole way! And plus, what was Charlie’s “punishment” since he got “grounded”? That was never explained. I mean, did he get two weeks of no television, or no allowance for a month…? I guess we’ll never know…

Anyway, this episode was by-far the least bad. I mean, sure, it felt bland in some places, but it was still cute to watch. I’ll give this episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along a B+.

 

Amateur Critic

Source: Lamb Chop's Play Along

All rights go to Shari Lewis.