CBeebies Origins: ZOOM

Sid Sloane and Alex Winters are coming out to support a CBBC show and are hosting an origins event. Featuring clips from the 2000 pilot, Hugo the Hippo, ZOOM (1999 vers), and the Teletubbies!

What, you don’t remember ZOOM???? It was a CBBC Show in the 2000s. ZOOM was Yo Gabba Gabba for second-Class citizens without 70-plus channels. Nevertheless, it was a sweet show. And anyone who's seen the CBBC Classic will agree!

The half hour show featured 7 presenters (all kids) doing cool things like speaking in made-up languages and performing flawless choreographed dance sequences. So let's take a trip down memory lane.

Theme Song

Don't act like you didn't practice your own opening for the day you got cast on the show.

Presenters

Unlike earlier PBS programmes aimed at children such as Wishbone or Arthur, Zoom featured real presenters who spoke directly to their audience. Presenters included David Toprov (pictured above); Caroline Botelho, who remained with the show for 4 years; actress Emily Marshall; School and the Backyard Gang actress Alisa Besher; Eric Rollins; I Know, I Know models and presenters Estuardo Alvizures and Rachel Redd; and FETCH! contestant Taylor Garron. Jared Nathan (who died in 2006) and Kaleigh Cronin (Now a Broadway Actress) are the only ZOOMers with wikipedia pages.

The recipes

Which always featured generic brands like Zoom milk and my personal favorite, Zoom-ios! This is Public Broadcasting Service, after all.

The casual but coordinating outfits

Every presenter wore these...the Hawaiian shirts, the striped polos, the pigtails, all in the same orange/blue color scheme.

Ubbi Dubbi

Like you ever knew what the hell they were saying. But still, Ubbi Dubbi made you feel like you were part of a secret club full of cool-albeit-questionable kids.

Fannee Doolee

Riddle me this: Who actually understood all of Fannee Doolee's ridiculous riddles?

How meta it was

Part of the intro literally says, "If you like what you see, turn off the TV and DO IT!" Wow. Just... wow. Fun Fact: The original series and the reboot themselves were both adapted from Playschool.

ZoomChat

Which was like Dear Abbey meets The View for grade-schoolers.

The Cup Game

Proving Anna Kendrick's Pitch Perfect character was definitely a PBS kid.

The Kooky Science Segment

Zoom Guest

They should've had MCR on this show... 

How Collaborative it was

You could send in your favorite recipes, your embarrassing stories, your questions, or even a play you wrote the Zoom presenters would perform on TV! WHAT.

The Fact that YOU Could Audition to be a Zoom Presenter

But convincing your parents to move to Boston was harder than you expected.