# Zoom (1999 TV series)

Zoom is an American live-action children's television series in which child cast members present a variety of types of content, including games, recipes, science experiments, and short plays, based on ideas sent in by children, and is a remake of the 1972 television program of the same name. Created by Christopher Sarson, the series originally aired on PBS Kids from January 4, 1999 to May 6, 2005, with reruns airing until September 2, 2007, and was produced by WGBH-TV in Boston.

## Premise

Zoom premiered in 1999 in largely the same format as the original series, with many of the same games and continued to feature content and ideas submitted by viewers. This second Zoom series ran for seven seasons (1999–2005), each featuring seven children—32 in total—called "Zoomers". It completed taping a pilot episode in September 1995 with a different cast, which was circulated among funders by early 1997 and aired on television in November of that year. On December 9, 2004, it was announced that the show had been cancelled after seven seasons. The cancellation was blamed on the rising competition of kids TV, which resulted in a noticeable decline in ratings for the show. The series finale aired on May 6, 2005 on most PBS member stations, without any reference of the show's ending. Reruns of the final three seasons aired on some PBS stations until fall 2007, when the show was pulled from the PBS lineup entirely.
In 2020, as part of programming made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, several members of the now-adult Zoom cast from both the 1999 and 1972 series reunited for ZOOM Into Action, a series of videos produced by the performers in their own homes where they recreated some of their educational activities for their grown-up audience to share with their own children at home. The project was spearheaded by former Zoom cast member Pablo Velez, Jr. who now serves as WGBH's Director of Licensing and Business Development.

## Season overview

| Season | Season | Episodes | Originally aired (U.S. dates) | Originally aired (U.S. dates) |
| Season | Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| | 1 | 42 | January 4, 1999 (1999-01-04) | April 19, 1999 (1999-04-19) |
| | 2 | 40 | January 4, 2000 (2000-01-04) | April 24, 2000 (2000-04-24) |
| | 3 | 41 | January 1, 2001 (2001-01-01) | April 11, 2001 (2001-04-11) |
| | 4 | 21 | January 25, 2002 (2002-01-25) | June 7, 2002 (2002-06-07) |
| | 5 | 20 | March 31, 2003 (2003-03-31) | July 18, 2003 (2003-07-18) |
| | 6 | 20 | April 19, 2004 (2004-04-19) | June 7, 2004 (2004-06-07) |
| | 7 | 20 | April 4, 2005 (2005-04-04) | May 6, 2005 (2005-05-06) |

## Cast members

| ZOOM | Cast member 1 | Cast member 2 | Cast member 3 | Cast member 4 | Cast member 5 | Cast member 6 | Cast member 7 |
| Pilot (1995) | Enid | Marcus | Hayley | Esther Mira | Daniel | Georgina | Chad Nelson |
| Season 1 (1999) | Zoe Costello | Jared Nathan | Keiko Yoshida | Pablo Velez Jr. | Alisa Besher | David Toropov | Lynese Browder |
| Season 2 (2000) | Ray MacMore | Caroline Botelho | Claudio Jimenez | Alisa Besher | Jessie Ogungbadero | Kenny Yates | Zoe Costello |
| Season 3 (2001) | Frances Domond | Kenny Yates | Rachel Redd | Eric Rollins | Kaleigh Cronin | Kevin "Buzz" Barrette | Caroline Botelho |
| Season 4 (2002) | Aline Barta | Garrett DiBona | Rachel Redd | Matthew Gornstein | Estuardo Alvizures | Kaleigh Cronin | Caroline Botelho |
| Season 5 (2003) | Caroline Botelho | Aline Barta | Estuardo Alvizures | Garrett DiBona | Mike Hansen | Kortney Sumner | Elena "Shing Ying" Shieh |
| Season 6 (2004) | Mike Hansen | Kortney Sumner | Francesco Tena | Cara Harvey | Kyle Larrow | Maya Morales | Elena "Shing Ying" Shieh |
| Season 7 (2005) | Nick Henry | Taylor Garron | Francesco Tena | Noreen Raja | Emily Marshall | Kyle Larrow | Elena "Shing Ying" Shieh |

## Segments

* ZOOMsci: Experiments to explore. Sometimes this segment features brain teasers or observation surveys which call for viewers to send in results.
* ZOOMalong: (season 1) Activities that viewers are encouraged to participate in along with the cast in real time. Some episodes featuring this have a cold opening prompting viewers to prepare specific materials in advance.
* ZOOMphenom: (seasons 2–3, 5–7) Observations or phenomenon discoveries.
* ZOOMzinger: Challenges or interesting tricks viewers share.
* ZOOMdo: Creative handicrafts or activities.
* ZOOMgame: Games and activities that are fun for a group. Zoomers sometimes form teams to compete with each other in relay races.
* CafeZOOM and ZOOM Znack: Simple recipes to make.
* ZOOMplayhouse: Skits and dramas by viewers (and, occasionally, original productions) and portrayed by the Zoomers.
* ZOOMchat: Discussion on topics involving children's issues or questions from viewers.
* Zmail: Sharing of fan mail and answering questions from viewers.
* ZOOM Reviews Books (seasons 3–5): Book reviews recommended by viewers (and occasionally, cast members).
* WhatZup: Interviews from children that answer interesting questions.
* ZOOMvid: (seasons 1–5) Home videos and short films made by viewers.
* ZOOMguest: Special feature of children with unique talents or hobbies.
* ZOOMA Cum Laude (seasons 1–2) and ZOOM Into Action (seasons 3–7) pay tribute to children who accomplished some tremendous feat and volunteered in the community or did charitable deeds, respectively.
* Zoops: Viewers share their embarrassing moments. (Season 1-3) Blooper clips are sometimes shown here. (The embarrassing moments were dropped after season 3 in favor of the exclusive exhibition of blooper clips from seasons 4–7, although the blooper clips had also been featured since season 2.)
* Fannee Doolee: A segment that centered on a character who likes any person, place, thing or concept with double letters in it but hates its non-double-lettered equivalent.
* Ubbi Dubbi: Short skits that uses Ubbi Dubbi (adding the "ub" in every vowel sound in English.) Occasionally this segment is done like an advertisement.
* ZOOM Tale(s) (seasons 1–5) Original stories written and illustrated by viewers.
* Zoom Out (Season 6) and Zoom in On (Season 7): A focus on individual cast members in turn and their lives and hobbies outside of Zoom.
* ZOOM '70s Flashback (season 7): A clip from the original 1972 series.

## Merchandise

Although the complete series was never released in any format, four video cassettes were released based on the show:
* Party with Zoom (June 22, 1999, ISBN 157807200X)
* The Zoomers Video Special: The Making of ZOOM! (June 22, 1999)
* Zoom: America Kids Respond (October 9, 2001)
* Zoom: America's Kids Remember (October 8, 2002)
Additionally, a two-disc set with four full episodes plus various footage from all six seasons of the 1970s version was released on October 28, 2008.
Four books by Amy E. Sklansky compiled from material submitted by viewers were published by Little, Brown and Company:
* Zoom Zingers (1999, ISBN 0316952613)
* Zoom Fun With Friends (1999, ISBN 0316952753)
* Zoomdos You Can Do! (2000, ISBN 0316952761)
* Zoomfun Outside (2000, ISBN 0316952788)