Zoom TV Show on PBS

[marshabrady]

Does anyone remember the Zoom TV show and the song they sang with their address? Zoom was on PBS in the 1970s and was out of Boston. It was great. They danced and sang and I wanted to be on there! They also had groovy rubgy shirts. Anyone remember all their names? I remember Mike and Donna and Edith. Email me at colgliger@yahoo.com to talk about it more.

[Ireneparalegal]

I remember that show and the theme song. One of those theme songs you can't ever forget.

[friendsfan77]

As far as the '70's version goes, I'm only familiar with the girl who did the arm movement (can't remember her name). I've never seen a full episode from that era.

[howilu]

Zoom was one of the great PBS kids shows of the early 70s. I remember the closing when they sang "That's ZOOM! Z-Double-O-M. Box 350. Boston, Mass 0-2-1-3-4."

[Corolla]

I used to love that show.

[Faith_27]

I didn't know that they made ZOOM Tv show....What I only know is the movie starring Tim Allen.

[TMC]

Do you remember the Seventies children's show ZOOM?

Move over, Gen Z — these are the original "ZOOMers".

[Dude111]

Originally posted by D&R
Zoom is cool.

Ya the original ZOOM is indeed cool!!

I used to watch it in the 70s all the time

[TMC]

Before YouTube, before TikTok, before comment sections, uploads, and online creator communities, PBS had ZOOM.

In 1972, ZOOM asked kids to do something most children’s shows never did: participate. Kids mailed in jokes, games, recipes, science experiments, plays, poems, crafts, home ideas, and weird challenges to Box 350, Boston, Mass. 02134 — and if they were lucky, their idea could become part of the show.

But ZOOM wasn’t just a quirky PBS memory. It was one of the most ahead-of-its-time children’s shows ever made. The original 1970s version turned viewer mail into television, created a secret kid language with Ubbi Dubbi, made an entire generation memorize a Boston ZIP code, and proved that kids didn’t just want to watch media — they wanted to help create it.

Then, after running out of funding and disappearing for more than two decades, ZOOM came back in 1999 at the exact moment the internet was starting to change everything. This time, kids could send Z-mail, visit the website, submit home videos, try ZOOMsci experiments, and take part in a new version of the same idea: kids making content for other kids.

In this video, we look back at the original ZOOM, its cancellation, its incredible revival, and how PBS accidentally predicted the future of kid-created media twice — once with stamps, and once right before YouTube changed everything.

Did you grow up watching the original 1970s ZOOM, or was the 1999 PBS Kids revival your version? Do you still remember 0-2-1-3-4? And did you ever send anything in?

Let me know in the comments.