View source for Lamb Chop (puppet)

{{use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Short description|Sock puppet sheep}}
[[File:Shari lewis 1960.JPG|thumb|right|alt=Publicity photo of Shari Lewis and her puppets Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse from The Ford Show, April 7, 1960.|[[Shari Lewis]] and her puppets Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse from ''[[The Ford Show]],'' 1960]]
'''Lamb Chop''' is a [[sock puppet]] [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] [[list of fictional sheep|sheep]] created by the [[puppeteer]] and [[ventriloquist]] [[Shari Lewis]]. The character first appeared during Lewis's guest appearance on ''[[Captain Kangaroo]]'' in March 1956 and later appeared on ''Hi Mom'' (1957–1959), a local morning show that aired on [[WNBC|WRCA-TV]] in [[New York City|New York]], New York.

==History==
===Concept and creation===
Lamb Chop has been described as a "6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability...you know how they say fools rush in where wise men fear to go? Well, Lamb Chop would rush in, then scream for help."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lamb Chop |url=http://www.tvacres.com/puppets_lambchop.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913021046/http://www.tvacres.com/puppets_lambchop.htm |archive-date=2012-09-13 |website=TV Acres}}</ref> Lamb Chop, in all her shows, had referred to her close friend, a girl named Lolly Pincus.

From 1960 to 1963, Lewis had her own [[musical film|musical]]-[[comedy]] [[television network|network television]] [[television program|program]], ''[[The Shari Lewis Show]]''. As children's programming turned more towards animation in the mid-1960s, she continued to perform in a wide range of venues. 

In 1992, Lamb Chop and Lewis began their own [[PBS]] children's show, ''[[Lamb Chop's Play-Along]]'', an [[Emmy Award]] winner for five consecutive years. The show was approximately 25 minutes per episode. On PBS, it premiered September 10, 1992 and was last shown on January 1, 1997. From 2007 to 2009, it was shown on [[Qubo]]. 

In 1993, when Lewis appeared before the [[U.S. Congress]] in an oversight hearing on the [[Children's Television Act]], Lamb Chop provided her own testimony.<ref>{{USCongRec|1998|E1544|date=August 4, 1998}}</ref>

In 1998, Lamb Chop co-starred with Lewis on the short-lived spin-off ''[[The Charlie Horse Music Pizza]]''. The show was canceled after Lewis' death in 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |date=4 August 1998 |title=Puppeteer Shari Lewis Dies |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1998-08-04-9808040164-story.html |access-date=2019-06-07 |work=[[Hartford Courant]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The last episode of ''The Charlie Horse Music Pizza'' aired on January 17, 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Edelstein |first=Andy |date=January 20, 1999 |title=Shari Lewis' Farewell / Ch. 13 to broadcast late puppeteer's last |url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/shari-lewis-farewell-ch-13-to-broadcast-late-puppeteer-s-last-1.442261 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209014008/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/shari-lewis-farewell-ch-13-to-broadcast-late-puppeteer-s-last-1.442261 |archive-date=2022-02-09 |access-date=2019-06-07 |work=[[Newsday]] |language=en}}</ref>

Before her death, Shari Lewis sold the rights of Lamb Chop to [[Western Publishing|Golden Books Family Entertainment]]. When Golden filed for bankruptcy, Classic Media (later renamed [[DreamWorks Classics]] and now{{when?|date=March 2024}} part of [[NBCUniversal]]) acquired Golden's entertainment catalog.

Lamb Chop is featured in the 2023 documentary ''[[Shari & Lamb Chop]]''.

=== Mallory Lewis reimagining ===
Two years after Lewis died in 1998, her daughter, [[television producer|producer]] and writer [[Mallory Lewis]], began to perform with Lamb Chop. Mallory Lewis had worked closely with her mother when producing ''Lamb Chop's Play-Along'' and ''The Charlie Horse Music Pizza''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Albin |first=Kira |year=1997 |title=Shari Lewis in the Lamb Light |url=http://grandtimes.com/lambchop.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426030359/http://grandtimes.com/lambchop.html |archive-date=April 26, 2019 |access-date=June 6, 2019 |website=Grand Times}}</ref> About her mother and Lamb Chop she said:[[Image:Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop.jpg|right|thumb|Shari Lewis's daughter, [[Mallory Lewis]], with Lamb Chop in 2004]]{{bquote|My mom was one of the world's greatest entertainers. I don't want to challenge that. I don't think it's wise to go there. But I do want to do everything that I can do for Lamb Chop. I'll help keep her going.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Facter |first=Sue |date=2000-07-31 |title=Lamb Chop is back, with a familiar voice |url=http://jumprunproductions.com/lc4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104190126/http://jumprunproductions.com/lc4.htm |archive-date=2005-11-04 |work=[[USA Today]] |via=Jump Run Productions}}</ref>}}

Shari Lewis's other puppet, Hush Puppy, made his comeback at the [[Iowa State Fair]] in 2010. Until 2024 Mallory Lewis did not perform Charlie Horse, as doing his voice was hard on her vocal cords. He did make a comeback via social media videos in early 2024.  Lewis's daughter still owns the live performing rights to the Lamb Chop characters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cordova |first=Randy |date=2015-12-31 |title=Shari Lewis' daughter keeps Lamb Chop alive, in Mesa 1/5 |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/events/2015/12/30/shari-lewis-mallory-lewis-lamb-chop-puppet-mesa/77986316/ |access-date=2019-06-07 |work=[[The Arizona Republic]] |language=en}}</ref>

Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop perform mainly for the US military. Lamb Chop is an honorary three-star general in the Marines.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brenoff |first=Ann |date=28 August 2012 |title=What Ever Happened to Lamb Chop? |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shari-lewis-lamb-chop-puppet_n_1825249 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805085040/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shari-lewis-lamb-chop-puppet_n_1825249 |archive-date=2020-08-05 |website=[[Huffington Post]]}}</ref>

Mallory Lewis described Lamb Chop's values as a "liberal [[Jewish]] [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democrat]]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hammel |first=Cailley |date=2010-08-10 |title=Daughter carries on Shari Lewis' Lamb Chop routine |url=https://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/100169834.html/ |access-date=2015-12-18 |work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Lamb Chop (puppet)}}
* [http://mallorylewisandlambchop.com Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop]

[[Category:Puppets]]
[[Category:Fictional sheep]]
[[Category:Anthropomorphic sheep]]
[[Category:Female characters in television]]
[[Category:Fictional Democrats (United States)]]
[[Category:Fictional American Jews]]
[[Category:Fictional Jews]]
[[Category:Ventriloquists' dummies]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1956]]