Turns out Shari Lewis was right when she sang “The Song That Doesn’t End” with her sock puppet Lamb Chop.
A new generation of kids are now falling in love with Lamb Chop thanks to Lewis’s daughter, Mallory Lewis, who is honoring her mother’s legacy with TikTok videos featuring the iconic puppet.
Lamb Chop was created, voiced and performed by puppeteer and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. Together, the duo starred in “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” on PBS throughout the 1990s. But their story started decades earlier.
Lewis first debuted the lovable lamb on “Captain Kangaroo” in 1956. She later starred in shows like “Shariland,” “Hi Mom” and “The Shari Lewis Show,” earning several Emmys and a Peabody Award.
For decades, Lamb Chop continued to appear on television, finally culminating in the puppet’s titular show, which aired on PBS from 1992-1995 (reruns aired until 1998). But Lamb Chop had a starring role in the Lewis home, too.
Mallory says that she slept with the puppet every night when she was a child, and her son James did the same.
Now, Lewis’s daughter is keeping Lamb Chop’s never-ending song going. Under the TikTok handle @yourfavlambchop, Mallory posts regular videos featuring Lamb Chop. Like her mother, she is an expert ventriloquist.
Watch her below as she and Lamb Chop explain whether she is the same puppet her mother used over the years:
@yourfavlambchop #lambchop #charliehorse #sharilewisandlambchop #thesongthatdoesntend #puppetsoftiktok #nostalgia #lambchopsplayalong #momsover30 #dadsoftiktok #question #magic #ventriloquist #spiritualtiktok
And, yes, her TikTok content also includes Lamb Chop’s dear friends Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse.
Although Mallory had a key role in “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along,” at that time she never had any interest in being on the other side of the camera. But after her mom died in 1998, Mallory took a different view.
“I was my mom’s head writer, and I was her producer for “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along.” It didn’t occur to me that I was going to be in front of the camera, mostly because as a producer, all you want is the best possible star,” Mallory said to Rough Draft Atlanta. “And I had the best possible star! Then, when Mom died, I realized that if I didn’t put Lamb Chop on, Lamb Chop was dead as well. That was an unacceptable thought.”
We agree! Thankfully, Lamb Chop is alive and thriving on TikTok, and her story (and her creator’s story) will soon be featured in the new documentary “Shari & Lamb Chop.” It is co-written and produced by Cassidy Hartmann, who won an Emmy for “Outstanding Documentary” in 2020 for “The Apollo.”
“Shari & Lamb Chop” will debut at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) this month. Distribution plans are still ongoing.
Shari Lewis’s daughter honors mom’s legacy by bringing Lamb Chop to TikTok originally appeared on Simplemost.com
