Follow TV Tropes

Following

Series / New Zoo Revue

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/new_zoo_revue_9876.jpg

"It's the New Zoo Revue… coming right at you!"

New Zoo Revue was a children's television program that ran in syndication between 1972 and 1977, airing 196 episodes in all. It was a live-action show hosted by "Doug and Emmy Jo" (Doug Momary and Emily Peden) and starring life-sized puppets Henrietta Hippo, Freddie the Frog, and Charlie the Owl. New Zoo Revue was aimed at preschoolers and taught lessons about friendship and cooperation. Episodes were devoted to specific topics like bad manners and sharing. The show dealt with the emotional issues small children feel, and omitted educational topics like reading and arithmetic.

The series stayed quiet after it was canceled, but in the mid 2010s, there was a new revival/reboot on the series with the help with original creator Doug Momary. The series seems to be the same, but the cast of Doug and Emmy Jo has been replaced (it's never stated if it's a reboot or they're either kids related to the original hosts, or just characters that take the namesakes as Legacy Character) with a new character named Wang Yong who is a panda bear. The last time the channel was active was 2019, but no updates have been made until the end of 2021, but even then there hasn't been any news on full fledged series.


Tropes:

  • Cold Open: Each episode would start on an opening section before the theme song plays.
  • The Ditz: Poor Freddie. Even the theme tune says he's "not so bright."
  • Drugs Are Bad: One Very Special Episode deals with the subject (and the difference between the good and bad variety) by having Charlie making a "happiness pill", with him taking the pill accidentally and getting himself injured when, under its influence, he collides head first into a tree.
  • Expository Theme Tune: The theme song talks about the setting and the main cast of the show.
  • Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Henrietta is the only character to wear full clothing.
  • The Owl-Knowing One: Charlie wears a mortarboard and is the smart one of the group, though there are times he isn't.
  • Parent Service: Kids learned lessons about friendship; their fathers might have noticed the short skirts that Emily Peden wore.
  • Picky Eater: The episode "Eating" has Freddie being picky about eating string beans. Doug decides to make Freddie only eat the only food he likes (popcorn) until the frog gets sick from eating the same and understands the value of not being picky. Freddie says he'll eat something new, but that doesn't mean he'll love them.
  • Power Outage Plot: The episode "Light" has the cast dealing with a blackout after the power went out. They later learn it was because Henrietta plugged in a new fryer invented by Charlie.
  • Southern Belle: Henrietta Hippo has a southern accent.
  • Technicolor Science: Charlie's laboratory has the typical flasks of colored water giving off smoke.
  • World Limited to the Plot: The show only takes place in the neighborhood that consists of Doug and Emmy Jo's house, Charlie's treehouse, Henrietta's house and Freddie's pond.

Top