Title card
The Charlie Horse Music Pizza is a children's television show that was shown on PBS Kids in the United States from January 5, 1998, to January 17, 1999, with reruns continuing to air until September 3, 2000. Reruns aired again on PBJ, until 2016. It is the short-lived spin-off of Lamb Chop's Play-Along! and was hosted by Shari Lewis, whose strong belief in the benefits of music education for children led to the creation of the series. Just like Play-Along, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza was shot at the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Charlie Horse Music Pizza was Shari's final project. The show is rated TV-Y.
Plot[]
The show takes place around a pizzeria on the beach. Alongside the original cast of Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and Lewis, Charlie Horse Music Pizza introduced five new characters:
- Take Out: a big anthropomorphized dim-witted orangutan who makes deliveries on roller skates (played by Chancz Perry)
- Fingers: a giant, sassy purple raccoon that lives in the dumpster behind the pizzeria (played by Gordon Robertson)
- Cookie: a soft-hearted opera loving cook (played by Dom DeLuise)
- Junior: a teenager who works at the pizzeria part time and plays the tuba for his high school marching band (played by Wezley Morris)
- Holly: a young girl in a wheelchair (played by Chantal Strand)
Production companies[]
The show is a production of The Charlie Horse Music Pizza Production Company Inc., in association with Golden Books Family Entertainment and KCET.
Episodes[]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired (U.S. dates) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | |||
| 1 | 20 | January 5, 1998 | January 30, 1998 | |
| 2 | 3 | January 3, 1999 | January 17, 1999 | |
Season 1 (1998)[]
| # | List of Episodes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Back Story | January 5, 1998 |
| 2 | My Dog Has Fleas! | January 6, 1998 |
| 3 | Musicians of Bremen | January 7, 1998 |
| 4 | Blow Hard | January 8, 1998 |
| 5 | Follow the Leader | January 9, 1998 |
| 6 | Spooky Opera Show | January 12, 1998 |
| 7 | A Pirate's Life | January 13, 1998 |
| 8 | The Audition | January 14, 1998 |
| 9 | Group Soup | January 15, 1998 |
| 10 | Rapunzel | January 16, 1998 |
| 11 | Toy Exchange | January 19, 1998 |
| 12 | Charlie on the Run | January 20, 1998 |
| 13 | Wise Queen | January 21, 1998 |
| 14 | Star-Spangled Charlie | January 22, 1998 |
| 15 | Charlie's Ant | January 23, 1998 |
| 16 | Whistle While You Work | January 26, 1998 |
| 17 | Jazzy | January 27, 1998 |
| 18 | Hush Puppy the Hero | January 28, 1998 |
| 19 | Can I Sing You My Song? | January 29, 1998 |
| 20 | Drum Show | January 30, 1998 |
Season 2 (1999)[]
| # | List of Episodes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | One Man Band | January 3, 1999 |
| 22 | The George & Bill Show | January 10, 1999 |
| 23 | Goodbye, Hello | January 17, 1999 |
Cancellation[]
When Lamb Chop's Play-Along! ended, Shari and her husband Jeremy created The Charlie Horse Music Pizza to teach children about music after talking about what kids loved the most.[1] Because a third of elementary schools were cutting music class from their curriculum at the time, Shari and Jeremy felt that they should introduce kids to music through the show.[2] After Shari was diagnosed with inoperable uterine cancer, the show was put on hold on June 18, 1998, while she underwent a hysterectomy and was given six weeks to live. Shari insisted on taping the last episode of The Charlie Horse Music Pizza and the show was put on hold while she began chemotherapy. She died from viral pneumonia on August 2, 1998.[3] After her death, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza was cancelled.[4] The last episode of The Charlie Horse Music Pizza aired on January 17, 1999, on what would have been her 66th birthday.[5]
Awards[]
2000[]
Shari Lewis for playing "Host" (posthumous award; accepted by Mallory Tarcher Lewis) (Won)
Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series (Won)