a week ago i wouldn't have had any idea what they were talking about:

That 70's Show: The Bouncy Everykids of 'Zoom'

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/24/arts/television/24NUSS.html

To many of us who grew up in the 70's, the freakishly jaunty theme from "Zoom" is more than just a television jingle — it's a musical time machine. "So won't you zoom zoom zoom-a zoom! Come on and zoom-a zoom-a zoom-a zoom! Come on, give it a try! We're gonna show you just why! We're gonna teach you to fly — high!"

Doesn't it just make you want to do that joyous wiggly arm thing, the one made famous by Bernadette ("I'm Bernadette!") Yao?

O.K., maybe you had to be there. But if you were there, back in the "Free to Be You and Me" 1970's, "Zoom" was not so much mere entertainment as a tiny, bouncy cult, a latter day Mickey Mouse Club but mellower, groovier. (You can still see it on videotape, in collections available from WGBH Video.) The show featured an ever-changing ensemble of Everykids, including the infamous Bernadette, Tracy, Leon and Edith, each with his or her trademark move. Peppy in their striped shirts, they performed goofy skits and games, from "Zoom" raps to "Zoom" goodies. They told riddles. They did projects involving boiled eggs and stickpins. And most alarmingly, they spoke Ubby Dubby, a private language that sounded like someone gargling with mashed potatoes.

The 70's were undeniably a brilliant time for children's television, but "Zoom" stood out from everything that surrounded it. "Sesame Street," "The Electric Company," "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" — even at 10, you could taste the vegetables disguised as french fries. In contrast, "Zoom" was zany, and only the tiniest bit educational. It was also very, very kidlike, in the best possible way: stupid-smart like Mad magazine, lighthearted like "Laugh-In," with a musical theater streak straight out of "Godspell." For any kid longing to belong, it was impossible to watch "Zoom" without imagining joining the cast, a fantasy the program encouraged by peppering the skits with suggestions and recipes from viewers. ("Zoom" even managed to transform a Zip code into a musical earworm: "OH, two, ONE, three, FOUR! Send it to `Zoom'!")

Thirty years later, the cast members seem almost shocking in their little-kid vibe: they're spazzy instead of poised, radically unlike the current crop of sexy tween divas and boy-band refugees. There's a mellow 70's flavor to their Army jackets and Mary Hartman braids. And among the skits, the decade's politics peek in here and there. In one "Zoom News" segment, the newscaster announces: "In Libertyville, Ill., Peter Phillips reports: `I wrote to the president of the U.S. All he wrote back was `Dear Peter, the president enjoys hearing from you.' He didn't answer any of my questions! None! I don't think it's fair. Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't know anything."

There's a new "Zoom" on PBS now, complete with e-mail instead of snail mail, as well as a dandy Web site. (The show is on Channel 13 in New York at 3:30 p.m. weekdays; check local PBS listings.) The new "Zoom" has plenty of the charm of the earlier version: same corny jokes ("What's worse than raining cats and dogs? Hailing taxicabs!"), same viewer-suggested crafts and recipes (cinnamon toast!). Most of the difference is stylistic: there's an emphasis on gelled bangs instead of silky bowl cuts, and more high-fiving. The stripes have been replaced by bright purple and orange triangles. There's a sad lack of Ubby Dubby. And let's be honest: "PBS kids dot ORG!" just doesn't roll off the tongue like the old Zip code.

But the kids are just as endearing and dorky-charismatic, with chubby Buzz the new Bernadette. And the show is still wonderfully noneducational. (Unless you count introducing vulnerable children to mime: "The practice is really worth it, and it's an easy way to entertain your friends!") For all I know, it's possibly too innocent for your average 10-year-old, that jaded creature raised on "Gossip Girls" and "Grand Theft Auto." But if it's not "Zoom" classic, that's O.K.: ubits stubill gubood fubun.