During the pandemic, former cast members have been sharing activities from the show that kids can do at home.
Are you a grown-up working from home who feels a familiar pang of nostalgia every time you open up your Zoom app? If so, you may be remembering the cult classic PBS show with the same name that you watched after school as a kid.
The series, featuring a cast of kids cooking up science experiments, completing quirky challenges and this writer's personal favorite — reading and answering fan mail — first premiered on Boston's WGBH-TV in the 1970s and was rebooted in the late '90s.
The reboot ran for seven seasons, with each featuring seven kids, or "zoomers," as they were called. There were 32 zoomers in total by the end of its run, who are now grown-ups themselves.
InsideEdition.com talked to one former cast member, Taylor Garron, who was one of the kids on the final season.
"It's definitely brought back some memories in a huge way," Garron said.
Looking back at old clips from the show, Garron said she feels like "sometimes people send me these videos to just mess with me a little bit."
She attended the show's 20th reunion last year. "It was such a cool part of my life and it's something that I remember very fondly," said Garron, who auditioned after seeing an open call notice on TV at the end of an episode.
Sixteen years later, Garron is a stand-up comedian. While in self-quarantine, she's one of several former zoomers helping produce Zoom-like content on WGBH's social media.
Every day, former cast members are sharing activities from the show that kids can do at home.
Pablo Velez Jr. was a cast member on the 1999 season.
"With everything going on and a lot of families at home my friends and former cast mates of both the 70s and 90s versions are getting back together to bring a little nostalgia your way," he said.
For Garron, it's all a flashback to her past.
"Using things that you have around the house, using ingredients that your parents keep in the fridge to make easy, kid- friendly things that you could do to entertain yourself or feed yourself or stuff like that, little science experiments and stuff. My life feels very PBS Kids Zoom right now."
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