Best ZOOM Funding Credits

A little over a year ago, ZOOMFan1 did a ranking of these funding credits. I, in turn, made my own, and am now reposting it here on my new blog!

7. Season 7. My least favorite by far. Almost everything that made the funding credits great was gone. The natural tone of it all was replaced by silly movements, animated text, cartoonish sound effects, and a seriously downright cheesy feel. Maybe I'm a little biased since season seven is my least favorite season, but god, this was so poorly done and far removed from what I'd loved. The classic music just seems to be mocking me. I'm sorry. It's just not my cup of tea.

6. Season 6. OK, I'm a little biased, since this was my second least favorite season. As a whole, it's not bad. The pacing is OK, the music is shown in full, and the way they all grab the signs is cool...but it's just not from the ZOOM I loved. Also, Kyle pointing at the viewers is kinda annoying to me, as I'm not a big fan of him. I will admit the way the CPB logo appeared on screen when Maya came out made me laugh as a kid though.

5. Season 4. Way too fast paced, shortened music, and a particularly notable instance of clothing that clashes with the black background (Kaleigh and Garret's shirts).

4. Season 5. They brought back the classic funding music in full, but it still just goes by in a whirlwind, with fundings listed that we'd never heard before and wouldn't hear of again. Still, not terrible.

3. Season 3. This season's funding credits were where they started speeding them up, losing the classic slow pacing they once had. But it's not terrible, of course. The part at the beginning where Frances waves everyone over really fast and then joins in the group was always great, and the "Thanks!" wasn't as startling this time around. I love how they brought back the "Funding for ZOOM is Provided By..." signs on pickets, like at a protest rally. That was always cool. Unfortunately, it also lost a lot of the really cool, strange graphics the first two seasons had, instead choosing it to just be shown real fast. Those bring on awesome nostalgia for me, so it was sad to see none of that.

2. Season 2. The moment I see sepia-toned Zoe and Alisa move over to the ladders with the ZOOM logo, I'm hit with nostalgia. These funding credits are second only to the first season's. I particularly love the pinkish-reddish glow done to Kenny's sign. It's all great...until the sudden "THANKS!" at the end. I started watching ZOOM in the fall of 1999, so I was already familiar with the funding credits of season one before I saw this one. So...yeah, I was not expecting that. A lot of it is due to the fact that they wait until the last possible second to show it. I also don't like that my least favorite member of the season got to hold up the sign. And lastly, it just doesn't give me the warm, fuzzy feeling seeing all of them around the "Viewers Like You" sign did. Oh, yeah---it's "contributions to your PBS Station from Viewers Like You" now. Complete with the "Dot" girl on the sign. Yeah, was that necessary?

1. Season One. There's absolutely no beating this one. You start off with David just moving his head to the music, before it zooms out to show the other ZOOMers coming in with picket signs, and it just gets better from there. Everyone else gets something of their own to do as well. The fact that there are only a few funding credits gives it a particualrly slow pace, which is fantastic, because it allows for a lot of buildup, and gets in those strange, obscure shots of the ZOOMers in their outfits---shots that give you the feeling that this is all a part of something...namely, ZOOM. Like I mentioned earlier, the buildup is fantastic. By the time Zoe and Keiko hold up the "and by..." signs you know it's almost near the end and it's gonna end on a really great note. And the way it does, in my favorite ZOOMCast gathered around the "Viewers Like You" sign, just warms my heart.

These funding credits are particularly special to me. In August of 2004, I had recently just seen seasons 6 and 4 and was watching season 3 as it was rerunning, and I went back to revisit old ZOOM episodes I'd had recorded in the first half of 2000, back during my initial interest in it. I discovered the only episode I had of season one, episode 113, recorded just before season 2 started and which I'd treasured and rewatched to death back in the day, believing it was the last I'd ever see of season one...had fallen victim to being taped over six months earlier. It was my own fault, since a Peanuts special was on I'd wanted taped, and I'd stupidly allowed my dad to tape over something far more valuable for it. Was everything lost? Nope. The last few seconds of the credits, the stinger (a clip of the cup game demonstration and playing), and the funding credits hadn't been recorded over. And I watched those over and over, treasuring them, grieving that I'd lost the first season.

And...yeah, that's my funding credits ranking. I hope you enjoyed! :)