i didnt even need to read. I saw the photo of the video - and heard the song in my head
would like to also mention SchoolHouse Rock - which is how I came to understand fractions - as my public school teacher failed me.
Nope. Must have been before my time. 
I was coming in here to mention “Don’t Drown Your Food” as well, then I looked it up on YouTube and… Timer isn’t part of it ? ! ? ! But then, if I actually think about what I’m singing, the beginning says as much, “I’m Louis the lifeguard, and I’m happy to say, I rescued a drowning potato today.”
I sing that song to myself constantly even to this day (at least the chorus part) and it legitimately altered my eating habits.
wow, that shows how long it’s been since i’ve seen it – i had forgotten the beginning, and that that Timer wasn’t in it at all. it’s still good though. i’ll second the Schoolhouse Rock shoutout, too. it’s always nice when those get shared around to educate people. they were brilliant.
Definitely was time for Timer at our house!
These songs have stuck with me, from as early as grade three - at least, the melodies. And the part about twiddling one’s thumbs.
At least two of these*, I sang along to and remembered every goddamned word.
I haven’t heard them in 35 years.
- “hanker for a hunk o cheese” and “you are what you eat”, if you were curious.
It’s been so long I’m no longer quite sure if this is a false memory or not, but I remember first noticing this over 30 years ago, so…
I had all these PSA-type things committed to memory as a kid. When these Timer ones first aired, I remember the line in the breakfast one about “or in case you can’t cook” being different. I distinctly remember hearing the line “or if your mom just doesn’t want to get out of bed.” It went along with that bit later in the song about “to keep your mom from grumbling.” The mom was grumbling about having to get out of bed and make the kid breakfast. Which, as a kid in the seventies, seemed totally plausible.
But I guess somebody thought that line wasn’t family-friendly enough so it got replaced at some point. If you notice, the part where he sings that line is kind of a weird edit. It suddenly cuts from a wide shot to a closeup just for that line, then back out to a wide shot where he’s suddenly changed position.
I also remember Dick Van Patten (the dad from Eight Is Enough) being the voice of Uncle Carlos’ weary-looking, desperate-sounding heart.
And as an adult, I’m still oddly envious of those perfectly round, perfectly cracker-sized cheese slices.
Timer was a let-down for me. I tried the ice cube tray popsicles and the toothpics were too tiny to hold onto the cube for very long and the whole thing melted on me faster than i could lick it. Then, I tried to make Wagon Wheels but couldn’t make the square slices roll in Ritz crackers and cutting the cheese (heh) seemed like a waste of time for the art of a perfectly round cheese and cracker sandwich.
I grew up with Time and Schoolhouse Rock. The “Hanker for a hunk of cheese” song and the one about eating some kind of breakfast are the ones that stuck with me.
Pretty sure Yukmouth is Scatman Crothers.
Also, this one.
The style sort of reminds me of Fred Wolf!
You are correct, sir!
YAAaa-HOO!
Yeah, “a slice, a slab, a chunk of” rattles around inside my head every time Timer is brought up.
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