The History of The Sunny Side Up Show/Sunny Side Up

The logo, 2007-2009

The logo, 2009-2015

Madeline Fretz - The Sunny Side Up Show was a morning block which featured Chica, a chicken puppet, and a live adult host. It aired live from 2007 until 2017.

When Sprout launched in 2005, it featured a block called The Birthday Show, where presenter Kevin Yamada read birthday cards from viewers and shared party recipes.

In 2007, SVP of programming Andrew Beecham knew he wanted a live show, so Sprout producers, including Betsy Oliphant-Ross, talked about creating one that focused on different themes and encouraged viewers to submit content. They played around with names before finally settling on The Sunny Side Up Show.

And on September 26th that year (according to sources like this), The Sunny Side Up Show launched, presented by Chica, Yamada, Sean Roach, and Kelly Vrooman in the "Sunshine Barn", with a special preview airing earlier, guest starring Big Bird from Sesame Street, here played by Muppets Most Wanted's Matt Vogel.

Each week had a theme, including "Fall", "Animals", "Construction", and "Opposites". The weeks followed a similar format - including games, songs, stories, birthday wishes, and material sent in by viewers (similar to the PBS series ZOOM, which never aired on Sprout).

Shows included such gold-standard programs including Barney & Friends, Thomas & Friends, Play with Me Sesame, Chloe's Closet, Dive Olly Dive!, and Fireman Sam.

One popular segment was the online Barnyard Boogie Dance game, where a viewer would dance with a host and the host would try to copy the moves. In 2013, it was replaced by a new segment called "Sproutlet Stories," where Chica and a host would act out a story.

Another segment was "Dress Chica," where the presenter would dress Chica up in various costumes related to what the viewers chose. 

In 2012, the block got its own spin-off series called The Chica Show. 2 original seasons featuring Kelly, Chica's parents, and the popular chicken were produced. Also, Kelly, Chica, and original characters Stitches (Mario Lopez (who guest starred on Sunny)) and Bunji (John Taylor) got a toon transformation. Despite the series continuing until December 2014, both Chica and Vrooman would still be on The Sunny Side Up Show. Vrooman left Sprout on December 22, 2013 after a Kindest Kid special.

Yet another segment was "Good Egg Awards" (formerly "Farm Talk"), where the presenter would congratulate a viewer for doing something good.

The hosts also read birthday cards and wishes sent in via SproutOnline.com and delivered to them by Mr. Mailman. The birthday segments, which also aired during The Good Night Show as "Today's Birthdays," featured an original birthday song you can view above.

The Sunny Side Up Show was an instant success, and had more than 120 viewer submissions. Wow, what a success!

The show has had many hosts over the years, including:

• Kevin Yamada, 2007-2009/2010
• Kelly Vrooman, 2007-2013, 2014
• Sean Roach, 2007-2013
• Dennisha Pratt, 2009/2010-2014, 2015
• Liz Filios, 2010-2012, 2013
• Carly Ciarrocchi, 2012-2017
• Darryl Williams, 2013/2014
• Tim Kubart, 2013-2017
• Kaitlin Becker, 2013/2014-2017
• Emily Borromeo, 2014-2017

To figure out how long they were on, go here.

All these hosts worked well together, and I love them all I have no favorite! One thing I've always wondered is why there were only four male hosts, and everyone else was a female? Well, here's what the newer, wooden female hosts can learn from their predescessors(sp?).

In 2015, during the third generation rebrand, the block moved from the Sunshine Barn to a city loft with touch screens and name-shortened to "Sunny Side Up." Most of the segments were removed, except "Sprout Today," "Kindness Counts," and the Birthday Wishes. To me, SSU didn't feel enjoyable to watch during that time.

 In 2017, the crew thought the live formatting was too much, so they decided to replace the block with "Sprout House" (later "Snug's House"), which featured a dog puppet named Snug and former Sunny host Carly Ciarrocchi. Chica made occasional appearances on Sprout House in segments such as "Chica at School."