My Week with The Sprout Sharing Show: Feel the Music!

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

When The Sprout Sharing Show launched on May 5th, 2008, it launched with a "website" on Sproutonline.com. One of the features on the website was "Music," where you could download Sprout songs and print their websites. Most of the songs featured were not only from The Sprout Sharing Show, but also from The Good Night Show, The Let's Go Show, and Preschool Musical on a Stick, as well as the exclusive "What Will You Be For Halloween?," composed and sung by Sprout's own Tim Burns, and a song by the Dream Jam Band. Those songs were probably removed sometime in 2009 (see picture above), and replaced by other Sharing Show songs. Here are a list of the songs available:

• Funky
• Hula
• Limbo
• I Like to Share With You
• Sharing Show Theme
• The Goodbye Song
• Ricky's I Love Bread
• Can't Share Blues
• The Alphabet Song
• The Welcome Song
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Let's Make Something New
• Ready for Bed
• Hey, OK
• At the Luau
• Teddy Bear Picnic
• Chillin' with a Polar Bear
• Party Time
• Doin' the Silly Square
• My Favorite Color is a Rainbow
• To the Moon
• Safari So Goody
• Do the You
• Hiking Song
• The Silliest Concert
• I Love the Holidays
• No Day Like a Snow Day
• Part of the Family
• Holiday Feast
• If My Friend Were Here
• Jingle All the Way
• Nothing Better
• Look Around
• What Will You Be for Halloween?

Most of these songs were also on iTunes.

My Week with The Sprout Sharing Show: PICMe

 

Madeline Fretz - In Ireland, there was a show called PICMe in which viewers could insert their head onto an animated body and see themselves on TV. It was distributed worldwide by HiT Entertainment and aired on Nickelodeon in the UK.

The show came to Sprout when The Sprout Sharing Show launched on May 5, 2008. Viewers could put themselves on the show via Sproutonline.com as part of a section called "MYPICMe," which would also have a montage of clips featuring the kid and the characters, and would have a Christmas montage during the holidays. It also aired on The Sunny Side Up Show and was usually the last program to air during the block.

The show left Sprout in May 2011, and The Sharing Show was able to continue on without it.

My Week with On Demand

 

I focused on Sprout's VOD (video-on-demand) service for a week this week (which was also the one I entered high school as a ninth grade freshman) as part of the My Week series. So sit back, relax, and look at these posts:

• In Spanish
• Exclusive Shows
• Yours to Share
• VOD Idents
• English and Spanish

My Week with On Demand: English and Spanish

Images from HolaSproutitos.com

On September 26, 2005, a new nighttime programming block debuted on the then-recently launched PBS Kids Sprout channel. The block featured host Melanie Martinez (who was fired for two PSAs she previously appeared in), Hush the Goldfish, and a "Helping Hand" who told stories, played games, made crafts, and introduced shows from 6PM to 9PM during The Good Night Show. Star, Lucy the Firefly, Leo (Noel MacNeal), and Nina (Michele Lepe) were all later introduced as time went on - Star was introduced shortly before the Martinez PSA scandal. Each night, Nina and Star met a different theme through songs, stories, games, crafts, stretches, constellations, and artwork. In 2009, there was controversy about the block keeping kids awake, when President Sandy Wax said it was a tool to help parents get their kids ready for bed. The Good Night Show was popular with viewers and their parents for years, and proved that television can be a tool to help get kids ready for bed. It was Sprout's longest running block, going on for eleven years until it was moved on demand in March 2017.

With its wide success, it was no surprise that Sprout was making a sequel series for on-demand. This new series would help Spanish-speaking kids learn English and vice versa.

¡Hola Sproutitos! premiered on Sprout on Demand on Time Warner Cable in either 2009 or 2010, and starred Nina, Lucy, and some real kids. The theme song was sung in both English and Spanish using words for movement actions in both languages. The intro was made by Trace Pictures, who also made Sprout's other intros at the time.

Image from Facebook

At the beginning of each show, a Spanish guitar riff would be heard and Nina, in a park, would pull out clues for today's theme in a backpack. The themes ranged from baseball to bedtime. In the "Bedtime" episode, Nina changed into her Good Night Show pajamas and wore them for the episode. She also sang "Ready for Bed." Throughout the episode, Nina and the kids (referred to as "Sproutitos") would talk about the theme in both English and Spanish, while Lucy would light up the way to episodes of Sesame English, an ESL show from Sesame Workshop. (source)

My Week with On Demand: VOD Idents

 Back when Sprout was about to launch, Primal Screen was hired to create the logo and make some idents for the Comcast on-demand service, which launched in April 2005. Here they are now…

This one features Barney the Dinosaur, Ernie from Sesame Street, Max and Ord from Dragon Tales, Po from Teletubbies, the letters in "sprout," and a few sprouts on a mobile. The iconic green sprout makes its way to the Sprout logo. This one was used before Sesame Street judging by the female announcer at the end, but I wonder if it was used before other shows. This was uploaded on YouTube by Sprout fan account Let's Grow on the channel's tenth anniversary (the day of the rebrand and premieres of a few new shows).

This one features blue, pink, and green sprouts hula-hooping, when the green sprout becomes the one in the logo as the other sprouts keep hula-hooping. Also uploaded by Let's Grow.

There are other ones, all uploaded by Primal Screen on their website. That's where Let's Grow got both videos above. They all feature the same production music and most of them feature "PBS Kids Sprout, presented in partnership with your PBS station, Let's Grow!". The idents were likewise removed when the channel idents (also by Primal Screen) came to on-demand in January  2006. (source)

My Week with On Demand: Yours to Share

 

If you turn on PBS, you'll find happy puppets telling kids how great life can be. You know what's great? Sprout! And you know what's also great? This promo I posted above. I remember seeing it before episodes of Caillou on demand and it also played after Sunny Side Up Show clips (such as this and this).

The promo is all about Sprout's ventures on TV, online, on demand, and on your iPhone, using clips from the Elmo's World segments on Sesame Street, Barney & Friends, and Caillou, as well as the Sprout logo on flowers (as used on Sproutonline.com and in the "Rain" opening). It was made by Trace Pictures (who also did Sprout's second generation idents and openings) in early 2009, supposedly a few months before the rebrand that year.

The Sunny Side Up Show pics from 2011 YouTube

 Here are some Sunny Side Up Show pictures I found on a 2011 archive on YouTube. They’re all very small, not to mention low quality, though, but ignore that. I also medium-sized them so they wouldn’t be so small.

Here is a video of Kelly Vrooman and Chica working on a "sink or float" activity.

This is Sean Roach and Chica having a surprise party. Who for?

This is Sean Roach and Chica playing "Pin the Candles on" something, maybe a cake?

This MUST be Kelly Vrooman and Chica doing a recipe segment. Anyone know or remember what they're making?

This is Kelly Vrooman and Chica maybe about to make something…

Kelly Vrooman, Chica, and Mrs. C singing a song about the word "MOMMY," maybe to the tune of BINGO. The title says "Mommy is Her Name-O" so maybe…

This appears to be Liz Filios situating (pre-Chica Show) Mrs. C in her daughter's nest. The video is called "Chica's Mom," which is what she was called at the time.

This is Dennisha Pratt and Chica making either a craft or recipe.

This is Dennisha Pratt and Chica making a comet craft.

This is Sean Roach and Chica doing something. We don't know what!

This appears to be Liz Filios and Chica making a video, but what for?

And finally that's Kelly Vrooman and Chica making a recipe for Mrs. C.

Anyways, since all of PBSKIDSSprout's videos are privated as of 2012, we don't know if we'll ever see the above videos again. Maybe anyone who worked at Sprout or just a fan has them. Fingers crossed, Sproutlets!

My Week with On Demand: Exclusive shows

 Sprout has had many shows throughout its time as a 24-hour channel. There was even one show that never made it to air (Edison the Invention Detective) and one show that was considered to air but didn't (ZOOM). However, there were some shows that were part of the Sprout franchise, but were exclusively available on-demand. We're going to take a look at them today!

• ¡Hola Sproutitos!, which I'll talk about in a later post this week.
• Madeline
• Paddington Bear
• The Busy World of Richard Scarry
• Animal Mechanicals
• Little People (the 1999 series)

It is unknown if these shows ever aired on TV. If they did and you remember, let me know.

Sproutlets, Beware of Unsettling Fake Sprout Anti-Piracy Screens!

 

Madeline Fretz - Hi, Sproutlets. Maddie Fretz here from my first day as a 9th grader at Midlothian High School. So, if you see any of the videos above while surfing YouTube, AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS! If you find yourself about to watch them, DON'T! They feature Chica, Kelly, and Stitches from The Chica Show with creepy faces seen on other fake anti-piracy screen videos. They're also fake, not real. The best comparison I can make is this fake Qubo video.

Both videos feature disturbing stuff, not to mention, like I said earlier, they're both fanmade. Back to the Sprout videos. When I first saw them, I disliked and reported them all for harmful or dangerous acts. And I believe everyone else should do the same to keep young individuals safe. I don't want anyone getting emotionally hurt by these creepy, unsettling videos.

My Week with On Demand: In Spanish

 

When Sprout on Demand launched in April 2005, the service, which was originally on Comcast on Demand, also had Spanish programming as well as English ones. It had Spanish-language episodes of shows, which included:

• Bob the Builder
• Barney & Friends
• The Berenstain Bears
• Angelina Ballerina
• Dive Olly Dive
• Plaza Sesamo (the Spanish-language adaptation of Sesame Street)

Spanish shows also aired on NBC as part of Telemundo, which was programmed by Sprout alongside NBC Kids.

My Life as a Sprout Fan

 

This pic of me was taken on a Utah/Arizona canyon RV trip in April 2021.

Madeline Fretz - I don’t like to get personal on this blog, but I'm entering high school tomorrow. I don't know how many views/reads this blog gets, but when I tell people about it, they're mostly like "I didn't know there's a Sprout blog. I miss Sprout. Wasn't there a nighttime show with that lady and star puppet? And a morning version with a chicken?" or "You mean the kids channel? Aren't you fourteen or something?" Today I'm here to tell you about my history (probably abridged) with Sprout.

When I was little, I watched On Demand with my parents. I discovered Sprout through one word: Caillou. Yes, that bald kid you all hate. I may be one of the only ones who likes him (LOL!) Before the show, a short spot about Sprout's ventures (this was it) played. During the show, a pinwheel screenbug would summon the Sprout logo. And after the show, a promo for the show aired. I'm guessing this was around 2009 or 2010. Not sure what cable provider this was (Verizon Fios maybe?). I then watched Barney & Friends and Sesame Street (two other favorites) on demand and also on the 24-hour linear channel (Flashback: After the former show ended, some split-screen credits said it was either coming up later on or next again and a female announcer said "Let's dance and boogie with Barney!") When watching Sprout later on, I discovered the "Live Sprout" and Sprout Viewer Circle commercials.

Me back then.

Then I discovered The Good Night Show, The Sunny Side Up Show, and The Sprout Sharing Show. They were strange but I was mesmerized (Another flashback: I remember Lucy the Firefly flying by during Caillou credits after the juice episode). When it was time for bed, I watched The Good Night Show and remember being hooked by the Sunny Side Up Show "Today's Birthdays" segments, I wanted more, more, more (even when Thomas & Friends came on). (Yet another flashback: I remember a Sunny Side Up Show segment where Kelly Vrooman (or was it another host?) and Chica played with a spinning wheel where they had to hop like Baby Bop, climb up a beanstalk like Super WHY!, and dive like Olly). I also went on Sproutonline.com sometimes. I remember a Good Night Show video of Nina maybe reading a story and later seeing her sleeping. I also remember a video of Barney, Kelly Vrooman, and Chica on The Sunny Side Up Show answering phone calls from viewers (I remember one was named "Sarah"). I discovered "Sprout's Snooze-a-Thon" when wanting to watch Barney & Friends which I did that day, and my mom fired it up on demand. I found a montage of characters sleeping odd, but find it soothing nowadays. (Once again another flashback: One time, I remembered watching Sean Roach and Chica singing "If You're Kind and You Know It").

Note: I'm in the middle

When I entered preschool in 2011, I watched Sprout's Wiggly Waffle almost every day before school. At school, I played on the computer at the near-end-of-the-day. I went on other websites such as PBSKids.org and Sesamestreet.org, but I mostly went on, you guessed it, Sproutonline.com. I remember the 2011 website and watching Sunny Side Up Show videos (there are a few I remember). I remembered watching 2011's "Sweet Goodnight Treat" and the Kipper ghost episode aired. One time, I watched an episode of iTunes' Sprout Diner "Time to Create" podcast (not sure what it was, but I remember seeing a Sprout Sharing Show advertisement and the "Sprout is Always Here for You" jingle before the main feature). I also had most of the Sprout iPhone apps.

Me during a South Carolina trip in 2015.

Fast forward to late 2014 and early 2015. I became a big Wiggles fan and started going to Sproutonline.com regularly (from what I remember, the Sharing Show and Kindness Counts were both removed from the website in early 2015, but the latter came back for the rebrand that year). I remember the 2013 website and Sprout Tunes (AKA Music Maker). The same year, I started watching Sprout videos on YouTube and learned more about Sprout history. I also founded a Sprout blog called "Let's Grow" (named after both the old Sprout slogan and a Sprout fan YouTuber).

Me at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in mid 2015. I watched a lot of Sprout videos on YouTube that day!

In 2019, I started my YouTube channel Playtime, All the Time: CBeebies Utopia and started uploading CBeebies and Sprout videos on there. I also started editing at PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki under the username Maddiellabie. I still edit there today, and, as an admin, have made the most edits out of any user on the wiki. In February 2020, I founded the blog you are reading right now. As you can see, Sprout is EVERYWHERE in my life! I may be the world's biggest Sprout fan.

Thank you for reading. Oh, and you, if you're reading this, please pull out pictures, digitize old videos, and tell me some Sprout memories! Bye, Sproutlets!

Picture from 2016.

My Week with 2011

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

2011 on Sprout was the time when few new shows arrived (Super WHY!, LazyTown, Poppy Cat, and the Pajanimals series), but still a lot happened (the launch of Kindness Counts, the new season of The Good Night Show etc). All this week I took a look at these (mostly) ten-years-ago happenings as part of the "My Week" series:

• The Purr-fect Show
• Get Lazy!
• You Pick the PJs
• He's Awake
• The New Sproutonline.com

My Week with 2011: The New SproutOnline.com

 

Image from YouTube

Madeline Fretz - In December 2011, SproutOnline.con got its third facelift. This one had two areas for parents and "Sproutlets" (which is what Sprout calls kids). The kids' main page was a network of islands home to Sprout characters, with a bar of shows and blocks' pages below. To me, this main page looked like a throwback to the 2005-2007 main page. Plus games, videos, and apps. The main page was recreated in the Sprout "Games and Videos" app.

The grown-ups' area

The grown-ups' section, on the other hand, had TV schedules, crafts and recipes, coloring pages, parenting articles (this kinda served as a replacement for the Sprout for Parents site of yore), information on games, information on shows and blocks, with a link to the kids' section at the top. The Let's Go Show was even on the site, despite having dissolved a year ago.

And to top things off, here are some pics of the show pages on the kids' section.

Image from YouTube

You know, I've always wondered something about the Super Sproutlet Show page. Why do the hosts of The Sunny Side Up Show have their own pages? (look closely). Well, I guess it was for THEIR variations of the main SSU page (which featured Kelly Vrooman).

In spring 2013, Sproutonline.com got YET another refresh. But that's a whole other story.

My Week with 2011: He's Awake!

 It's not every day you see Barney and Elmo in the same room.

The red monster and purple dinosaur only appeared together once, and that was in the above commercial, made just for Sprout in 2011 (I don't know if the two were really in the same room or if it were green screen). The commercial also featured appearances by Super WHY!, Fireman Sam, Kelly Vrooman and Chica, Roary the Racing Car, and Caillou, plus The Good Night Show is seen on TV at the end. In the commercial, Barney, Elmo, Super WHY!, and Fireman Sam are in a boy named Brody's room, waiting for him to wake up. When he does, Super WHY! alters his mom and flies by Vrooman and Chica, ruining their craft in the process.

Another similar commercial was made featuring Barney, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Kelly Vrooman, Sean Roach, and Chica, and a clip from The Good Night Show on TV.

In addition, several tie-in online banner ads were made, featuring the same characters from the two commercials.

My Week with 2011: You Pick the PJs

 

Images from the Wayback Machine

Madeline Fretz - Parents have a few pet peeves about kids' show hosts: Why do they go to bed the same time as the kids? Why do they wear the same outfits every episode? (Steve from Blue's Clues and The Wiggles being OBVIOUS examples). 

In 2011, Sprout was preparing for the sixth season of The Good Night Show (or fourth, if we're excluding Melanie Martinez and Leo's tenures). After five years in The Goodnight Garden, the producers of The Good Night Show now had a new sandbox to play in - The You and Me Tree, a cozy treehouse-like set. Two new shows were also added - Poppy Cat and the full-length Pajanimals as well as new segments - Sandy Stories and Star talking to real kids, and a new song - the "Clean Up" song (not the one Barney sings). They were all wise decisions for Sprout!

Images from Flickr

I liked how they designed and built The You and Me Tree. That was great! Nina and Star act like they don’t notice the difference between the YAMT and the Goodnight Garden, but for me this setting change is astonishing. Barney & Friends and The Sunny Side Up Show have gone through similar processes - the former moved from a school and treehouse to a public park and caboose in 2002, and the latter moved from The Sunshine Barn to a city apartment in 2015. Even when Sprout began operating in New York in 2014 thanks to NBCUniversal's purchase, The Good Night Show still filmed in its old home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The above changes were like an attempt to give Nina and Star a new place to help the viewers wind down. Another new change was, you know how Joe from Blue's Clues wore an ensemble of outfits? Sprout was going to do the same to Nina. Sweet Mother of Lucy!

In 2011, an online poll called "You Pick the PJs" (see above) was held on Sproutonline.com where voters were given options for new pajamas. The final ones she wore were pink, purple, and red.

The Let's Go Show UPDATE

Hi Sproutlets. Today I've got some surprising news - the last broadcast of The Let's Go Show may have been finally found. A fan named Lucas on Sprout's Discord server says the following:

I believe that he posts so many fake stuff and lies on the server, so we don't know. Maybe we'll find it someday… fingers crossed!

My Week with 2011: Get Lazy!

 

One of the only TV shows made in Iceland, LazyTown is a show based on a play and a few books about exercise and nutrition. The show has garnered a large adult fanbase and spawned many memes. The show came to the US in 2004 on Nick Jr., but Nickelodeon lost the rights to the show in 2010. Where did it move to a year later?

Sprout! It moved to Sprout on September 5th, 2011, and aired during their afternoon Daytime block (the block before The Sprout Sharing Show) and on Sprout's Wiggly Waffle.

The next Valentine's Day, Sprout would give LazyTown what it gave The Wiggles three years ago - a programming block. The Super Sproutlet Show launched on February 14th, 2012 and aired from 2PM to 4PM ET (it moved to 6AM the next year). Sportacus and Mayor Meanswell would appear in the new block alongside a new character called Bean (Catherine Missal).

Sportacus also appeared in "Let's Move" PSAs with Chica and former FLOTUS Michelle Obama, in the "Family Challenge" app, and on The Sunny Side Up Show on July 27, 2012. Stephanie also appeared the same year.

The characters also appeared on Sprout and Produce for Kids signs in grocery stores and made public appearances in grocery stores to promote the two's partnership. 

Unlike Nickelodeon, Sprout showed all of Seasons 1 and 2. The show proved popular that Seasons 3 and 4 premiered on Sprout in 2013. The show also aired during NBC's Saturday morning Sprout block, NBC Kids.

The show left Sprout on September 26th, 2016 during the "Back to New" campaign, along with Poppy Cat, Tree Fu Tom, Earth to Luna, and Boj.

My Week with 2011: The Purr-Fect Show

 

The year is 2011. The Good Night Show is preparing for its sixth season - there's the You and Me Tree, Nina's new pajamas, Sandy Stories, Star Talks to Kids, and the "Clean Up Song." Sprout also adds two new shows for the season - the half-hour Pajanimals series and Poppy Cat, which is the show we're talking about.

Based on a series of children's books by Lara Jones, Poppy premiered on Sprout on November 7th, 2011, the day of the new Good Night Show season. The show also aired on The Sunny Side Up Show and on NBC Kids, NBC's Saturday Morning block of Sprout shows.

The show left Sprout on September 26, 2016 during the "Back to New" campaign, along with LazyTown, Boj, Earth to Luna, and Tree Fu Tom.

Why It's Called That

You ever wonder why the blog is called "Parents and Kids Share Together?" Well, today I’m here to tell you.

Back in the first and second generations, Sprout was often called "the 24-hour preschool channel that parents and kids share together" in promos, commercials, bumpers, and other material. This term was used as early as 2007:

At the end of the above video, a female announcer says "Sprout, the only 24-hour preschool channel parents and kids share together"

The term was used at the end of both Sprout Please commercials…

In "A Lot Happens When You Sprout" and "Showtime"…

…And in both "Live Sprout" commercials.

A new version of the term was used in a promo for The Chica Show. "Parents, kids, and chickens share together." LOL!

And finally, some banner ads:

So now you know why "Parents and Kids Share Together" is called that.

My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show

 

🎵 Hello hello well it's a brand new day 🎵

It sure is! And all this week, as part of the My Week series, I covered The Sunny Side Up Show, Sprout's live programming block which ran from September 26, 2007 to August 11, 2017 from 9AM to 12PM.

• When a Celebrity Comes to Visit
• How Long Have Hosts Been On?
• Helping Out is Fun!
• Themes
• On the Go