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.