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.