Friday, December 31, 2021

The End of the World

 

Image from Twitter

Image from Twitter

Madeline Fretz - Sprout has celebrated the calendar changings several times over the years, and today's the perfect day to revisit these celebrations.

Image from the Wayback Machine


Miles (Milton Barnes) of The Let's Go Show fame guest hosted The Sunny Side Up Show to celebrate 2007 becoming 2008.


Grover (Eric Jacobson) and his superhero alter ego Super Grover from Sesame Street and Play With Me Sesame appeared on The Sunny Side Up Show for a "Super New Year's Party" with hosts Kelly Vrooman and Chica during Time Week. They sang about New Year's Resolutions to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw," in which Grover's resolutions included taking pictures, discovering a new breed of blue apple, tying his shoes, hugging a penguin, and drinking hot chocolate with a dove. Man, Sesame Street Muppets can be funny at times! When he was given the "Super Good Egg Award," Grover gave a speech and thanked all his family members.



In 2009, original host Kevin Yamada left The Sunny Side Up Show to move to Florida. Auditions for a new host were held in September and an actress named Dennisha Pratt won the role. Pratt made her Sunny debut on New Year's Eve 2009, and there she would stay until 2014.


In addition, The Sunny Side Up Show held Countdowns to Noon every New Year's Eve from 2009 to 2014, back when it was called The Snowy Side Up Show during the Winter seasons as of 2010. The video you see above is the one from 2014, and includes mention of Boj, which premiered earlier that year.


The end of 2010 saw the premiere of What's Your News?, which aired on The Sunny Side Up Show usually before and after Sproutlet News Report segments. The series aired until 2013.

Image from YouTube

In the early 2010s, Nina and Star hosted "Cheer in the New Year," a Good Night Show New Year's special which featured guest appearances from Chica and the Sunny Side Up Show hosts, Sean and Noodle, the Wiggles, the Pajanimals, and the Sprout House Band.


In 2013, it was established that Kelly Vrooman was leaving The Sunny Side Up Show. Auditions were held for new hosts in a contest called Host Hunt, and kindie singer Tim Kubart and actress Kaitlin Becker won the roles. Kubart first hosted Sunny on December 30th.

Here’s to 2021 and 2022, and we hope your new year is full of sweet dreams!

Click here to win the role on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Knee-Deep in the Hoopla: 2021 in Review

 


Madeline Fretz - Ahh, 2021. What a year for Sprout fandom! Last year we had the virus, lockdowns, and LOTS of handwashing, but this year was probably better. This year we showcased new things, looked back at the past, and got tons of new surprises - such as pictures, specials, reboots and revivals, online videos, and new seasons.

One that fits into all three of these categories is probably my biggest Sprout project (for now), my long-anticipated Sprout fanfic, so I knew I had to make a reference to it in this post's title. "We Built This City" by Starship is (SPOILER!) one of the songs in the fanfic. Now, I know most fansites and fan blogs, including this one, don’t usually show fanfic and/or fan art, but I talked about mine here a lot. Basically, the fic is a nostalgic half-road comedy, half-get the band back together plot, half-"putting on a show" plot, and half-telethon, that includes lots of references to old Sprout and its PBS days.

As for the blog, for the first few months I abandoned the blog due to my commitments to the generic "fan stuff" (such as PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki), and only came back occasionally. However, all that changed in July when I started posting here again. I started the "My Week" series, inspired by Muppet fansite and huge PaKST inspiration ToughPigs. In September, I started the "Weekly Character Wednesdays" series, inspired by another Muppet fansite by the name of the Muppet Mindset. And as of November, I’ve been talking about Sprout Christmas specials.

Okay, Sproutlets. Sit back, relax, and together let's take a look back at 2021 and what an amazing year it was.

January:

  • Happy New Year! - The post that kicked off the new year - containing of a Snowy Side Up Show video and a news article about Cheer in the New Year.
  • Caillou Leaves PBS Kids - On one of the saddest posts on this blog, it is announced that Sprout's longest-standing program, which is largely hated by most people, has stopped airing on PBS. But don’t worry, it now airs daily on Cartoon Network's Cartoonito block!
  • The SproutOnline.com song - This post is about a Sprout jingle that played almost daily from 2008 to 2014. If you know the lyrics, great! Dare to sing along! If you don’t, don’t worry, they’re on this post!
March:
  • Sizzle - Wow! I guess I was right when I said I only came back to post occasionally prior to July. Anyways, this post chronicles a Sprout sizzle from 2012 that features a Colbie Caillat song.
April:

  • On-Demand! - Back in April, my family, my Mom's friend Lisa from Las Vegas (who appears in the fic), and I went on an amazing cross-country adventure around Las Vegas, Arizona, and Utah to see the canyons (and not just the Grand one). You totally should’ve been there! Anyways, probably the only Sprout-related thing I did during that trip (aside from editing a few pages on the wiki) was watch a 2005 on-demand promo, that when I got back, I did a post about the history of Sprout's video-on-demand service. Enjoy!
  • Sprout Diner - It was the 2000s and childhood obesity was all the rage. Sprout was all about living healthy lifestyles from the beginning, so one of their planned interstitial series was Sprout Diner, which was about eating healthy. This post chronicles the history of this short-lived, two-season webseries.
  • Dora on Sprout? - As of April, I discovered lyrics to Let's Go Show songs on the Wayback Machine and put them on the wiki. Not long after, I discovered composer Tim Burns' SoundCloud account which had many of those songs, and uploaded them to my YouTube channel. One of them was "My Favorite Color is a Rainbow." I was skimming Vimeo a lot back then (and still nowadays), and one of the Sprout-related videos I managed to find on there had an instrumental of said song. Dora the Explorer, a Nick Jr. show, was in that video among actual Sprout shows. Huh?
May:

  • Got Great Pics? - I managed to find several rare Sprout pictures on the likes of people's Facebook accounts and the Wayback Machine (including one Flickr photo), and put them on here on this post, my only blog post of May. I also put most of the photos on the above video set to Sprout production music. Sometimes I wonder if that piece of production music was an instrumental of a Let's Go Show song, but it definitely wasn't a Preschool Musical instrumental. Hmm…
June:


  • Wiggly Waffle - In June, I started an Unofficial Sprout Podcast, and this is the topic of my only episode so far. As I was preparing for the premiere, I wrote this post on the blog to prepare myself for what I was supposed to say. The post chronicles the history of The Wiggles' Sprout morning show, which ran during the Sam era.
July:

This picture we used for our family holiday cards this year.
  • Me just being silly
  • Cape Charles - Ahh, this was the month I returned to posting regularly on this blog. So far, this is my only non-Sprout-related post here. Every Fourth of July as of 2017, my family goes to Cape Charles in Virginia, and this is a collection of photos from this year’s vacation.
  • My Week with 2010 - The start of the My Week series.
  • Clips from Wiggly Waffle launch day FOUND! - This year, someone found clips from the August 24th, 2009 broadcast of Wiggly Waffle and uploaded it to their YouTube channel. I uploaded it to mine too since it was a temporary upload, but deleted it when said person found the full clip of their previous video.
  • My Week with Kindness Counts
August (AKA my first month of high school):

September:
October:

November:

December:

Thanks to everyone who read this blog over the past twelve months. Here’s to hoping 2022 is just as good!

Click here to party like it's 2022 on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Sprout and Sesame Street

 


Madeline Fretz - Sesame Street aired on Sprout for the first ten years, and lately I’ve been noticing some similarities between the SST gang and the Sprout gang. Here’s what I’ve noticed.

Image from PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki (guess who created the page…)

Elmo: Cute, lovable, hangs out with both kids and celebrities a lot, and was popular enough to spawn his own shows. Even though Elmo doesn't speak through squeak, he's Chica.

Ernie: Fun-loving, always wants to do fun things compared to what Bert tells him to. He's Star.

Big Bird: Is often curious, asks questions from time to time, and was designed to represent the viewers at home. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew how to play stringed instruments like banjos. He’s Banjo.


Prairie Dawn: The positive emcee of many plays and pageants. If someone else were doing her job, that person would be considered a rude or abrupt dismissal. Although Prairie isn't played by a human cast member, she's Patty.


Hoots: The owl of the gang who knows how to play a cool instrument. He's Curtis.

Grover: Has too many jobs. He was a mailman for the Mail-It Shop in the 2000s, so I’m going to have to go with Mr. Mailman.

Dorothy: Hush. Need I say more?

The Zoemobile: Zoe's car Luis built for her she always drove around in. Reminds me a bit of Carla the Car.

Maria and Luis: Speak Spanish words and teach their friends life lessons when needed. Nina.

Chris: Young black man with an energetic attitude and is always up for an adventure if there is one. Debuted in 2007. He's Miles.

Click here to teach your friends life lessons when needed on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Maddie Takes Manhattan

 


Madeline Fretz - I knew what would happen once I saw this puzzle on Christmas Day. I've been to the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps, New York City twice prior (once for Spring Break 2018, once at the start of 2020), but now I would be going again. On my first trip, we took a train, on our second, we took a bus, but this time we'd be going on an airplane. I have previously been on planes to Orlando in 2013, Key Largo in 2016, and Las Vegas in April, but this would be the first time I’d fly to NYC. Santa gave my sisters and I headphones, suitcases, and jackets since we would be flying there anyways.

I just got home, and I’m sharing some pictures from this trip just for you, I know this is a Sprout blog, but don’t worry, there’s a bit of Sprout in this post. I promise.

We stayed in the Lotte New York Palace, which is where Season One of the show Gossip Girl was filmed. Here’s the amazing view from our room!

Holding up the world!


This is Radio City Music Hall. Barney LIVE! in New York City filmed here in 1994 and Elmopalooza, the Sesame Street 30th anniversary special, in 1999.

At an iconic train station I don’t know the name of.


Me with the huge ornaments by Radio City.


Pizza!


Me with a milkshake at Max Brenner.

This is me with my mom with a light show.

My sisters and I saw the Statue of Liberty on a ferry to Staten Island.

This is me with a sign at the largest store ever(?) and the home of the thanksgiving day parade - Macy's. I had to go to the bathroom, so we went there, and even rode the world's oldest escalator.

Us with the pretty views of city lights at Roosevelt Island, where took a tram both to and from.


…and finally this is me with 30 Rockefeller Center, where they filmed The Sunny Side Up Show as of 2014.

Other things my family did on the trip were the following: Dad and my sisters saw The Music Man on Broadway (on my first trip, we saw Wicked, on our second, we saw Frozen) while Mom and I went to the M&Ms Store, Dad and my sister Abbie went to trapeze school while Mom, Ella, and I went to Strand and Max Brenner's, and we went ice skating, though I didn’t want to, and I had hot chocolate. 

Overall, great trip, even though New York is not my kinda place. Ya know, too cold, too many people, a lot of walking…

Weekly Character Wednesdays: JB

 


JB Juicebox

APPEARED IN:

Sprout's Wiggly Waffle

BEST-KNOWN ROLE:

Host of various Wiggly Waffle segments

WHO IS JB? JB Juicebox is the co-host of Sprout's Wiggly Waffle. She hosted various segments on the block such as Juicebox Picks (a music video segment) and Fifth Wiggle.

WHY DOES WIGGLY WAFFLE NEED JB? Wiggly Waffle needs JB so they can have a co-host to the Wiggles, much like Star was to Nina or Chica was to her on-air Sunny Side Up Show companions, even though she rarely appeared with the band outside of promos and promo pictures. They also need her to host viewer-submitted segments.

Click here to host viewer-submitted segments on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Sprout at the Movies

 


In 2011, there was a special section on Sprout for Parents called Sprout at the Movies. The section promoted then-new movies coming out with themed crafts and recipes.

The picture shows Winnie the Pooh (2011), a movie which may be my first trip to the movies. If not, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. I don’t know if Disney gave Sprout for Parents permission to promote the film, since it was theirs after all.

Image from YouTube

Other movies promoted were Hop!, The Lorax, and The Wiggles' Big Big Show in the Round. The latter is probably the only Sprout at the Movies movie to be based on a Sprout show, while the other two were both released by Illumination Entertainment.

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Guess what?

 

Madeline Fretz - This is Steven, one of my Facebook friends and a former Sprout worker. I became friends with him when he commented on one of my posts on a Sprout fan group on Facebook. This Christmas I got the Goodnight Stories DVD and it was established I was going to New York City tomorrow. But you know what my biggest present was this year?


I’m talking about THIS! Steven sent it to my Mom, she sent it to me, and I uploaded it to my YouTube channel. It has some of the old gang (Kelly Vrooman, Sean Roach, Kevin Yamada, Carly Ciarrocchi, Michele Lepe, Forrest Harding, and Stacia Newcomb) wishing me a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Plus, Forrest showed me what they used for Chica's squeaks and made a reference to "Nothing Better," Kelly sang a Christmas version of the Birthday Song, Stacia did a Star impression, and Carly showed a painting of her and Chica. OMG! These guys know my name, and even know I’m the world's biggest fan! I’m lucky! All my friends will be jealous! 

Thanks a lot, Steven. Merry Christmas to all!

Click here to show a painting of you and an old friend on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Merry Christmas Sproutlets!

 

Here’s what I got in my stocking this morning.

Madeline Fretz - This is it, Sproutlets and Grown-up Sprouts! It’s Christmas Morning! So, I requested a lot of rare Sprout stuff on my Christmas list, yet all I got was this. Lastly, I at Parents and Kids Share Together wish you a happy 2022 and beyond!

Friday, December 24, 2021

Sprout talent

 


Melanie Martinez, The Good Night Show, September 26, 2005 - July 2006


Kevin Yamada, The Birthday Show and The Sunny Side Up Show, September 26, 2005 - Christmas 2009


Leo (played by Noel MacNeal), The Good Night Show, 2006


Nina (played by Michele Lepe), The Good Night Show, December 18, 2006 - March 31, 2017


Miles (played by Milton Barnes), The Let's Go Show, June 25, 2007 - 2010


Kelly Vrooman, The Sunny Side Up Show, September 26, 2007 - December 22, 2013


Sean Roach, The Sunny Side Up Show, early 2008 - December 13, 2013


Dennisha Pratt, The Sunny Side Up Show, December 31, 2009 - 2014


Liz Filios, The Sunny Side Up Show, November 1, 2010 - 2012

Bean (played by Catherine Missal), The Super Sproutlet Show, February 14, 2012 - 2015


Carly Ciarrocchi, The Sunny Side Up Show, 2012 - August 11th, 2017


Darryl Williams, The Sunny Side Up Show, 2014


Tim Kubart, The Sunny Side Up Show, December 30, 2013 - August 11, 2017


Kaitlin Becker, The Sunny Side Up Show, January 6, 2014 - early 2017


Emily Borromeo, The Sunny Side Up Show, 2014 - July 27, 2017