Proof the Second Generation began on September 21st, 2009

Madeline Fretz - September 21st, 2009 was a great day, as my sisters and I turned two. You know what else happened that day? Sprout rebranded and the "second generation" was introduced.

Now, I know you may be asking "but didn't it start on August 24th?" Well, that's the day Sprout's Wiggly Waffle launched and episodes of the Wiggles' show premiered on Sprout, but the second generation actually launched a month later, and today I'm looking at proof.

Image from YouTube

First up: news articles. The website Cynopsis has covered Sprout a lot over the years in its news articles, and one article mentioned Rubbadubbers premiering during the fifth season of The Good Night Show on September 21st, and Sprout "sprouting" a new look the same day. I took a look at the article in one of my YouTube videos probably a few months ago (see the top). The above picture, of a Season 5 Good Night Show promo, is from a broadcast of The Sprout Sharing Show that has to be from 2009. The picture says "starting monday." September 21st was a Monday, so it has to be anywhere from the preceding week.

On Season 5 premiere day, Nina guest hosted The Sunny Side Up Show for "New Adventures Week" and Dennisha auditioned, making her Sprout debut on December 31st. In addition, five lucky families could win a chance to call Nina from the 21st to 25th (source).

The next three things have to do with Sprout's Wiggly Waffle.

If you've read this blog, chances are, you know The Ways of the Blue Dog, a children's television forum on Tapatalk. I mention the Blue Dog a lot in my posts, and one post on the site inspired a frantic search for a Sprout history video from 2011. I even wrote about Jumpman256's idea for a Sprout live show once! One post on the Blue Dog, "Little More on Sprout," was about the "controversy" surrounding Kevin's Sunny Side Up Show departure and letters to Sprout, amongst other things. As you probably know, Pajanimals started off as a series of music videos in 2008 and became a full-length series in 2011. Prior to 2011, many fans, including "Blue Doggers" Jumpman (Matthew Hiltner) and Agent0042, longed for a full-length series and even wrote letters and e-mails to Henson and Sprout.

At the start of the post, Jumpman writes about the new intros to The Good Night Show and The Sunny Side Up Show, noting that while the piano in the intro to the latter was a "nice touch," the intro to the former was a bit reluctant, as Nina sang the exact same song a few seconds later. I wrote about both intros, amongst others, in a post comparing the two blocks. Jumpman and Agent0042 also point out that the theme song to Wiggly Waffle changed a month after its premiere. Again, even though this post was made in October, proof the second generation began on September 21st.

Look at this video containing clips from the very first broadcast of Sprout's Wiggly Waffle on August 24th:

The video contains two things: 1. A "don't go away" bumper that's NOT of Sproutoramas and was probably also used on Australia's ABC2 in mid-2009. 2. When Wiggly Waffle launched, it was sponsored by Garanimals, a children's clothing brand whose commercials aired on Sprout. A short bumper featuring Garanimals used first generation branding. MORE proof!

And finally, a video of PICMe.

PICMe, an Irish cartoon made by Jam Media and distributed by HiT Entertainment, aired during The Sprout Sharing Show from launch day in 2008 to 2011. It also aired during The Sunny Side Up Show. This video, which is of the "Puzzle" episode and stars a boy named Ryan, is from August 28th, 2009, presumably a few days after Wiggly Waffle launched, and was uploaded a day later on the 29th.

Image from YouTube

The video contains the pink sticker(?) screenbug and "We'll Be Right Back" bumper from The Sharing Show's first year, the 2005 flowers screenbug...

Image from YouTube

...and Ricky's "next" sign for The Mighty Jungle EVEN READS THE SHOW'S TITLE! You see, during the first generation, next bumpers featured characters from the show coming up next and would read the show's title. Even more proof!

So there you have it, "misnomers" - proof the second generation began on September 21st and not August 24th. Make sure to show this post, full of accurate information, to anyone who mentions the second generation starting on August 24th (AKA Waffle Day). Thanks for reading, bye!

Oh, and did you know that there's a whole song about the 21st? You've probably heard of it!

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