Pajanimals

Madeline Fretz - Pajanimals was a series from the Jim Henson Company. The show started out as interstitials made by Henson and 4KIDS in 2008, and consisted of four puppet characters singing nighttime-related songs. In 2011, Henson and Sixteen South made a full, half-hour series based on the show. Here, the characters would go on imaginary adventures at bedtime to solve a problem.

A Sprout original series (and one of their first few), the show premiered on the network in November, and aired during The Good Night Show, Sprout's signature nighttime block. "La La Lullaby" aired every night before the final link.

Sprout described the show as:

"Meet The Pajanimals - CowBella, Apollo, Sweetpea Sue, and Squacky - four friends who snuggle together every night to sing sweet night time songs to their preschool friends at home."

The characters appeared with Nina in a PSA for The Great Sprout Tuck-In in 2008.

The half-hour series premiered on November 7th, 2011 during the sixth season of The Good Night Show, and "La La Lullaby" now aired after the final link every night, instantly becoming a one-hit wonder. The characters have also appeared on The Sunny Side Up Show several times - Squacky appeared in 2011, Sweetpea Sue for Valentine's Day 2013, and Granny Pearl for Grandparents' Day 2012.

The show survived the third generation rebranding, making it one of the only shows to air during all three Sprout generations, but stopped airing sometime in 2016. The show may no longer air, but it lives on in our memories.

Kipper

Madeline Fretz - Kipper was a British show based on the book series by Mick Inkpen. The show focused on the titular orange dog and his adventures with his friends - Tiger and Pig and Arnold. The show was made by HiT Entertainment, one of Sprout's founders. HiT aired select preschool programs from its archive library on Sprout when it launched, including Kipper. When PBS Kids Sprout on Demand launched in April 2005, Kipper was part of the "Children's Favorites" category.

Sprout described the show as:

"Optimistic and Curious, Kipper is the quintessential child with an active imagination. With his unforgettable charm, Kipper captivates and delights children the world over. The touching and imaginative adventures are based on the best-selling books by Mick Inkpen."

The show aired at 8:15, 8:45, 9:15, and 11:45 ET when Sprout launched, and was usually the final show to air during The Good Night Show.

Nina and her Sproutlet friends did "Arnold's Clean-Up Stretch," based on a character from the show, in the Good Night Show Season 4 episode "Bedtime Routines."

The show stopped airing on Sprout on July 26th, 2015, a few months before the third generation rebranding, along with several other shows.

Zoboomafoo

 

Madeline Fretz - Zoboomafoo was a live-action PBS show starring the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin (also of Kratts' Creatures and Wild Kratts) and a lemur named Zoboomafoo (AKA Zoboo) (played by real-live lemur Jovian and Canadian puppeteer Gord Robertson). The show taught about animals and what they do.

Since PBS was one of Sprout's founders, preschool shows from its archive library aired on the channel when it launched, including reruns of Zoboomafoo. The show was on Sprout on Demand when it launched on Comcast in April 2005, and made it to the 24-hour channel, which launched on September 26th.

Sprout described the show as:

"This television series introduces youngsters to the wonderful world of animals. With Zoboo and the Kratt Brothers, children explore common and exotic animals and their habitats. The show encourages children to be confident, inquisitive, caring, and helpful to people and animals."

Like most Sprout shows at the time, the show got its own Sprout Diner snack, Zoboomafoo Banana Pops, and a Birthday Show activity, Zoboomafoo Bingo.

The show aired at 12:30 ET when Sprout launched, and later aired at 4PM ET when The Sprout Sharing Show launched.

However, the show stopped airing on Sprout on July 7th, 2011, though its page was still up on SproutOnline.com

UPDATE (3/24/2022): According to Sprout Dylan (hi, Sprout Dylan!), the show stopped airing on February 13th, 2012, a day before the premiere of The Super Sproutlet Show.

My Refrigerator

 

Mom with the fridge at our "old house."

Madeline Fretz - Do you have a refrigerator in your home? You probably do. If you don't have one or don't know what one is, refrigerators (or "fridges") are special places to keep food and drinks.

SproutOnline.com had its first website refresh on August 9th, 2007, with Sprout for Parents launching on the 22nd. One of the new features on this new version of the website was "My Refrigerator" (which probably launched earlier, or even a year prior, judging by "Sprout's Spring Surprise" in the above picture). My Refrigerator was a place to keep your submitted pictures, favorite games, receive suggestions, keep in touch with other families, and get alerted about whatever Sprout was doing next, amongst other stuff.

Sprout described this part of their website as:

You know how the front of the refrigerator turns into your family scrapbook? Well, this personal page is the same idea. It’s the private, password protected scrapbook just for you and your Sproutlet, with a private picture gallery, spam-free Sprout Mail, links to your favorite games, and tons more.

Membership is completely free, and signing up only takes a few minutes. So what are you waiting for? Join the fun today!

The same year, Sprout held a contest in which Grown-Up Sprouts were encouraged to send in pictures of pictures and artwork on their own refrigerators, and a lucky winner would receive a Chester Creek Technologies Computer. (source)

A few years later (2009 probably), My Refrigerator was renamed My Sprout, and was probably removed in 2011 with the site refresh.

Dragon Tales

Madeline Fretz - I'm deeply sorry if I discussed this show previously. Dragon Tales was an animated series by Sesame Workshop (then known as the Children's Television Workshop) about two kids named Max and Emmy who would wish upon a scale and travel to a magical land inhabited by dragons named Ord, Cassie, Zak and Wheezie, and Quetzal. Max and Emmy were later joined by their Bilingual friend Enrique. The show premiered on September 6th, 1999, when PBS launched the 24-hour PBS Kids channel, and continued to air new episodes until 2005.

Since Sesame Workshop and PBS were two of Sprout's founders, reruns of shows from the companies' archive libraries aired on the channel, including Dragon Tales. One thing diehard Sprout fans know is that, five months prior to the linear channel's launch, PBS Kids Sprout launched as a video-on-demand service on Comcast in April 2005, and Dragons was one of the shows to premiere on demand before on digital cable.

The show aired at 7:30, 4PM, and 6:30 ET when the Sprout channel launched on September 26th. As time went by, it aired on The Let's Go Show and The Good Night Show.

Sprout described the show as:

"This animated fantasy adventure series features Emmy and Max, their bi-lingual neighbor Enrique, and the dragons they befriend in Dragon Land. The children and dragons help each other overcome obstacles and cope with fears through songs and games."

So yeah, the show was like Barney with animated dragons.

The show got a Sprout Diner snack - Dragon Tales Tortilla Treat, a Birthday Show activity - Dragon Tales' Egg-celent Dragon Craft, and two Good Night Show stretches - Zak and Wheezie's Umbrella Stretch (from "Rainy Days") and Max and Emmy's School Stretch (from "School"). The Tortilla Treat became "unthemed"(?) once the show stopped airing.

However, the show stopped airing on PBS on August 31st, 2010, and was subsequently replaced in the PBS Kids Preschool Block (which was very similar to The Good Night Show and The Sunny Side Up Show) by The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!. Once Dragon Tales left PBS, it also left Sprout, and was replaced on The Good Night Show schedule by Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies, which premiered on Sprout a year prior, and reruns of Angelina Ballerina (source). The latter show has previously stopped airing on The Good Night Show. This was a month before The Let's Go Show dissolved.

Fireman Sam

Madeline Fretz - Fireman Sam was a Welsh show about a firefighter who lived in a town called Pontypandy, and would teach its young residents safety lessons. Since the show was produced and distributed by HiT Entertainment, a company which also served as one of Sprout's founders, it aired on the channel for some time.

Sprout described the show as:

"Fireman Sam and the Pontypandy Fire Brigade never seem to have a quiet day -- their services are always needed. Whether stuck on a high cliff-face or caught in a cave, the children of Pontypandy know help is close at hand -- thanks to the brave and resourceful Fireman Sam."

One of HiT Entertainment's finest, the show premiered on PBS Kids Sprout on Demand when it launched on Comcast on Demand in April 2005 (proof?), and was one of the shows advertised on the Sproutletsgrow.com TV schedule page. However, the show didn't premiere on the actual linear channel until a year later.

When Sprout was celebrating its first anniversary in 2006, it was announced that the channel would air stop-motion episodes of Fireman Sam and, to promote, release fire safety shorts starring real-life firefighter Dayna Hilton and her dalmatian Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog. Fireman Sam's Safety Special aired in October.

The show got its own Sprout Diner snack, Fireman Sam's Sloppy Fire Truck.

The show aired on Musical Mornings with Coo, The Sunny Side Up Show, Sprout's Wiggly Waffle, and The Super Sproutlet Show when they launched.

The CGI episodes premiered in September 2009, shortly after the second generation rebrand. It was Fire Prevention Week, and Firefighter Dayna made an appearance on The Sunny Side Up Show.

The show stopped airing on Sprout on May 11th, 2014, the same day The Sprout Sharing Show dissolved (new segments haven't aired in years) and a day before Lily's Driftwood Bay made its Sprout debut.

Sprout's Viewer Circle

 

From probably 2009 to at least 2015, Sprout ran a website called Sprout's Viewer Circle, in which grown-up Sprouts were to share their thoughts on things like new shows, online material, and apps.

Image from YouTube (it was from an old video from 2009 I can’t find).

The first commercial from 2010 is one I remember dearly. I even thought that and Live Sprout were the same commercial. The second one is from 2015 (or 2014?), shortly before the third generation rebranding. Both videos are from my own YouTube channel.

The Many Adventures of Mr. Mailman

 

Madeline Fretz - Mr. Mailman was a character created by Sprout who debuted on The Birthday Show in 2005. Mr. Mailman originally delivered birthday cards to host Kevin, a trait he later did on The Sunny Side Up Show, which launched in 2007.

In a December 2005 article, it was announced that Sprout executives were developing four interstitial series about geography, healthy eating, music, and creative storytelling (source). The geography series would later become The Many Adventures of Mr. Mailman. 

Many Adventures would follow Mr. Mailman as he would deliver letters, packages etc to his Sproutlet friends' relatives and other people like their teachers. The show premiered in July 2006, making it Sprout's first original series. The channel wouldn't make a full-length one until 2010.

The show also had an online presence on Sproutletsgrow.com (later SproutOnline.com). Here, you could download a personalized passport and cutout of Mr. Mailman, join Mr. Mailman's Travel Club, and play games such as dressing Mr. Mailman for the weather.

The show also got a Sprout Diner recipe, Mr. Mailman's Pita Pocket.

The show later aired on Musical Mornings with Coo and The Sunny Side Up Show, and continued to air as late as 2010.

The Berenstain Bears

 

Based on the books by Stan and Jan Berenstain, The Berenstain Bears is a Canadian cartoon series about a family of bears that learn morals or safety-related lessons. The series was produced by Nelvana and aired on PBS.

Image from YouTube

The series was one of many PBS shows that aired on Sprout when the channel launched on September 26th, 2005, and aired every night during The Good Night Show.

Sprout also aired a marathon of episodes once original book author Stan Berenstain died, and a Father's Day marathon in 2006 called "Papa Bear's Day Celebration."

The show also got a Sprout Diner recipe called Berenstain Bears' Breakfast Oatmeal.

Along with Caillou, the series was one of two PBS shows that survived the third generation rebrand. However, it stopped airing in 2017, shortly before the launch of Universal Kids.

My Week with 2008: Fifi and the Flowertots

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

On January 14th, 2008, Sprout premiered the HiT Entertainment show Fifi and the Flowertots. 

Sprout described the show as:

"Fifi lives in the magical garden world where Flowertots make every day an adventure as they care for their gardens, invent recipes, dance and sing songs."

The show aired during The Sunny Side Up Show and The Sprout Sharing Show.

A few themed recipes on Sproutonline.com included "Fifi's Fruit Flowertot," "Fifi's Party Punch," and "Fifi's Fruit Spread," which was basically a rehash of the Let's Go Show recipe "Hats Off to Chew."

The show stopped airing on the channel in 2012, although it remained on Sproutonline.com. However, I always remember the show. It was on the HiT "Jump Into Spring" DVD I watched a lot as a preschooler and I had a dream about it once, in which Fifi was sleeping in a bunk bed with a bunch of ducks.

My Week with 2008: Dive Olly Dive

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

In 2008, Sprout premiered the Australian CGI show Dive Olly Dive.

Sprout described the series as:

"Olly and Beth are submarines-in-training, stationed at the Special Underwater Research Facility (S.U.R.F.) These subs are always down for an aquatic adventure, especially with some of their friends like Diver Doug and Skid, Brandt, Ranger, Luseal, Suzy, and Shankley."

The show probably premiered as part of Summer Fun Fridays, Sprout's special afternoon block that aired that year. It aired during The Let's Go Show and The Sunny Side Up Show.

The show stopped airing in 2014, but its page remained up on Sproutonline.com for some time.

My Week with 2008: Franny's Feet

Madeline Fretz - On the Fourth of July 2008, Sprout premiered a Canadian PBS show called Franny's Feet. The show was about a girl who works with her grandfather in their shoe store. Franny tried on different shoes which would take her to different places. 

Image from the Wayback Machine

Sprout described the series as:

"Where will my feet take me today?…Franny takes us on a magical adventure every time she tries on a different pair of shoes in her grandfather's repair shop. These shoes transport us to destinations around the globe, where Franny meets new friends and tries to help them solve problems. Franny shows us that one is never too small or too young to be a big help."

The show premiered as part of Summer Fun Fridays, a special afternoon block that aired that year. After that, it aired daily on The Let's Go Show and The Sprout Sharing Show.

The show stopped airing on the channel in August 2013, along with Monkey See Monkey Do. Both Franny and Monkey stayed on Sproutonline.com for a while.

The same year, Kelly Vrooman caught the show airing on Sprout on LeAnn Rimes' TV in a magazine.

My Week with 2008: Roary the Racing Car

 

Image from the Wayback Machine

In 2008, the HiT Entertainment show Roary the Racing Car premiered on Sprout. The show aired on The Let's Go Show and The Sunny Side Up Show.

Sprout described the series as:

"Roary the Racing Car follows the adventures of a young racing car who lives at the Silver Hatch racetrack. These stories explore Roary's relationships with his racing car friends and Big Chris, the karaoke loving mechanic."

Image from YouTube

This show probably premiered on September 26th, 2008, during Chica's Big Birthday Surprise, which makes sense because Sprout has premiered a lot of stuff on the 26th.

Like most Sprout shows, the show got a few themed crafts and recipes on Sproutonline.com, including "Roary's Racing Roll-Ups."

The show stopped airing on Sprout on July 7, 2012, which was also the day NBC Kids launched.

Weekly Talent Wednesdays: Liz Filios

 

First appearance: 

November 1, 2010

Most recent appearance:

2012

From:

The Sunny Side Up Show

WHO IS LIZ FILIOS? Liz Filios was a host of The Sunny Side Up Show from November 1st, 2010 to 2012, when she wanted to explore, and was replaced by Carly Ciarrocchi. As shown in a promo, Liz played the piano. Outside of Sprout, Filios performed in productions at the Philadelphia-based Arden Theatre, The Wilma Theater, and The Walnut Street Theatre.

I decided to do this post since the first was her eleventh SSU anniversary.

My Week with Sesame Street: Movie Merry-thon

 

In 2010 and 2011, Sesame Street's Elmo hosted a marathon of Sprout show Christmas specials called "Elmo's Movie Merry-Thon." Aired specials included "Elmo's World: Happy Holidays," "Barney's Christmas Star," "Barney's Night Before Christmas," "Caillou's Holiday Movie," "Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember" (the one with Elton John), and "Bob the Builder: Snowed Under." Elmo also appeared on The Sunny Side Up Show.

My Week with Halloween: A Sweet Goodnight Treat

 

From 2008 to 2011, Sprout aired a special Halloween broadcast of The Good Night Show called A Sweet Goodnight Treat, in which Nina and Star would play dress up games and show viewers' Halloween costumes in addition to doing activities they normally do. From what I have heard, the set was painted orange for these broadcasts.

In 2011, the special was live, so it had to take place on The Sunny Side Up Show set due to the one from The Good Night Show either being non-existent or impractical for live airings. Chica tagged along. In fact, I remember watching the one and only broadcast of this special in 2011.

My Week with 2009: Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies

 

In January 2009, Sprout introduced Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies, a British animated animal show from PBS. The show aired during The Sprout Sharing Show, but the Sprout airings cut out the "Monkey Minutes" segments. The main character was voiced by Baroness Floella Benjamin in the UK and Vanessa Williams in the US, attracting many adult viewers.

The show later aired on The Good Night Show in 2010, replacing Dragon Tales. It aired on Sprout until October 2012.

My Week with 2009: The Mighty Jungle

 

For Earth Day 2009, a new puppet show called The Mighty Jungle came to Sprout. The program started a meerkat named Babu, a rhinoceros named Rhonda, and a gorilla named Bruce, whose stories real kids would tell. The show premiered for "Mighty Earth Week," and a giveaway was held.

After that, the show aired daily during Sprout's Wiggly Waffle, The Sprout Sharing Show, and The Super Sproutlet Show. It left the channel in 2015, along with Justin Time.

My Week with Promotions and Initiatives: The Great Sprout Tuck-In

 

This post I was looking forward to since I am a big fan of sleeping and bedtime. In 2008, Sprout teamed up with Genevieve Pitturo's The Pajama Program, which was founded in 2001, to launch The Great Sprout Tuck-In, an initiative for donating new books and pajamas to children who don't have them. The initiative was convinced by Lauren Monks. (source)

Two PSAs were made for the initiative. One with Nina from The Good Night Show helping the Pajanimals get ready for bed and talking about the Tuck-In.

…and the other featuring Nina reading to Star. This one incorporates clips from Sprout shows and blocks - as well as the purple television.

The initiative had its own section of Sproutonline.com. Coloring pages made to promote the Tuck-In included "Pin the Polka Dots on Chica's Pajamas" and "Make Your Own Pajamas." According to here, it appears Pitturo was on The Sunny Side Up Show once.

In 2010, Liz Filios and Chica of The Sunny Side Up Show held a pajama party on their block to promote the initiative and invited puppet characters from other Sprout shows and blocks. Similarly, Nina hosted pajama drive parties to promote the Tuck In as well.

My Week with Promotions and Initiatives: Sprout Please

 

Madeline Fretz - Back in its early days, Sprout was a small channel that reached very few homes. As a way to get itself in your neighborhood, the channel launched a few commercials, posters, online advertisements, and a website called "Sprout Please!," created by Comcast's own Lauren Monks. (source)

The phrase "Sprout Please!" was considered a throwback to the “I want my MTV!" cry of the 80s.

Two commercials were made with people and characters saying "Sprout Please!," and they both ended with Sprout's usual female announcer saying "Ask for the Sprout channel in your neighborhood, call 1-866-9-SPROUT today or say 'Sprout Please!'"

The campaign also had its own website - which featured crafts, recipes, and coloring pages from Sproutonline.com, as well as a printable coloring page in which site visitors could talk about why they want Sprout.

Image from Millennial Marketing

The logo was also used in country-wide banners and posters.

The Wiggles. When the happy clappy Australian band arrived on Sprout in 2009, the Sprout Please website was briefly renamed "Wiggles Please,"and was advertised in promos and country-wide.

I guess the logo was last used in 2010, but I may be wrong. Anyways, this was a great way to promote Sprout, and was pretty fun when it lasted.