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.

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.

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.

The Chica Awards

 

From 2012 to 2014, Sprout aired a special version of The Sunny Side Up Show called The Chica Awards, in which viewers would go to Sproutonline.com to vote for categories such as "Best Original Song," "Best Screenplay," "Best Special Guests," and "Best Siblings" and see them on TV on the big day. In 2012, the broadcast was held on December 23rd.

In 2014, Fire HDX sponsored the Chica Awards.

Click here to vote for categories on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

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 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.

Dan Zanes

 

Madeline Fretz - Lemme tell ya. Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Yo Gabba Gabba! are all known for their fair share of celebrity guest stars, and The Sunny Side Up Show was one of the many to follow in their footsteps. One of the many guest stars who appeared on Sunny was children's singer Dan Zanes. If you watched Sprout in the early 2010s, chances are your first discovery of Zanes was on the Sunny Side Up Show set, appearing several times, usually with Sonia de los Santos or Elizabeth Mitchell (whose cover of "Three Little Birds" was in a Sprout Please commercial in 2008).

Born on November 8th, 1961, Zanes and his band, Dan Zanes and Friends, have appeared on children's TV several times - on NOGGIN during their "Move to the Music" segments and have sang two songs on Sesame Street. One of them, "Jump Up," was featured on the Happy Healthy Monsters DVD, released in 2005.

In 2012, Zanes and Sonia de los Santos appeared on The Sunny Side Up Show for Music Week with Carly Ciarrocchi and Chica. They sang "Jim Along Josie," "All Around the Kitchen," and the classic song "Make New Friends."

Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell appeared the next year with Sean Roach and Chica. They sang a song called "Happy to Be Here."

My Week with Promotions and Initiatives: Save Sprout

 

The Save Sprout campaign was created by The Chase, who also created the Live Sprout branding.

You see, Sprout and DIRECTV have been neglecting for a year in 2012, and it was announced that DIRECTV would no longer carry Sprout. The people at Sprout launched a website where people would call 1-866-9-SPROUT or talk about why they loved Sprout.

It totally worked!

Weekly Character Wednesdays: Hush

 

HUSH

FIRST APPEARANCE:

The Good Night Show (2005)

MOST RECENT APPEARANCE:

Nina's World

BEST-KNOWN ROLE:

Show-introducer, very good swimmer

WHO IS HUSH? This is Hush the Fish from The Good Night Show. At the end of each show, Nina (previously Melanie Martinez) and the viewers would say goodnight to him via a sign language poem and make wishes about what they'd like to have tonight. What did you wish for? In later shows and in a Kindness Counts PSA, Nina and Star would feed Hush. Hush also appeared in animated form on Nina's World, which premiered in 2015.

WHY DOES THE GOOD NIGHT SHOW NEED HUSH? Before Lucy the Firefly was introduced in 2006, Hush was originally the go-to for introducing shows coming up next - he blew bubbles in his bowl that had clips of the show coming on and, as mentioned earlier, appeared in the final continuity link for the host and the viewers to say goodnight and make a wish. 

The Chica Show

 

Madeline Fretz - Have you ever seen The Chica Show? Think of it as Elliot Moose meets Mr. Benn meets Sesame Street meets The Sunny Side Up Show! The show features Chica the chicken from The Sunny Side Up Show herself, as well as Kelly (played by Sunny Side Up Show host Kelly Vrooman, who also played Patty the Pig on The Sprout Sharing Show) and her mom, Mrs. C (played by Jennifer Barnhart, who played Cleo on PBS' Between the Lions). They are joined by new characters Mr. C (Chica's dad) (played by John Kennedy of Sesame Street and The Muppets (source)), Stitches the mannequin doll (voiced by Saved by the Bell's Mario Lopez) and Bunji the Rabbit (voiced by John Taylor, who also voiced Sal the Octopus from Astroblast!). The series premiered on Sprout on November 24, 2012 and quickly became the channel's highest rated original series. It also aired on NBC Kids on Saturday mornings.

To promote the show's launch, Sprout interrupted its shows at points by having the characters imitating Chica. The same thing also happened with people in a promo, in which Chica herself makes a cameo. A sneak peek of the series was shown on Halloween 2012, which makes sense because the show took place in a costume shop, and you wear costumes on Halloween.

In addition, an online "Squeakstakes" was held in which viewers would select costumes for Chica to wear on the day of her show's premiere.

The show, along with Noodle and Doodle, left Sprout on July 2017, a month before its inspiration dissolved and two months before Sprout became Universal Kids. However, the show returned to Universal Kids on May 20, 2019 in order to revive ratings and appeal to nostalgia. This was the same day Mofy and Moon and Me started airing on the channel. As of 2020, the show has left Universal Kids due to the channel airing "best of" blocks daily.

My Week with Branding: Live Sprout

 In 2010, Sprout made two commercials shot in Baltimore, Maryland and edited by film editor Michael Patrick O'Leary for Protagonist Films. (source)

The "Live Sprout" ad campaign was created by The Chase, who also worked on the Save Sprout website, the Snowman-o-Grams online game, and Sprout merchandise. (source)

The branding was also used on billboards…

…and online.

Image from the Wayback Machine

Anyways, this seemed like a fun ad campaign for Sprout with a cute slogan. I also remember the commercials distinctively!

My Week with Sprout Apps: Games and Videos

Madeline Fretz - Games and Videos was a Sprout app that launched in 2012. 

Image from AndroidOut

The app was loaded with - well - games and videos, as well as information on other Sprout apps. It was kinda like a mobile version of SproutOnline.com at the time - given that it had the same games, video clips and full episodes, and mini-websites. 

Image from APKFab

Some of the app's popular games included Caillou Lotsa Pops and Sunny Side Up and Good Night Show "Make a Picture" games.

Image from APKPure

With the Sproutonline.com site refresh in 2013, the app was given a refresh as well. It now included a section devoted to Music Maker/Sprout Tunes, a section of Sproutonline.com that included songs from shows and blocks, itself based on a segment that aired between shows on Sprout during the afternoons. The menu had buttons of games, videos, music, and apps, which you could click on and it would lead you to the page.

Games and Videos became Sprout Playground with Sprout's tenth anniversary rebrand in 2015, but it is unknown if anyone still has the app.

My Week with The Sprout Sharing Show: Look What I Can Do!

 One main part of The Sprout Sharing Show is that they showed viewers' videos of them showing off their best talents.

When Sprout Control Room launched, it also had the same thing.

My Week with 2011: The New SproutOnline.com

 

Image from YouTube

Madeline Fretz - In December 2011, SproutOnline.con got its third facelift. This one had two areas for parents and "Sproutlets" (which is what Sprout calls kids). The kids' main page was a network of islands home to Sprout characters, with a bar of shows and blocks' pages below. To me, this main page looked like a throwback to the 2005-2007 main page. Plus games, videos, and apps. The main page was recreated in the Sprout "Games and Videos" app.

The grown-ups' area

The grown-ups' section, on the other hand, had TV schedules, crafts and recipes, coloring pages, parenting articles (this kinda served as a replacement for the Sprout for Parents site of yore), information on games, information on shows and blocks, with a link to the kids' section at the top. The Let's Go Show was even on the site, despite having dissolved a year ago.

And to top things off, here are some pics of the show pages on the kids' section.

Image from YouTube

You know, I've always wondered something about the Super Sproutlet Show page. Why do the hosts of The Sunny Side Up Show have their own pages? (look closely). Well, I guess it was for THEIR variations of the main SSU page (which featured Kelly Vrooman).

In spring 2013, Sproutonline.com got YET another refresh. But that's a whole other story.

My Week with 2011: Get Lazy!

 

One of the only TV shows made in Iceland, LazyTown is a show based on a play and a few books about exercise and nutrition. The show has garnered a large adult fanbase and spawned many memes. The show came to the US in 2004 on Nick Jr., but Nickelodeon lost the rights to the show in 2010. Where did it move to a year later?

Sprout! It moved to Sprout on September 5th, 2011, and aired during their afternoon Daytime block (the block before The Sprout Sharing Show) and on Sprout's Wiggly Waffle.

The next Valentine's Day, Sprout would give LazyTown what it gave The Wiggles three years ago - a programming block. The Super Sproutlet Show launched on February 14th, 2012 and aired from 2PM to 4PM ET (it moved to 6AM the next year). Sportacus and Mayor Meanswell would appear in the new block alongside a new character called Bean (Catherine Missal).

Sportacus also appeared in "Let's Move" PSAs with Chica and former FLOTUS Michelle Obama, in the "Family Challenge" app, and on The Sunny Side Up Show on July 27, 2012. Stephanie also appeared the same year.

The characters also appeared on Sprout and Produce for Kids signs in grocery stores and made public appearances in grocery stores to promote the two's partnership. 

Unlike Nickelodeon, Sprout showed all of Seasons 1 and 2. The show proved popular that Seasons 3 and 4 premiered on Sprout in 2013. The show also aired during NBC's Saturday morning Sprout block, NBC Kids.

The show left Sprout on September 26th, 2016 during the "Back to New" campaign, along with Poppy Cat, Tree Fu Tom, Earth to Luna, and Boj.