Sprout cart

 

Madeline Fretz - I knew I just had to write about this once I saw a girl in a cart in Kroger a few days ago(?).

As early as 2014, a Sprout cart was made for grocery stores. The cart had images of Sprout characters such as Chica and Star, and inside was a television where kids could watch footage from Sprout shows. 

Aside from those(that?), not much is known about the Sprout cart. A few photos of the cart, which also has its own PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki page, are seen online.

Image from AisleWorx

UPDATE (3/27/2021): Found another pic online. As you can see, the cart has green flowers instead of the Sprout logo and the screen shows what I think is Noodle and Doodle.

Despite being a small channel, Sprout did produce merchandise over the years, and the Sprout cart is one of them.

Click here to go to the grocery store on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Sprout Tunes

 

Madeline Fretz - Sprout Tunes was an interstitial series that aired on Sprout during the latter of the second generation's end (2013 to 2015) every afternoon (probably before The Sprout Sharing Show). Added in conjunction with musical afternoons on Sprout (source), Sprout Tunes interstitials featured songs and musical scenes from Sprout shows and blocks, very similar to the Musical Mornings of the first generation, as well as songs from varied children's singers.

Sprout Tunes segments were also available on SproutOnline.com and the Games and Videos app as part of a game known as Music Maker.

Openings had a Sproutlet kid placing a Sprout boombox (or radio?) down on a stool and turning it on. Closings were - well, just a generic "box-branded" closing. Openings and closings reused the soundtrack from the first generation Music ident.

I assume segments aired until the third generation rebrand, when new musical interstitial segments known as "Sprout Jams" and "Sprout Mini Jams" started airing.

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.

What's Up with Chica?

 

Madeline Fretz - This picture is from someone's Instagram from a few years ago. 

Before The Sunny Side Up Show became a "celebrity cult" when it moved to the Big Apple in 2014, it mainly had guest appearances from Sprout characters and talent and children's musicians, with very little actual celebrities such as Mario Lopez, the voice of Stitches from The Chica Show. I wrote about Sunny's many guests in a post few months ago on this blog.

One of the pre-2014 guests was popular singer Lisa Loeb. Loeb once visited Carly and Chica shortly before the set move in 2014 during "Healthy Sproutlets Week" and sang a few songs.

The picture at the top of this post is from someone's Instagram, and is of Loeb's 2014 appearance. The picture features Loeb and Carly, who is starting happily at Chica in her nest, or at least something similar, in purple.

What is Chica doing? What is up with her? Maybe she's doing something related to the Healthy Sproutlets theme from that week - such as exercising or doing things like cartwheels. Until we find a video this picture came from, we don't know.

Click here to wonder what she's doing on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

My Week with 2014: Lily's Driftwood Bay

 

Madeline Fretz - Lily's Driftwood Bay was an Irish mixed-media show from Sixteen South Productions, who also brought us Pajanimals.

Sprout described the show as:

"Lily is 5 years old and lives with her Dad in a little hut on the beach. Across the way is Driftwood Bay - the island that Lily can see from her window, and it is here that the characters that she has created from her imagination come to life. Every day the sea washes up a new treasure which sparks Lily's imagination about what might be happening on Driftwood Bay. And so, accompanied by her best friend Gull, the clever seagull, an adventure begins as they go across the way to Lily's Driftwood Bay."

The show premiered on Sprout on May 12th, 2014, a day after Fireman Sam and The Sprout Sharing Show were taken off the schedule. It aired during The Good Night Show and The Sunny Side Up Show.

The show survived both the third generation rebranding in 2015 and the Universal Kids rebranding in 2017, but was one of many shows, also including Astroblast!, Clangers, Zou, Zerby Derby, and Stella and Sam, to get pulled from Universal Kids' lineup in 2018.

My Week with 2014: Boj

Madeline Fretz - Boj was a Britsh-Irish show that followed the adventures of a bilby (an animal from Australia who looks like a mouse) and his friends.

The show was one of many picked up by Sprout in 2013, but didn't premiere until October 11th, 2014. The show aired during The Sunny Side Up Show.

The show survived the third generation rebranding, but was one of many shows, also including LazyTown, Earth to Luna, and Tree Fu Tom, to stop airing a year later, during the Back to New campaign. However, a fan remembers these shows airing well into 2017.

My Week with 2014: Earth to Luna

 

Madeline Fretz - Earth to Luna is a Portuguese cartoon from PinGuim Studios that came to Sprout in 2014.

Sprout described the show as:

"“Earth to Luna!” is a new pre-school series about science and the exciting process of scientific inquiry that naturally leads to scientific knowledge."

The show was announced to air in March, but premiered on the channel on August 16th, with episodes being released on-demand prior. The show aired during The Sunny Side Up Show.

The show survived the third generation rebranding, but was one of several shows to stop airing a year later, along with LazyTown, Poppy Cat, and Tree Fu Tom (a fan remembers those shows airing well into 2017). This was a day before the Back to New campaign and the premiere of The Furchester Hotel.

My Week with 2014: Zerby Derby

 

Madeline Fretz - Zerby Derby was a show about pint-sized cars, including Zack, Lily, Rec, and Axle, living and playing in and exploring a life-sized forest. The show premiered on Sprout on March 1st, 2014.

Zack also made a handful of appearances on The Sunny Side Up Show. In the video above, Tim sings about him to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus."

The show survived the third generation rebranding, but was one of many remaining Sprout shows that stopped airing on Universal Kids in early 2018.

My Week with 2014: Astroblast!

 

Madeline Fretz - Based on the books by Bob Kolar, Astroblast! was an animated series by the company Soup2Nuts about animals running a smoothie shack in outer space. From what I have heard, the show has gained a large cult-like following, and, along with LazyTown, I think it is one of the Sprout shows with a very large fanbase. 

Sprout describes the show as:

"See that twinkling little speck in the night sky – three stars and two light years to the right of Al- pha Centauri? That’s no meteor... it’s the Astroblast Space Station! The Astroblast Space Station is like an intergalactic clubhouse... where everyone is welcome! Visitors flock from planets near and far. Why? Because it’s the perfect place to gather with old friends while making new ones!"

The show aired during The Good Night Show and The Super Sproutlet Show, and also on Saturday Mornings on NBC Kids.

The show premiered on Sprout in summer 2014, and the channel did a lot to promote, which is what they always did with new original series. SproutOnline.com had a space-themed background and released previews of the show, Sprout hosted a launch event at New York's Sugar Factory (source) and a Space Camp Tour across America, the characters would interrupt various shows at points, Sprout aired a few new space-themed idents, The Sunny Side Up Show dedicated an entire week to the show, and Nina and Star would host an Astroblast!-themed live broadcast of The Good Night Show that took place on the set of The Sunny Side Up Show (I written about the broadcast on my old blog).

The show survived the third generation rebranding in 2015, but stopped airing on Sprout in 2016 due to Soup2Nuts' discontinuation. However, it did return to Universal Kids at some point, but again stopped airing in 2018 along with a few other remaining Sprout shows.

Everyday Moments

 

Madeline Fretz - Last night while editing the wiki (I'm a big fan of the wiki) and preparing for bed, I came across this cute little video from 2014. It is one of the only Sprout videos Peacock Jr. still has up on their channel (I once had a dream where the channel was called "Peacock Soup" (I think) and still had Sprout videos (including ones from the first generation) up on its channel). The description even mentions Sprout. The video is called "Everyday Moments" and is about how parents and kids use Sprout in their everyday lives.

The video has several little noticeable things. Like for one, a family can be seen watching the original Astroblast! pilot. The video was released online on March 27th, 2014, a few months before Astroblast! premiered on Sprout.

Several scenes from this video are re-used in both a Sprout's Viewer Circle commercial and a commercial for Sprout's Mom is Here.

In one scene, a little girl can be seen watching The Sunny Side Up Show (a clip of Carly and Chica to be precise) on her iPad with her Chica plush while her father hands her some cereal. The Find More of This Show bug can noticeably be seen on the iPad.

A family can be seen watching a Good Night Show episode from either Season 6 or 7, but I'm not sure what episode, could be one from the Goodnight Stories DVD.

A girl can be seen playing on the Good Night Star app with her parents.

Anyways, that's all I've noticed about the video. Have you noticed anything? I also made a wiki page for the video so you can learn more about it (PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki is all about learning new things about Sprout, right?).

Click here to make everyday moments on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

Sprout Might-Have Beens

 Madeline Fretz - Here is a list of Sprout material that was going to be made, but never was.

ZOOM was a PBS series made by WGBH Boston that ran from 1999 to 2005, based on a 1970s children's show of the same name. The show was cancelled in 2004, but in 2006, series producer Marcy Guthner emailed a fan, telling him that WGBH was thinking of putting ZOOM on the then-fledgling new Sprout channel. There was one problem though - Sprout was aimed at two to five year olds, ZOOM was aimed at six to eleven year olds, so I think that's the reason why plans backfired. However, the show was promoted online as being a part of PBS' PBS Kids GO! block, but never aired. (source)

In 2014, Yummico made appisodes with possibility of a series for Sprout called Edison the Invention Detective, about a mystery-solving girl. Edison never came to fruition. (source)

Similarly, once Sprout launched in 2005, it was announced Andrew Beecham, Meredith Halpern-Ranzer, and Susan Karden were making interstitials about geography, healthy eating, music, and creative storytelling. The geography series would obviously become The Many Adventures of Mr. Mailman, and the healthy eating one would obviously become Sprout Diner. As for the music and creative storytelling interstitials, it is unknown if they came to fruition or even exist.

According to this article on SproutOnline.com, The Chica Show was going to take place in a farmers' market and focus on healthy eating and nutrition.

According to president Sandy Wax, Sprout was going to have an aquatic and marine animal-themed programming block sponsored by SeaWorld (source). I don't know why this failed, as SeaWorld was one of Sprout’s sponsors at the time. The article was published a few months before the launch of The Sprout Sharing Show, so I assume the SeaWorld block might've became the Sharing Show.

Anyways, I think that's it. If I find any more possibilities that never were, I'll post them here.

Click here to make interstitials on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

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 Show characters sing a song from Preschool Musical

 

Well, Sproutlets, it’s almost December, and December means Christmas, not to mention Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the holidays. Are you getting excited? I know I am!

Here is a 2014 Christmas promo that featured Kelly, Chica, Bunji, and Stitches from The Chica Show singing "We Love the Holidays" from Sprout's Preschool Musical on a Stick. The song was originally sung by Nina and Star from The Good Night Show.

Anyways, it’s interesting to see Sprout reuse a song from the first generation era, as, like "Jingle All the Way" and a few Let's Go Show songs, they’ve been using "We Love the Holidays" instrumentally in promos and in Barnyard Boogie online games. 

Click here to reuse a song from the first generation era on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

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: 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 Sesame Street: Oscar Weekend

 

In February 2014 and 2015, Sprout held Oscar Weekend, a marathon of movies and, in the latter year, a new season of Sesame Street, hosted by Oscar the Grouch and Giuliana Rancic. Oscar would also appear on The Sunny Side Up Show in both 2014 and 2015.

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.

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.