The Hills of Sprout

Madeline Fretz - It's been established that the Sunshine Barn from The Sunny Side Up Show was located in Sprout Farm, but an early press release stated it was in the Hills of Sprout. Huh?

"The Sunny Side Up Show takes place inside a whimsical barn in the hills of Sprout with staging such a toaster-shaped monitor displaying viewer-submitted artwork and photos and a crate-desk for the show's two hosts who will rotate weekly."

Supposedly, the Hills of Sprout was where Sprout's programming blocks took place and where the hosts lived. Let's take a look at this term's usage from over the years. Please note that I wrote about the hills in a blog post on the wiki a few months earlier.

We date back to at least the aformentioned(sp?) press release, which noted that the Sunshine Barn was located in the Hills.

The Electric Kite completed a commercial for NBC's The More You Know in 2014 featuring Sprout characters. The commercial featured Nina, the hosts of The Sunny Side Up Show, and characters from Astroblast!. Their website reads: "Who doesn't love a good "Anthem" spot - this one for the recent The More You Know campaign we completed for NBC! Featuring characters from the hills of Sprout!"

Terrific Trucks, which premiered in 2016, was a Sprout original series from Electric Kite, who made the More You Know Sprout commercial, and Center City Film and Video, who made Sprout's original programming since 2005. A behind-the-scenes PDF reads: "So as this chapter comes to a close, know that this team – your team – is always eagerly anticipating that next opportunity to fly our creative kite over the hills of Sprout."

And finally, Tapatalk's Ways of the Blue Dog, which focuses on Blue's Clues and other children's shows, has had several posts about Sprout from over the years, and we at PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki are constantly finding information on there and adding them to our wiki (i.e. Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies and Angelina Ballerina replaced Dragon Tales on the Good Night Show schedule in 2010). It's also where I learned of the 2011 Sprout History Video, which I, and many other fans, consider the holy grail of Sprout. In one post, user Jumpman256 wrote about what would happen if there were a Sprout promotional live tour - introduce newcomers to the hosts (the real ones, not actors playing them), have them do things they usually do on TV, and make it a preschool party in the theater. This would've been an interesting concept, and one I would've loved to go to, The show, based around the song "Sprout Around the Clock," was hosted by Miles and Banjo from The Let's Go Show. Jumpman256 says: "Miles hops out of Carla and greets everyone. He explains who he and Banjo are, emphasizing the fact that they love to go on adventures and that they live in the hills of Sprout."

Anyways, I think that's just about it. If I notice any more, I'll edit this post and add them here. Bye, Sproutlets, thanks for reading!

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Sprout Memories

Madeline Fretz - This post is kind of like My Life as a Sprout Fan, except only with some of my favorite Sprout memories, even some that were in the post. Last month, I hosted a series on my Instagram account (@Playtimeallthetimecbeebiesfan) called Sprout-vent Calendar, in which I would share some Sprout memories on the twenty-four days leading up to Christmas, and some of those memories are posted here. Anyways, enjoy!

The Sunny Side Up Show:

Image from the Wayback Machine

If you read My Life as a Sprout Fan, you know that I went on SproutOnline.com on the computers in preschool (it was the 2011 website). I remember going on the Sunny Side Up Show website that had Kelly and Chica in the Sunshine Barn on the Flash(?) menu. This menu was also used in the Games and Videos app. Judging from a picture I remember seeing years ago (on Pinterest maybe?), there was also a variant of this menu that had Sean. I also recall seeing some Sunny videos and clips on the website and on-demand (and maybe on the channel?) as well, and here are several.

• Dennisha and Chica's Mom (who would later appear on The Chica Show and be given more of a character) singing "Five Little Chicas," a cute little variant on "Five Little Ducks." We don't have any footage or pictures of this segment yet, but we do have one of Kelly's version.
• Wasn't Chica's Mom also in a Hooray for Mother's Day Sweepstakes promo?
• Kelly (or was it another host?) and Chica played with a Sprout character spinning wheel and pretended to do the Baby Bop Hop, dive like Olly, and climb up a beanstalk like Super WHY!.
• Sean and Chica singing "If You're Kind and You Know It" with Baby Chick. I remember watching this with my dad and using a Barney plush as Baby Chick. The song has also been sung by Kaitlin twice, Tim and Ruth B, and in a Sprout music video.
• Barney the Dinosaur was on The Sunny Side Up Show in August 2010 for Dinosaurs Week, and answered viewers' phone calls with Kelly and Chica. I remember seeing a video of the appearance years ago at my house (well, my old one. We moved away in 2018) and Kelly mentioned a girl named "Sarah."
• Liz and Chica playing with real-life baby chicks.
• From 2007 to maybe 2011, the hosts also did "All This Week" videos where they would explain what they would be talking about all week on the show. I remember seeing one of them(?) on the computer in preschool in which Chica and "First Mate" Sean were pirates, presumably for Pirates Week.
• I don't remember Liz that much prior to becoming a Sprout historian, but I remember seeing her and Chica once at the end of a Wiggly Waffle broadcast. You see, at the end of each Wiggly Waffle, the Wiggles would talk to Chica and the hosts about what they're doing today in the barn.
• I remember seeing a TV promo for Elmo's appearance on The Sunny Side Up Show (2011 maybe?). Man, 2011 was the world's biggest year!
• I also remember seeing a promo for Noodle and Doodle that had Noodle in the Sunshine Barn with Sean and Chica.
• According to My Life as a Sprout Fan, I owned most of the mobile apps Sprout made (under Children's Network LLC). One of my favorites was Games and Videos, which had a Sprout Tunes section based on both the TV segments of the same name and the "Music Maker" online game. The section featured songs from Sprout shows and blocks, including The Sunny Side Up Show.
• Some of the Sunny songs that I remember were on "Tunes" were the following: "Jim Along Josie and "All Around the Kitchen" (Carly and Chica with Dan Zanes and Sonia de los Santos, "We Try, We Don't Cry" (Tim and Chica), "Numbers in the Ocean" (Carly and Chica), and "Where is Chica?" (Kaitlin and Chica with Rico). "We Try, We Don't Cry" was a song about trying new things, and opened with Tim telling Chica that they're going to play with Kaitlin next week.
• There was one segment in which a girl named Yori Honablue showed Tim and Chica a story she made using paper.
• I remember seeing a promo for Emily's debut on the 2013-2015 website.
• Speaking of the 2013-2015 website, they had a Sunny Side Up Show section called The Host Corner which had videos and articles about the hosts. There were several articles in which hosts Dennisha, Carly, Darryl, Tim, Kaitlin, and Emily talked about their lives as kids ("When I was a Sproutlet").
• I remember seeing a video on SproutOnline.com in either 2015 or 2016 (the latter is probably more likely) in which Emily and Chica encouraged Sproutlets to send in birthday wishes for Baby Chick. The video was released prior to Sprout's anniversary on September 26th, so I believe that was the reason why it was made.
• I watched The Sunny Side Up Show one day in 2015. Carly and Chica were hosting and I remember seeing Bob the Builder that day, shortly before Sprout got rid of the series and other remaining PBS and HiT Entertainment content. I remember that day Carly and Chica sang a song called "We're a Couple of Cowgirls" before linking into Ruff-Ruff. Tweet, and Dave. I don’t know what the theme was for that week, but I believe they were dressed as superheroes and cowgirls, so it could be Dress Up Week.
• Okay, now for something I've said many times on this blog and my Instagram in the past, but I remember sending in content such as Sproutlet Stories games and even birthday cards and wishes to The Sunny Side Up Show via SproutOnline.com and the Send to Sprout app. They told me to watch Sunny every day to see my submissions on TV. I never did, and I was only 7-9 years old when I submitted content, so I don’t know if they got on. 
• Host Hunt was a contest held in 2013 to search for new Sunny Side Up Show hosts. I watched the videos a lot even after 2013 ended, and I made my own audition video in 2016(?) with a ladybug pillow pet as my "Chica" and I mentioned ZOOM, which wasn't a Sprout show. I have the video uploaded on my YouTube channel, and I will talk about it on here later.
• And lastly for one of my own inspired memories. At the start of 2017, I pretended to host my own Sunny Side Up-inspired morning show also taking place in a city apartment with a toy robot co-host.

The Good Night Show:

Image from Facebook

• I remember watching the Sunny Side Up Show "Today's Birthdays" segments during the block, and remember that one time Nina hosted the segment. I couldn't get enough that I demanded more once Thomas & Friends and the other shows came on.
• I remember watching the one and only broadcast of 2011's live A Sweet Goodnight Treat. I remember the Kipper ghost episode aired that night, and that Chica was dressed as a ghost.
• I first discovered Sprout's Snooze-a-Thon one night after watching Barney & Friends, which I had already watched that day. Mom turned it on-demand and I found it a bit weird, but am mesmerized nowadays.
• I remember watching The Good Night Show at a friend's house in 2015. You see, I was a big Wiggles fan at the time, and requested we watch The Wiggles Show (or was it Lights Camera Action?) on demand, but after a while I wanted to watch the Sprout channel, and The Chica Show was on. I remember the split-screen credits telling me The Good Night Show was next, a Sprout Control Room segment followed, and then the Good Night broadcast. I don't know what the "adventure" (what Nina and Star were talking about) was that night. I remember seeing The Berenstain Bears, Today's Birthdays, and Ruff-Ruff, Tweet, and Dave that night, and turned off the TV after the second Today's Birthdays airing (Carly and Chica were hosting that night). You see, I was afraid the Snooze-a-Thon would come on at 9PM after The Good Night Show ended, but after I became a Sprout historian I was proved wrong. I have also written about this experience on my answers to the Great Sprout Survey.

SproutOnline.com:

• I remember seeing a version of "If You're Kind and You Know It" on the website, and I remember it had Olive the Ostrich.
• I remember that Barney the Dinosaur was one of the characters on the 2011 website, and he said "Hi, Sproutlets! It's me, Barney!"
• I remember that at the bottom the 2015 website, a character on a trampoline (usually one from a new show) would take you back up to the top.

Other:

• Remember the Sprout Diner Time to Create digital podcasts on iTunes? I sure hope you do. I remember watching them long after Sprout Diner was discontinued, and that one episode had a Sprout Sharing Show promo and maybe Sprout is Always Here for You.
• Back in 2015, I created and hosted a new sequel channel called Sprout 2, and sang Sprout Around the Clock.
• Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies was a PBS show that aired on Sprout during The Sprout Sharing Show, The Let's Go Show, and The Good Night Show from 2009 to 2012. I remember said show had a character named Barney, and that the "Barney" variant of the Rain opening played before Mirabelle once.
• I remember seeing a video of a Sprout Please commercial on some website, but it wasn't YouTube, and I remember it had Cookie Monster from Sesame Street saying "Sprout Please" slowly.
• I remember seeing a video of Pajanimals on (again) a non-YouTube website, and it opened with the 2005 Bedtime ident and a female announcer's voice.
• I believe watching Sprout on Demand is how I first discovered Sprout. Two of the shows I remember seeing on there were Caillou and Sesame Street. Both shows ended with a promo about the show on Sprout's three ventures (On Demand, on TV, and online). The promos also aired on the channel after the shows were over (i.e, Barney & Friends, Bob the Builder, OG Angelina Ballerina). The Caillou one we have, but the Sesame one we don't. All we have is a promo for the latter show's Spanish co-production Plaza Sesamo, which aired on Sprout on Demand.
• There was a promo for Christmas/Winter happenings on Sprout, including Cheer in the New Year, which I mentioned here. It was basically this promo except with Cheer in the New Year.
• I remember the Live Sprout and Sprout Viewer Circle promos, and thinking they were the same thing. They may be how I was first exposed to Sprout's blocks.

And there you have it! Some Sprout memories of mine.

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My Week with Kindness Counts

• PSAs
• The Sponsors
• The Song
• The Muscle
• One Small Act at a Time

My Week with Kindness Counts: One Small Act at a Time

 

In 2013, Sprout promoted Kindness Counts by holding a contest called The Kindest Kid, in which they would select five kid finalists who have been kind to others or to the earth, and the winner would take a trip to Philadelphia to become Sprout's "Chief Kindness Officer" for a day and visit The Sunny Side Up Show. A countdown was held on TV in December 2013, hosted by Chica and Kelly Vrooman, who introduced kind-themed episodes of Sprout shows leading to the premiere of The Chica Show episode "All of a Kind Chica" and a new Laurie Berliner song. The winner ended up being Emma Lock, the founder of Lock Boxes of Love.

In 2014, the contest was held again and the winner was Sierra Preveza, the founder of Childhood Cancer Kids.

The contest was sponsored by Thomas & Friends and ABCMouse.com.

My Week with Kindness Counts: The Muscle

In 2017, Sprout focused on Kindness Counts a little more with a nice music video featuring real kids, including Aidan Prince, Mimi Ryder, Gloria Manning, and William Alexander. The music video is up above, while here is the lyric video. 

This song really has a third generation-ish feel to it, which I don’t like, but it's OK. Plus, have you noticed the muscle wearing Sprout sneakers?

My Week with Kindness Counts: The Song

 In 2013, Sprout welcomed new Sunny Side Up Show hosts Tim Kubart and Kaitlin Becker by having them on the float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The song they sang? A new original song called "Kindness Counts," a song about kind acts.

In 2014, Kubart, Becker, Chica, Dennisha Pratt, and Carly Ciarrocchi made a music video using the same song with real kids, and boy are they good singers?

The house-like set from the music video was inspired by two things - "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child and the opening to A Different World.

Here are the lyrics for those curious:

Help your Mom zip your zipper

Kindness Counts!

Find you Dad’s missing slipper

Kindness Counts!

Make a special birthday card

Kindness Counts!

Or grab a rake, clean the yard

Kindness Counts!

Lend a Hand, Get it Done

1

Then 2

Then 3

And 4

Every little bit needs a little bit more

Kindness Counts!

Meet the New kids on the block

Kindness Counts!

Let your friend know they rock

Kindness Counts!

Helping Mom to Walk the Dog,

Kindness Counts!

Pucker up and kiss a frog!

Kindness Counts!

It comes in large amounts;

Give it a try, you’ll multiply

You’ll see!

Every single act of kindness,

Each little thing you do

We’ll add it up to show the world

That is kind to me and you!

Kindness Counts!

My Week with Kindness Counts: The Sponsors

 Sprout has often partnered with other companies to promote Kindness Counts.

In 2012, Sprout partnered with The Little Gym, a chain of children's gymnastics centers (I went there once for a birthday party). At the Levittown location in Long Island, students could talk about kind things they did and their acts would be hung up in the lobby.

In 2014, Sprout teamed up with KIND for "Operation Kind Kids."

My Week with Kindness Counts: PSAs

 Hello friends. This week I’m going to be covering a promotion Sprout had about kindness: Kindness Counts. Because small acts matter big!

The promotion started in 2011, launching with four PSAs featuring Sprout talent and characters.

Let's start off with this one. Big Bird from Sesame Street is on the swings, all alone. Two kids (including actress Adriana Camposano) invite him to play with them (which adds to the Kindness Counter), and Ann Curry interviews them. Brian Williams adds "Kindness, how touching." Go Ann and Brian!

In this one, our friend Barney the Dinosaur is at a family's house for dinner, but has trouble reaching a slice of bread. A girl named Kaylee hands him the bread, and Barney tells her that doing something kind adds to the Kindness Counter.

In this one, Kelly Vrooman watches as Chica plays with her friends.

Some more Kindness Counts PSAs were made for NBC's "The More You Know" in 2014. These new PSAs featured Nina, the Sunny Side Up Show hosts, and characters from Astroblast!.

The Kindest Kid

In 2013, Sprout held a contest for kind Sproutlets' acts. The Sproutlets would enter the full rules on SproutOnline.com and become Sprout's Chief Kindness Officer for a day. The contest was sponsored by Thomas & Friends.

Kindness can range from holding the door open for someone to sharing toys or food.

Sprout recently launched a campaign to find the Kindest Kid in America with its Kindest Kid Contest, part of its ongoing Kindness Counts prosocial initiative.

To enter the contest, families must provide a photo and short description at sproutonline.com/kindness-counts and explain how their child helped the family, a friend, the community, an animal or any other positive everyday contribution.

The winner will be announced line on Sprout on Dec. 21 in a three-hour programming special. The winning child will win a trip to Sprouts headquarters in Philadelphia with their family to be Sprouts honorary Chief Kindness Officer for the day. Theyll tour Sprout and the Sunshine Barn, meet Chica from The Chica Show and record segments about kindness that will air in 2014. 

Central Penn Parent Staff, September 17, 2013