Uncovering a Sprout launch party photo

Big Bird, Barney the Dinosaur, walkarounds of Bob and Angelina Mouseling, and Sesame Street star Roscoe Orman (Gordon) at the Sprout launch party in 2005.

Madeline Fretz - I launched this blog almost two years ago. I was twelve, now I'm fourteen. My first post explained why I started this important project, accompanied by pictures of Sprout's launch party, held in San Fransisco's Yerba Buena Gardens in 2005. The launch party, which had both Sprout characters and key people of the channel's founding companies in attendance, was mainly to promote the launch of Comcast's Sprout on Demand service. You see, the Sprout brand was introduced on Comcast on Demand, launching in April 2005, while the 24-hour channel launched five months later on September 26th (we all know that). According to president Sandy Wax, launching Sprout on VOD (video on demand) was a good way to get the word out and get the brand out. Even after all these years, the pictures can still be found on Flickr under the account of Steve Rhodes. Check 'em out!

Well, I found a picture of the launch party today while surfing world wide web that isn't on Flickr. Lo and behold!

Image from Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

Now, I know you may be wondering, how did I find this rare picture? Well, as always, it wasn't easy. If you know me, you know that I'm a big fan of Sprout, as well as the world of children's television in general. To see my history with Sprout, click here (you've probably already seen this post though). I'm serious about Sprout. Not only do I run this blog, but I also run the YouTube fan channel Playtime All the Time and edit as admin Maddiellabie on the PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki (it was founded by user NeptuneID13, but I started editing regularly on the wiki in late 2020, after leaving my stupid CBeebies wiki. I wish THAT never existed!). As a Sprout historian as well as a fan, I'm always on the lookout for rare pictures, videos, and articles I bet no one has seen before.

Today, I was searching for a picture of the original, pre-September 2005 Sproutletsgrow.com (it existed even before the linear channel launched), using the keywords "Sprout comcast 2005" (some of the images came from my Sprout fansites, such as this one), and came across the picture you see above. It was on Yerba Buena Gardens' website.

The picture has Roscoe Orman (the fourth actor to play Gordon on Sesame Street, after Matt Robinson, Hal Miller, and Garrett Saunders) and walkarounds of Bob from Bob the Builder, Angelina Mouseling from the original Angelina Ballerina, and Elmo from Sesame Street. Note that the Elmo walkaround isn't in the picture at the top of this post, but still, it(he?) was there. 

This picture probably wasn't at the Yerba Buena Gardens launch party.

It is also worth noting that there may have been another Sprout launch party. How can you tell? Well, I doubt that the first generation branding with Big Bird and Thomas and the Teletubbies in the colored circles was used at the first one, and Melanie, the original Goodnight Guide from The Good Night Show, whom I'm assuming was hired after Sprout on Demand launched, was there, so yeah, it was probably to promote the launch of the 24-hour channel in September. I recall seeing an ad for a launch party like this (was in the one in the picture?) on the internet maybe a year ago, and that that ad had the trumpets from the Music ident.

UPDATE (3/18/2022): Here it is!

I'm so glad I found another rare Sprout picture today, and even more spectacular, one of the event that started it all. Parents and Kids Share Together is all about sharing pictures, videos, stories, and memories about Sprout, and I knew here would be the best place to put it!

Click here to find a rare picture on the Parents and Kids Share Together forum!

My Week with On Demand

 

I focused on Sprout's VOD (video-on-demand) service for a week this week (which was also the one I entered high school as a ninth grade freshman) as part of the My Week series. So sit back, relax, and look at these posts:

• In Spanish
• Exclusive Shows
• Yours to Share
• VOD Idents
• English and Spanish

My Week with On Demand: English and Spanish

Images from HolaSproutitos.com

On September 26, 2005, a new nighttime programming block debuted on the then-recently launched PBS Kids Sprout channel. The block featured host Melanie Martinez (who was fired for two PSAs she previously appeared in), Hush the Goldfish, and a "Helping Hand" who told stories, played games, made crafts, and introduced shows from 6PM to 9PM during The Good Night Show. Star, Lucy the Firefly, Leo (Noel MacNeal), and Nina (Michele Lepe) were all later introduced as time went on - Star was introduced shortly before the Martinez PSA scandal. Each night, Nina and Star met a different theme through songs, stories, games, crafts, stretches, constellations, and artwork. In 2009, there was controversy about the block keeping kids awake, when President Sandy Wax said it was a tool to help parents get their kids ready for bed. The Good Night Show was popular with viewers and their parents for years, and proved that television can be a tool to help get kids ready for bed. It was Sprout's longest running block, going on for eleven years until it was moved on demand in March 2017.

With its wide success, it was no surprise that Sprout was making a sequel series for on-demand. This new series would help Spanish-speaking kids learn English and vice versa.

¡Hola Sproutitos! premiered on Sprout on Demand on Time Warner Cable in either 2009 or 2010, and starred Nina, Lucy, and some real kids. The theme song was sung in both English and Spanish using words for movement actions in both languages. The intro was made by Trace Pictures, who also made Sprout's other intros at the time.

Image from Facebook

At the beginning of each show, a Spanish guitar riff would be heard and Nina, in a park, would pull out clues for today's theme in a backpack. The themes ranged from baseball to bedtime. In the "Bedtime" episode, Nina changed into her Good Night Show pajamas and wore them for the episode. She also sang "Ready for Bed." Throughout the episode, Nina and the kids (referred to as "Sproutitos") would talk about the theme in both English and Spanish, while Lucy would light up the way to episodes of Sesame English, an ESL show from Sesame Workshop. (source)

My Week with On Demand: VOD Idents

 Back when Sprout was about to launch, Primal Screen was hired to create the logo and make some idents for the Comcast on-demand service, which launched in April 2005. Here they are now…

This one features Barney the Dinosaur, Ernie from Sesame Street, Max and Ord from Dragon Tales, Po from Teletubbies, the letters in "sprout," and a few sprouts on a mobile. The iconic green sprout makes its way to the Sprout logo. This one was used before Sesame Street judging by the female announcer at the end, but I wonder if it was used before other shows. This was uploaded on YouTube by Sprout fan account Let's Grow on the channel's tenth anniversary (the day of the rebrand and premieres of a few new shows).

This one features blue, pink, and green sprouts hula-hooping, when the green sprout becomes the one in the logo as the other sprouts keep hula-hooping. Also uploaded by Let's Grow.

There are other ones, all uploaded by Primal Screen on their website. That's where Let's Grow got both videos above. They all feature the same production music and most of them feature "PBS Kids Sprout, presented in partnership with your PBS station, Let's Grow!". The idents were likewise removed when the channel idents (also by Primal Screen) came to on-demand in January  2006. (source)

My Week with On Demand: Yours to Share

 

If you turn on PBS, you'll find happy puppets telling kids how great life can be. You know what's great? Sprout! And you know what's also great? This promo I posted above. I remember seeing it before episodes of Caillou on demand and it also played after Sunny Side Up Show clips (such as this and this).

The promo is all about Sprout's ventures on TV, online, on demand, and on your iPhone, using clips from the Elmo's World segments on Sesame Street, Barney & Friends, and Caillou, as well as the Sprout logo on flowers (as used on Sproutonline.com and in the "Rain" opening). It was made by Trace Pictures (who also did Sprout's second generation idents and openings) in early 2009, supposedly a few months before the rebrand that year.

My Week with On Demand: Exclusive shows

 Sprout has had many shows throughout its time as a 24-hour channel. There was even one show that never made it to air (Edison the Invention Detective) and one show that was considered to air but didn't (ZOOM). However, there were some shows that were part of the Sprout franchise, but were exclusively available on-demand. We're going to take a look at them today!

• ¡Hola Sproutitos!, which I'll talk about in a later post this week.
• Madeline
• Paddington Bear
• The Busy World of Richard Scarry
• Animal Mechanicals
• Little People (the 1999 series)

It is unknown if these shows ever aired on TV. If they did and you remember, let me know.

My Week with On Demand: In Spanish

 

When Sprout on Demand launched in April 2005, the service, which was originally on Comcast on Demand, also had Spanish programming as well as English ones. It had Spanish-language episodes of shows, which included:

• Bob the Builder
• Barney & Friends
• The Berenstain Bears
• Angelina Ballerina
• Dive Olly Dive
• Plaza Sesamo (the Spanish-language adaptation of Sesame Street)

Spanish shows also aired on NBC as part of Telemundo, which was programmed by Sprout alongside NBC Kids.