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 2011: He's Awake!

 It's not every day you see Barney and Elmo in the same room.

The red monster and purple dinosaur only appeared together once, and that was in the above commercial, made just for Sprout in 2011 (I don't know if the two were really in the same room or if it were green screen). The commercial also featured appearances by Super WHY!, Fireman Sam, Kelly Vrooman and Chica, Roary the Racing Car, and Caillou, plus The Good Night Show is seen on TV at the end. In the commercial, Barney, Elmo, Super WHY!, and Fireman Sam are in a boy named Brody's room, waiting for him to wake up. When he does, Super WHY! alters his mom and flies by Vrooman and Chica, ruining their craft in the process.

Another similar commercial was made featuring Barney, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Kelly Vrooman, Sean Roach, and Chica, and a clip from The Good Night Show on TV.

In addition, several tie-in online banner ads were made, featuring the same characters from the two commercials.

Bob the Builder

Madeline Fretz - Bob the Builder was a British stop-motion show airing on PBS about a man and his machines building things. The show had two sequels - Ready, Steady, Build and Project: Build It. The show aired on Sprout from September 26, 2005 to September 26, 2015, as HiT Entertainment was one of the channel's founders.

Image from Current.org

Sprout described the series as:

Can We Build It? Yes We Can! Bob the Builder and his machine team are ready to tackle any project. Bob and the Can-Do Crew demonstrate the power of positive- thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and follow-through. Most importantly, they always show that The Fun Is In Getting It Done!

The show had a Sprout Diner recipe; Bob's Build Me Up Berry Shake.

The Christmas special; Bob the Builder: Snowed Under aired on Sprout during Elmo's Movie Merry-then in 2010 and 2011.

The show left Sprout during the rebrand, but returned to Universal Kids in 2019.

Launch Day shows

One of the reasons I started this blog was so former "Sproutlets" could relieve their memories of the channel.

I watched Sprout in the early 2010s, and when Universal Kids came around I never even knew where the memories took place.

So much has changed.

There is a Facebook group called "PBS Kids Unite" and there, I saw a photo of (most of) the launch day shows that aired on Sprout. I knew they were missing both James the Cat and Thomas & Friends, so I decided to add those two.

There are a few shows missing as well. These include:

• Big Sister, Little Brother
• Archibald the Koala
• Captain Pugwash
• Dennis and Gnasher
• Kratt's Creatures
• Captain Zed and the Zee Zone
• Sheeep
• Fly Tales

Yes, all eight of these shows aired on Sprout, alongside the ones in the picture above.

Sprout Launch Party

Here are some Sproutacular images from the PBS KIDS Sprout launch party. Images from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/8693475/in/photostream/

Big Bird and Barney (with Roscoe Orman)! It's rare seeing these two together! Image from Muppet Wiki

Barney, absorbing in his viewers

"Come on, let's grow now with Sprout!"

Shooting a news release for the launch party, albeit a little blurr

This was the beginning of what would become an institution in a 24-hour channel, which launched on September 26th that year.

Sprout on Bright House advertisement

Above is a promo from 2008. In addition to various characters waving and saying hi, the promo says to get digital cable $10.95 (plus taxes) every month for 12 months, or call 1-866-976-EASY, or go to MyBrightHouse.com. Bright House Networks is now called Spectrum.

Shows include: Sesame Street, Kipper, Bob the Builder, Fifi and the Flowertots, Noddy, Barney, The Good Night Show, The Let's Go Show, The Sunny Side Up Show, and The Sprout Sharing Show.

Also in the promo, a boy is shown jumping into his mommy's lap.

Also, if anyone can find the music playing in the background, let me know!