My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show - On the Go

 Below are some Sunny Side Up Show segments and promos shot on location.

(And yes. While we're at it, the last three videos are from my channel and the theme song is the last video.)

Anyways, The Sunny Side Up Show rarely did content outside that small studio, but did go out on occasions (usually for Good Egg Awards). In fact, I wonder if there was a whole show filmed outside the studio. For more, see https://pbs-kids-sprout-tv.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sunny_Side_Up_Show_segments_shot_on_location

My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show - Themes

Madeline Fretz - The Sunny Side Up Show has had many themes over the years, I’m going to take a look at them today.

This one is the first one from 2007, back when Sprout was still a small channel, before it reached over fifty million homes. This one features animated farm animals and eggs (an egg cracks open to reveal birthday cards before we cut to clips of the hosts). Back then, the set was cramped and cheap, compared to Sprout's higher budget in later years.

This intro is from 2009 when Sprout rebranded with "Sproutlet-constructed" idents and show openings. This one is "Sproutlet-constructed" itself with new graphics and music, and boy does the piano add a nice touch. The "We except you to stay a while" lyric is noticeably cut from this version. This version is from 2009 for two reasons - 1. It was released that year, 2. It features Kevin Yamada, who quit Sprout at the end of that year. Clips from this version were in the web version of the Wiggly Waffle intro, which I doubt ever aired on television. Both the Wiggly Waffle podcast on iTunes and part one of Mommymeow32's Sprout tape shows Wiggles characters and real kids instead of the hosts.

The last one is from 2013, both when NBCUniversal acquired Sprout and The Sunny Side Up Show got two new hosts, Tim Kubart and Kaitlin Becker. This one theme-breaks from the original theme song, as it has Chica on-location probably to sell toys. In the video up above, which is from my channel, Dennisha Pratt is among the hosts waving at the near-end, and she quit in 2014, so it's from late 2013 to 2014.

Sprout fan YouTuber Let's Grow, which uploads some pretty nostalgic Sprout content, made a compilation of all three intros here:

Which one did you like better? Let me know in the comments.

My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show: Helping Out is Fun!

 

Madeline Fretz - Today I'm reviewing "Lend a Helping Hand," one of HiT Entertainment's compilation videos for kids released in 2010. Starring The Sunny Side Up Show's Kelly Vrooman and Chica, this piece was in a video duology called "Let's Grow," named after the first generation slogan, which also included another video called "Safety First."

The video teaches you about ways you can help people out through helping-themed episodes of HiT's Sprout shows (unlike SSU and The Good Night Show on TV, which focused on a different theme for the continuity links while the episodes aired were completely different from the theme), and at the end of each episode (complete with split-screen credits), Kelly hands them the Good Egg Awards. They even have the second generation SSU screenbug! Let's get started!

Kelly Vrooman starts the video by saying it's time to learn about helping hands. Chica asks what a helping hand is, and she explains that it's someone who's being kind by helping others. Chica gives ways of how you can be a helping hand. So…this is a second generation video judging by the release year and screenbug, but has the first generation logo on the computer screen? This was probably filmed between January and September 2009.

Now it's time for Barney & Friends, in which Riff invents a robot who picks up litter and learns about taking care of the earth.

Now, I don't like the show, but this episode teaches a pretty good lesson, which Kelly Vrooman explains during the split-screen credits and gives Riff the Good Egg Award.

Today's Barney episode was called "Litterbot," and Kelly Vrooman and Chica made their own Litterbot and explained to the viewers what he was made up of - such as paper plates and cardboard tubes. Chica asks what the green thing on his stomach was, and Kelly Vrooman explains that it is none other than the recycling sign and what it's there for.

In this video as well as "Safety First," they do stuff they regularly do on SSU - except for the viewer-submitted material. I feel that both videos were only made to promote Sprout to those who didn't have it, so people would get interested in the channel and ask for it right away. Man! They should've made more of those, not just SSU, but also ones of The Sprout Sharing Show, Sprout's Wiggly Waffle, and even The Let's Go Show!

The Good Night Show got a DVD in 2014 called "Goodnight Stories," released by NCircle, who also released DVDs of other Sprout shows.

 In today's Bob the Builder, Bob and the Can-Do Crew prepare for a grand opening and meet a street cleaner named Bristle, whose name rhymes with "whistle." The episode is called "Clean as a Whistle Bristle," so that kinda makes sense.

Cut back to the Sunshine Barn. Now that was a very special event, so Bob, you get the Good Egg Award! Riff, you’re not alone!

Kelly Vrooman and Chica also play Dress Chica using the costume carton as always. They dress Chica up as a train conductor. Chica doesn’t want to clean up, but Kelly explains that it's important to clean up after playing dress up.

This isn't really "Dress Chica," as they got to chose Chica's costume rather than having the viewers do it as always.

Chica was dressed as a train conductor, and speaking of trains, now we get to Thomas & Friends. Today, James the Red Engine learns about helping others.

Kelly Vrooman gives a brief explanation about the Thomas episode, and hands James the Good Egg Award.

She and Chica then draw a firetruck during Draw With Chica, leading to Fireman Sam, since he drives firetrucks.

In today's Fireman Sam episode, it's Cleaning Day in Pontypandy and Sam saves Mike's house from a fire started by his iron.

Fireman Sam is always a hero. Kelly Vrooman and Chica present him with the Good Egg Award.

Chica is dressed in a tutu and wants to do ballet, so with help from the viewers, Kelly Vrooman helps her reach up to the sky … and we see Chica's feet!

It's interesting that in this video, the links relate to the shows coming up next, which I believe they rarely did on the blocks on TV.

It's always a thrill when we see Chica's feet. I wonder how they did that. Well, puppet magic!

Since Chica learned ballet, it's time to see everyone's favorite ballerina … Angelina Mouseling! In today's Angelina Ballerina, Angelina helps a character I've never heard of named Mary.

Kelly Vrooman explains what happened in today's episode of Angelina Ballerina, so she presents our rodent hero with the Good Egg Award. She then explains who we gave Good Egg Awards to today.

On TV, they present kids who submitted kind acts online with the Good Egg Award. Here, they present characters with the Good Egg Award. 

And at the end of the DVD: How can you print out your own Good Egg Award? By going to Sproutonline.com of course! Or nowadays, you can go to broken archives on the Wayback Machine. Man, great DVD! Great linking footage. Great everything! Except maybe Barney. Overall, a great video.

Sprout history video

 I've been poking around a forum on Tapatalk called The Ways of the Blue Dog (based on Blue's Clues judging from the title) a lot, and in the old days, they seemed to talk about Sprout a lot. In fact, they include accurate information so accurate we just had to include them on PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki! One of their Sprout threads is, behold: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thewaysofthebluedog/sprout-history-video-t1056.html

A few months ago, I had a blog post on the Sprout Press Room, a special section of Sproutonline.com that featured information on programming and talent and executives, photos and videos, a fact sheet, and press releases and news briefs all about Sprout. 

In the thread, "Blue Dogger" Jumpman256 mentions a video on the Press Room about Sprout's history. That I would LOVE to find and see. By the time the video was released, Sprout was available in over fifty million homes. Judging by what was said, there was no sign of Kevin Yamada (who quit The Sunny Side Up Show a few months ago) nor Melanie Martinez. They even inserted Nina's picture into an article Martinez was probably originally in. There was also no sign of Leo, which makes sense because he was just the transition host.

According to the thread, Star introduced Nina after we saw a crayon drawing of Martinez's chair, which made Jumpman256 wonder, was Nina's debut a special show introducing her or just a regular blockisode. I wonder too…

My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show: How Long Have Hosts Been On?

 

Have you noticed that some of the Sunny Side Up Show hosts have been on for about the same amount of time? I, as a Sprout historian, find that interesting.

PBS Kids Sprout TV Wiki covers all ten hosts. I’m going to do a list of their tenures today!

• Kevin Yamada (September 26, 2007 - December 25, 2009)
• Kelly Vrooman (September 26, 2007 - December 22, 2013) (RETURNED AS A GUEST: THANKSGIVING 2014)
• Sean Roach (January? 2008 - December 13, 2013)
• Dennisha Pratt (December 31, 2009 - June 2014) (RETURNED AS A GUEST: MOTHER'S DAY 2015)
• Liz Filios (November 1, 2010 - June 2012) (RETURNED AS A GUEST: MARCH 2013)
• Carly Ciarrocchi (June 2012 - August 11, 2017)
• Tim Kubart (December 30, 2013 - August 11, 2017)
• Darryl Williams (January 3, 2014 - 2015?)
• Kaitlin Becker (January 6, 2014 - 2017)
• Emily Borromeo (June 2014 - July 27, 2017)

So that's that. A few thoughts and observations.

Kelly Vrooman and Carly Ciarrocchi were both on for six years, but Vrooman was on more.

Kevin Yamada and Liz Filios were both on for three years, but Yamada was on for more months.

Being two of the only four male hosts the block had, Tim Kubart and Sean Roach were both on for five years! Same probably goes to Dennisha Pratt.

Kaitlin Becker and Emily Borromeo were on for the same years (2014 to 2017), so that makes four years. Wow! Time flies when you’re older than a preschooler!

My Week with The Sunny Side Up Show: When a Celebrity Comes to Visit

 

Images from 2015

Madeline Fretz - Back in the early days, The Sunny Side Up Show often had guest appearances from Sprout characters. According to this Sprout for Parents article, when Team Sprout came up with the theme for each week, they brainstormed the guest ideas they would like to have. They tried to book a guest as far in advance as possible, usually a few months before their actual appearance, because their schedules tended to fill up very quickly.

Let's start with the Sesame Street appearances. Sesame Street had the most guest appearances on the block.

Image from Muppet Wiki

Image from Nolan Hong

Image from Jeremy Wintroub

• Big Bird (Matt Vogel, who currently plays him to this day) was the first guest. He appeared in the pilot from September 2007 and in a few promo pictures.
• Prairie Dawn (Fran Brill, who played her until 2014) appeared for Valentine's Day 2008 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica. Viewers could get to call her live.
• Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney, who played him until 2018) appeared for Earth Day 2008 with Sean Roach and Chica. The character returned for Oscar Weekend 2014 where he and Chica gave Dennisha Pratt a manicure, and again in 2015 with Kaitlin Becker and Chica (he was performed by Eric Jacobson, who currently plays him to this day, here). The latter was the last time a Sesame Muppet appeared on the block, as the show stopped airing later that year.
• Super Grover (Eric Jacobson, who currently plays him to this day) appeared for New Year's Eve 2008 and Day 2009 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica. They sang a song to the tune of "Turkey and the Straw" about New Year’s resolutions - Grover's included discovering a new breed of blue apple, tying his shoes, dancing with a penguin, and eating hot chocolate with a dove. He thanked his family when he was given the "Super" Good Egg Award.
• Elmo (Kevin Clash, who played him until 2012) appeared on December 15, 2009 with Sean Roach and Chica, where he answered viewers' phone calls, read birthday cards, played in a color game show and sang songs such as "Blue Kazoo Blues" and "Kwanzaa Candles." The character returned on November 30, 2010 for Food and Cooking Week with Kelly Vrooman and Chica, and again on Christmas Eve that year. He once again returned on December 13, 2011 with Liz Filios and Chica, where a dreidel hit his puppeteer. The character returned in 2016 with Cookie Monster to promote their new show The Furchester Hotel.
• Abby Cadabby (Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) appeared on January 4, 2012 for Weather Week with Liz Filios and Chica.

Now for Barney.

• The big purple dinosaur himself appeared for Thanksgiving 2007 with The Good Night Show's Nina (Michele Lepe) and Chica, and later that day he hosted a marathon of his show where he presented hand turkeys from Sprout characters. The character returned for Valentine's Day in 2009 with Sean Roach and Chica, Dinosaurs Week in August 2010 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica, Valentine's Day 2011 with Roach and Chica, and Thanksgiving 2011 with Liz Filios and Chica.
• Riff (Michaela Dietz (who also voiced Amethyst from Steven Universe)) appeared for Friends Week on March 31, 2011 with Liz Filios and Chica to promote Season 10 episodes of the show coming to Sprout.

The Wiggles also appeared, but I'm not counting them since they're performers with a children's show and direct-to-videos, not a fictional world.

Now for LazyTown.

• Sportacus (Magnus Scheving, the creator of the show) appeared for Good Sports Week on July 27th, 2012 with Sean Roach and Chica.
• Stephanie (Chloe Lang) appeared in 2012 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica. They sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and made a healthy pizza.

Zack from Zerby Derby appeared in 2014 with Tim Kubart and Chica, and again in 2015 with Carly Ciarrocchi and Chica.

Noodle from Noodle and Doodle appeared to promote the show in 2010 with Sean Roach (who hosted the show) and Chica, again the same year with Liz Filios and Chica. She was also present at a pajama party with Filios and Chica the same year. 

Mr. and Mrs. C from The Chica Show appeared several times - once together to promote the show in 2012 with Sean Roach and Chica. Mr. C often appeared for Father’s Day, and Mrs. C made appearances before The Chica Show even began, albeit with a yellow necklace.

Now for Pajanimals.

• Squacky appeared for Fall Week 2011 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica, and again in 2012 with Dennisha Pratt and Chica.
• Sweetpea Sue appeared for Valentine's Day 2013 and helped Sean Roach and Chica make Valentine's Day cards.
• Granny Pearl appeared for Grandparents' Day 2012.

Now for the blocks.

• Nina (Michele Lepe) from The Good Night Show has guest hosted several times, probably a lot more before they hired Sean Roach (who I’m friends with on Facebook). A few instances were Thanksgiving 2007 with Barney (see above), New Adventures Week on September 21st, 2009 (to promote her fifth season), and for Scrambled April Fun Day 2011, where she and Star played a Sink and Float Game with Kelly Vrooman and Chica. Star himself also appeared multiple times - once for Space Week 2010 with Kelly Vrooman and Chica, and at a pajama party the same year with Liz Filios and Chica.
• The characters from The Sprout Sharing Show appeared in 2008 and again in 2010 with Dennisha Pratt and Chica. Patty appeared alongside Elmo in 2010, and at a pajama party with Liz Filios and Chica. Curtis E. Owl and Otis appeared in 2012 for Chica's birthday party.
• Miles (Milton Barnes) from The Let's Go Show appeared for New Year's Eve 2007 and Day 2008.
• Bean from The Super Sproutlet Show appeared for Valentine's Day 2012 with Liz Filios and Chica, which was also the day the block premiered (SURPRISE!)
• Meeka and M'Goats from Sprout Control Room appeared in 2014 to promote the premiere of Astroblast!.

Animated characters also appeared, but rarely. From what I have heard, Super WHY! appeared in 2011 to promote his show with Liz Filios and Chica, and the titular characters from Ruff-Ruff, Tweet, and Dave appeared to promote their show in 2015 with Emily Borromeo and Chica.

My Week with Sproutonline.com

 

Here on Parents and Kids Share Together, I spend a week covering different things about Sprout in a series I call "My Week." This is inspired by the Muppet fan site ToughPigs, which I highly suggest you check out. This week, I covered Sproutonline.com/Sproutletsgrow.com, Sprout's website that was full of games, videos, coloring pages, crafts and recipes.

• The Mystery of Sproutletsgrow.com
• As Seen on TV
• We Need You!
• Weekly Themes