Scarborough Fair

Have you ever heard of the song Scarborough Fair? If you haven't, it's a British ballad (a poem which tells a love story through song) lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The melody is in Dorian mode and is very typical of the middle English period. It was covered by many, including Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

I included this song in a video featuring a few Sprout idents from the first generation, designed by Primal Screen, meant to resemble a classic children's book illustration. Includes the following:

• Breakfast
• Rain
• Butterflies
• Space
• Kites
• Alphabet
• Clock
• Paintings
• Fish
• The Birthday Show
• Castle
• Bathtime
• Bedtime
• The Good Night Show

Missing: 

• Circus
• Roads

Hope you enjoy! This song was originally from a Romp n' Roll CD:

Sprout Art Pad

While surfing through Facebook searching for Sprout-related stuff, I came across what seemed to look like an art pad.

Image from Facebook

This art pad is unique, because it features a few first generation idents, including "Breakfast," "Rain," "Instruments," "Paintings," "Kites," "Clocks," "Bathtime," and the openings for The Birthday Show and The Good Night Show. By the way, this picture has been posted in 2009, the same year the second generation premiered in August, and The Birthday Show has been long gone by then.

Also in this picture is LeapFrog (Jumbo Washable) Dry Erase Crayons, 8 blank books, Scentos, and an unknown tin by Crayola.

UPDATE: This might actually be a notebook/scrapbook/journal.

Working on the book

 

Remember how I promised I'd make a book about Sprout's history?

Yes. I've started on working it.

Here's a preview of what you'll see when you read. When it comes out, It'll be a must have for any Sprout fan!

Childhood Memories

 One of the many jingles Sprout has used over the years was "Childhood Memories," which was also included in many CBeebies promos. The version aforementionally linked was included in the "Sprout Please" promo.

The song had many different variations: which included this (included in the "Better Together" and "Hi" promos, both uploaded on YouTube by Bethany Edwards) and this (included in the We Share promo)

15 years ago today...

 

A 24-hour children's channel was launched by PBS, Sesame Workshop, HiT Entertainment, and Comcast. That's right, PBS Kids Sprout is now 15 years old! And yet, it doesn't seem that old...

I made a playlist of clips I uploaded to celebrate. What do you folks plan to do in favor of the channel now known as Universal Kids?

PBS shows that aired on Sprout

Sprout was created as a joint venture between PBS, Sesame Workshop, HiT Entertainment, and Comcast in 2005. Originally, the channel had the PBS Kids branding in its name until 2013 when NBCUniversal acquired it.

This meant that, at launch and until its 10th anniversary, Sprout aired programs originally broadcast on PBS' PBS Kids block. The channel replaced the PBS Kids channel in 2005, and as a result, many stations even shut down their Kids brandings and redirected to the then-new Sprout channel (the PBS Kids channel relaunched in 2017, the same year Sprout became Universal Kids). As of 2015, Caillou and The Berenstain Bears were the only two PBS shows still airing, but it is unknown why. As of March 2019, both shows have left Universal Kids.

Here is a complete list of shows that aired on Sprout as well as PBS Kids (* = owned by HiT Entertainment or Sesame Workshop):

• Boohbah (The first ever show to air on Sprout)
• Sesame Street (Seasons 30-32)*
• Barney & Friends (Seasons 4-7)*
• Caillou
• Dragon Tales*
• Teletubbies
• Angelina Ballerina*
• Bob the Builder*
• Make Way for Noddy
• Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat*
• Zoboomafoo
• The Berenstain Bears
• Thomas & Friends*
• Sid the Science Kid
• Super WHY!
• Kratts' Creatures
• Seven Little Monsters

Saving Sprout

 

In 2012, it was announced DirectTV might be shutting down Sprout, disrupting preschoolers’ daily routines. Tears and tantrums were the common theme.

Cargo Collective, who also produced the super rare Live Sprout commercial, helped with the campaign’s ads. 

After so many demands from parents to keep the channel, DirectTV reversed their decision. Unfortunately, a similar process happened in 2017 when Sprout became Universal Kids.