SPROUT UPDATE
My kids are still enjoying watching PBS KIDS Sprout even with the 15-minutes-per-show format. On Sunday, when I turned on Nickelodeon for Monkey Boy (he likes the bigger kids shows like "Spongebob Squarepants," and "Jimmy Neutron") an hour later he had turned it back to Sprout.
Tonight I was talking to my friend Maria about the channel. She's going a bit nuts at her house because her girls don't like it, and Maria no longer has a channel to entertain her kids while she prepares dinner. She's had to TiVO "Barney," "Clifford the Big Red Dog," and other PBS children's show for her girls to watch.
Maria is so incensed about the change, especially the 15-minute format, that she's thinking of writing the producers and even starting a petition. Does anyone else out there feel the same way? If so let me know by leaving me a comment.
Or go ahead and contact the folks over at PBS KIDS Sprout. Their info is: PO Box 59269, Philadelphia, PA 19102-9997, 215.320.5891, sprout_network@comcast.com.
It may seem silly to those of you without preschool age kids, but having an hour where the kids can watch quality TV while you get something done is worth its weight in gold when you're a harried parent.
I can tell you we are very disappointed by the change from pbskids to pbs kids sprout. we have Direct TV, and we loved the 24 hour pbs kids channel. It had a very good mix of programs for very young kids right up to older kids, which I think made more sense than to have it be all for just pre-schoolers. My kids learned a lot from their favorite shows, and now most of them are gone.
Posted by: Lori | October 13, 2005 at 08:58 PM
We recently found that our cable company added Sprout to their lineup. We're all so happy that we have it at all that the 15-min. bits haven't affected us at all. I agree with Lori though - the programming is aimed exclusively at younger kids (as in less than 5).
Posted by: Karen M | October 15, 2005 at 08:16 AM
My son is 12 so I haven't watched little kid's tv for quite a few years, however I remember well when my son was that age. Maurice Sendack was my idol, as Little Bear was one of the few shows (along with oddly Cinderella and 101 Dalmations) that my son would sit thru, and that I liked and found positive for him. It was when I got the most done.
Posted by: Holly | October 15, 2005 at 11:58 AM
I don't mind the format change so much as the new programs, my kids like the shows the know and don't want to watch the new "short" between the regular programs. We also don't get Zaboomafoo any more, a big favorate in our house, my 2yo keeps saying zaboo, zaboo and I didn't know about the changes and didn't save any of the shows.
I don't mind the 15 min thing, but I don't like the programing shake up.
Posted by: gina | October 15, 2005 at 03:48 PM
I didn't even know of the PBS Sprout channel, so we haven't seen it but I don't know that I would like the 15 min. show schedule. My 2 year old hasn't watched PBS in a while because she is addicted to Hi-5 and wants to watch that all the time!
Posted by: clumsychick | October 19, 2005 at 08:14 PM
I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS NEW CHANNEL WAS CAUSING THIS MUCH OF A STIR. MY 13 MONTH OLD LOVES THE SHOWS ON SPROUT AND SO DO I. THE FACT THAT IT HAS ONLY 10 TO 15 0R EVEN 30 MINUTE SHOWS IS GREAT SO THAT WAY I'M NOT PULLING OUT MY HAIR WITH BARNEY ON.(CAN NOT STAND THAT PURPLE THING, BUT MY SON LIKES HIM. GO FIGURE.) ALSO, HE IS TAKEN WITH MELANIE, WHEN EVER HE HEARS HER VOICE HE MAKES A BE LINE FOR THE TV TO SEE WHAT SHE IS DOING. HE ALSO, LIKES THE BIRTHDAY SONG. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SHOWS OR THE CONTENT OF THE CHANNEL. IF PEOPLE DONT LIKE THE CABLE CHANNEL I HEAR THAT BUNNY EARS STILL WORK ON YOUR TV, SHUT OF THE CABLE AND WATCH THE REAL PBS(UNLESS THEY HAVE CHANGED THAT TOO. I DONT WATCH TO MUCH REGULAR TV. NOTHING ON).ALSO, THE ONLY COMMERCIAL I HAVE SEEN IS THE CUTE ONE ABOUT HUGGIES DIAPERS. I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.
Posted by: ROSALYN BIVENS | January 21, 2006 at 04:26 PM
My 2.5-yr-old LOVES Sprout! What's the big fuss...it's a flippin kids show. So what if it's aimed at the toddler set. You can go to 1/2 dozen other channels and watch endless droning of stuff aimed at the 4-12 group.
I hope they keep it on. At least we don't have to watch Ed, Edd & Eddie for 2 hrs at a clip. The Sprout cartoons are harmless, promote friendship and sharing - things certainly missing on every other channel.
Posted by: Chris | February 19, 2006 at 06:56 PM
Does anyone have sprout taped or tivoed from April 6. I missed if they showed my sons birthday card and am really anxious to find out. Thanks, Andrea
Posted by: Andrea | April 06, 2006 at 11:52 PM
Well, you don't have to watch Sprout. It's not gonna kill you. Just let your kids play Nintendo and that should quiet them down. Nintendo's GameCube has a nice assortment of kid-friendly games. If they play Nintendo while you are making dinner, you'll never hear a peep out of them (keep the Nintendo and the kids where you can see them). PBS Kids Channel has been gone for more than 5 months now. It does no good to continue fussing about it. I didn't like the change either, but I've gotten over it. However, a PBS Kids Go! 24-hour channel launches this fall. Maybe that will get everyone excited.
Posted by: F Williams | April 11, 2006 at 12:54 AM
WTF!? YOU DON'T HAVE TO WATCH IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT. JUST TELL YOUR KIDS TO ACCEPT THE CHANGE. THEY MAY NOT LIKE IT AT FIRST, BUT THEY'LL GET USED TO IT. KIDS AROUND THE COUNTRY ADJUSTED TO IT, SO WHY CAN'T YOUR KIDS? STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT A TV NETWORK CHANGE AND DO SOMETHING NICE AND FUN WITH YOUR KIDS, LIKE PLAYING A GAME OR TWO. F. WILLIAMS TOLD ME THAT IT IS NOT THAT SERIOUS--IT'S JUST A PROGRAM CHANGE. HE ALSO SAID THAT YOU COULD BUY THE VHS OR DVD FOR MANY OF THE PBS KIDS SHOWS. SO GO DO THAT IF YOU WANT THEM SO BAD! CASE CLOSED.
Posted by: French261 | June 19, 2006 at 12:35 AM
Melanie Martinez is the actress who plays "Melanie" on Sprout. I just found a short film starring her on IFilm.com. It's called "Technical Virgin." In the film, Melanie talks about how important it is that she not get pregnant, so instead of having intercourse she's having anal sex. This is no joke. check it out yourself. Nice role model, huh?
Posted by: Jimmy | July 11, 2006 at 10:30 PM
I want Melanie back too!
Posted by: Samantha | July 24, 2006 at 05:59 PM
RE: "Nice role model, huh?"
Oh please. And George "Nasty Mouth" Carlin hosted Thomas the Tank Engine for 8 years and nobody complained. What's the big deal? No, really, WHATS THE BIG DEAL? It's not like my George (or Melanie) is telling nasty jokes on a kids show.
Bring back Melanie!
Posted by: Trace | July 24, 2006 at 08:14 PM
BRING BACK MELANIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Tammy | July 24, 2006 at 08:51 PM
I think it is wrong for them to dump her over this. I'm saddened that Sprout would be so anal over something like this.
Posted by: Sprout Dad | July 24, 2006 at 10:40 PM
Sorry folks but it is best she's gone. We already have our schools full of kids giving each other oral sex thanks to the President of the United States telling them it "is" not sex. It's the price we pay for bad decisions. Maybe your 3 year old won't know the difference... but when they are 9 and see the film on their friend's computer or God knows where, it will influence them. Tell them she did a bad thing and when you do a bad thing, you lose your job. Should be simple as that.
Posted by: Faye | July 24, 2006 at 10:46 PM
Re "Nice Role Modle, huh" Please give me a break I din't that were so many perfect parents out there (RE. sprouts dad) that never when they were younger did ANYTHING bad. My children 4,2,and11 months my childern won't watch sprout anymore bacuse she is gone. My little girl worked so hard to learn the sign language and wants to know what is happening to hush because what was I going to tell her about what she left that 7 years ago before she was even born and before there was a good night show Melanie made two 37 second "films" none of which you're ever going to see (while your young) because last time I checked I WAS THE PARENT and controled what you can watch and not watch and do and not do. and by the time you are allowed to be on anyones computer alone you'll be told old to care about Melanie much less be looking her up on the computer? No i told her that Melanie moved and couldn't be on T.V. anymore (BTW she cried for hald an hour) I do have a new email address to email PBS about Melanie maybe if we all who know what it's like to make mistakes and get second chances email them they'll realize what a big mistake that made it's Jenni_glenn@sproutletsgrow.com
Posted by: Ellen | July 24, 2006 at 11:53 PM
I often wondered how George Carlin got involved with "Thomas The Tank Engine". Or how
Dr. Ruth was worked into the PBS show "Between The Lions". This Melanie thing has got me steaming.
I never really liked how PBS Kids Spouts went with the 15 minute blocks of shows. Shows like "Bob The Builder" and "Jay Jay The Jet Plane" were edited down. I figured it was a way for PBS to insert :30 and :60 second ads into its programming. I thought PBS was suppose to be a non-profit/non-commerical network? If they are a part of PBS, I can't understand how the network can air full length commercials.
Anyway.. Bring Melanie back. My daughter loved her segments. She always watched the goodnight show. I think she didn't like most of the shows, but she liked Melanie.
Posted by: Greg Geiger | July 25, 2006 at 12:14 AM
REALLY - SPROUTDAD! I understand your point about what kids are doing now-a-days, but how the heck is a kid going to know what kind of video Melanie did whenever!?!?!?! As far as I am concerned your kid will do what he/she wants to do NO MATTER WHAT OR WHO they see! My daughter loves MELANIE TOO, I just emailed Sprout complaing what PRUDES they are and to bring her back! No one is perfect at all. Raise you kid right and HOPE they will make the right choices in life! LEAVE MELANIE ALONE and everyone stop being so OLD FASHIONED!
Posted by: Rachel806 | July 25, 2006 at 03:36 AM
She will be missed. I'm still a bit shocked and confused and i will have to see the film myself to form an accurate opinion. At first, i heard she was promoting being a virgin - so i was upset that she was let go, but if she was promoting other sex because of it - then i guess i could understand where PBS might be coming from. I think it was honorable for Melanie to come forth with this tidbit to PBS before they had to find out about it another way. I think Melanie knew what she had done wasn't right - but had hopes that it wouldn't make it back out -online, etc. When she saw it was going to be available for viewing, she went to her superiors to fill them in - and they made a sad decision to get rid of someone whom the world's kids has gotten accustomed to seeing a few evenings a week. It does suck that your past can come back and haunt you that way - but with the way things are today with sex and it's predators - no one's immuned to the public's fear of a bad role model or a bad influence......
We already do and will continue to miss you, Melanie - Good Luck in your future endeavors....Don't let this get you down; you have alot to offer!
Posted by: Allison Clark | July 25, 2006 at 07:14 AM
Hahaha. Wow. I, too, am a father of a 2 1/2 year old girl. I've seen the "Technical Virgin" videos. They're funny. For me. And my wife thinks they're funny, too.
No, I don't want my kid seeing it. It's not for her.
And that's why Melanie on Sprout is no big deal.
Many many many actors and actresses have done any variety of gigs while they worked their way to more success and, most likely, more fulfilling areas of their expertise.
Do you honestly think Melanie's being in those two video shorts has any residual impact on my daughter. You've gotta be flippin' crazy to believe that.
Now, does watching "24" while she's hanging around or, heaven forbid, an actual porn video while she's eating dinner next to us?... um. I'm gonna guess "yes".
But what Melanie did took place 7 years ago, you narrowminded self-righteous lunatics. And it's not airing on Sprout. As others have pointed out, having George Carlin hasn't impacted my kid to suddently quote him saying "Watching golf on TV is as exciting as watching flies f***." Something similar, I'm sure, can be said about Dr. Ruth's many appearances on "Between the Lions".
Get off of your hypersensitive pedestals and see this for what it is -- a dim, narrow-minded, overreaction on the part of PBS (probably because of dimwits like SproutDad).
Sheesh.
Gouda, the cheese of champions
Posted by: Gouda | July 25, 2006 at 08:35 AM
I found nothing objectionable about Melanie's role in TechnicalVirgin ads.
No porn, no cruelty to animals.
The people who canned her from Sprout do not get enough satisfaction.
Posted by: sageb1 | July 25, 2006 at 09:01 AM
My 19 month old son LOVES PBS Sprouts, which is GREAT for me. It gives me an opportunity to get things done around the house and it's educational. I'm glad the programs are geared towards toddlers. Older children have a plethora of programs to entertain themselves with. The 15 minute program segments work; that's about as long as the attention span of a toddler. As for Melanie, I don't see what all of the hoopla is over. Yeah, she made a bad decision when she was younger,trying to break into the business. Does it negatively impact "The Goodnight Show"? NO! The children that watch that show would never be the wiser. They would continue watching the show and never know that those videos ever existed. Except we're so self righteous how could we ever allow our children to watch a person with such low moral fiber? We need to GET OVER OURSELVES! If someone looked in our closet they'd probably find something we're not to proud of. Melaine was a great host. My son loved watching her and singing along with her; especially the head and shoulders knees and toes song. That helped me teach him those parts of his body. He loves when we sing that together. Our family will miss watching Melaine. As for "The Technical Virgin", in the grand scheme of things-war, famine, natural disasters, gas prices skyrocketing-don't we have bigger worries to concern ourselves with?
Posted by: DJ's Mom | July 25, 2006 at 09:16 AM
Its called "acting", people. Melanie did NOTHING wrong, for Pete's Sake!! So, George Carlin can have a history of "colorful" work, but Melanie can't - she was ACTING, geez... Maybe her career will really take off now, wouldn't that make SproutDad happy to have to explain why Melanie is ACTING in some hollywood feature and not on Sprout? hehe...
Posted by: Brian | July 25, 2006 at 10:03 AM
Why aren't they firing the HR guy who hired Melanie without checking to see if there was anything questionable in her acting career? Firing Melanie is ridiculous, reckless, and irresponsible of PBS. At least when Steve left Blue's Clues they had transitional episodes to say goodbye and introduce Joe. PBS should take responsibility for their hiring practices and not punish their viewers for it.
I am also unhappy that all the commercials they air are of a religious nature, selling gospel music for kids and such. I want to be the one to influence my children's spirituality and not have them inundated with Christian sales pitches. Why do they need our pledges if they are getting paid to be a cable channel AND now have commercials? It's total crap. I sent them an email telling them what this family thinks. You might want to do the same.
www.pbs.org/ombudsman/feedback.html
Posted by: julie | July 25, 2006 at 11:11 AM