The Sunny Side Up Show was a morning block which featured Chica, a chicken puppet, and a live human presenter. It aired live from 2007 until 2017.
When Sprout launched in 2005, it featured a block called The Birthday Show, where presenter Kevin Yamada read birthday cards from viewers and shared party recipes.
By 2007, after Sprout launched The Let's Go Show, there were preschool blocks everywhere. But SVP Andrew Beecham and President Sandy Wax found a problem, no live blocks for preschoolers.
And on September 26th that year, The Sunny Side Up Show launched, presented by Chica, Yamada, Sean Roach, and Kelly Vrooman in the "Sunshine Barn", with a pilot airing earlier, guest starring Big Bird from Sesame Street.
Each week had a theme, including "Fall", "Animals", "Construction", and "Opposites". The weeks followed a similar format - including games, songs, stories, birthday wishes, and material sent in by viewers (similar to the PBS series ZOOM, which never aired on Sprout).
Shows included such gold-standard programs including "Barney," "Thomas and Friends," "Play with Me Sesame," "Chloe's Closet," "Dive, Olly, Dive!," or "Fireman Sam."
One popular segment was the online Barnyard Boogie Dance game, where a viewer would dance with a presenter and the presenters would try to copy the moves. In 2013, it was replaced by a new segment called "Sproutlet Stories," where Chica and a presenter would act out a story.
Another segment was "Dress Chica," where the presenter would dress Chica up in various costumes related to what the viewers chose. This inspired Chica's spin-off series, "The Chica Show."
Yet another segment was "Good Egg Awards" (formerly "Farm Talk"), where the presenter would congratulate a viewer for doing something good.
The Birthday cards are no doubt my favorite part of the block.
The Sunny Side Up Show was an instant success, and allowed more than 120 viewer submissions.
Most years of the show's presence had someone new in the Presenter lineup, including:
Kevin Yamada, 2007-2009/2010
Kelly Vrooman, 2007-2013, 2014
Sean Roach, 2007-2013
Dennisha Pratt, 2009/2010-2014, 2015
Liz Filios, 2010-2012, 2013
Carly Ciarrocchi, 2012-2017
Tim Kubart, 2013-2017
Kaitlin Becker, 2013/2014-2017
Emily Borremmo, 2014-2017
All these presenters worked well together, and I love them all I have no favorite!
In 2015, the block moved from Barn to City and renamed "Sunny Side Up" due to Sprout's 10th anniversary rebrand. Most of the segments were removed, except "Sprout Today," "Kindness Counts," and the Birthday Wishes. To me, SSU didn't feel enjoyable to watch during that time.
In 2017, the crew thought the live programming was too much, so they decided to replace the block with "Sprout House" (later "Snug's House"), which featured a dog puppet named Snug and former SSU presenter Carly Ciarrocchi. Chica made occasional appearances on Sprout House in a segment called "Chica at School."
Most Presenters have done recent things since SSU. Carly appears on Universal Kids' "The Big Fun Crafty Show," Kaitlin hosts "Double Dare Live!," Emily now acts on Broadway, Tim now writes songs for Sesame Street, Dennisha appeared in the Wiggles' Apples and Bananas singing "Miss Polly Had a Dolly," and so on.
Even though the Sunny Side Up Show hasn't been on air since 2017, and Sprout became Universal Kids, I made a petition to bring it back (mainly for the Peacock streaming service). You can sign!