The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)

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Good Night Show Melanie and Leo.jpg

Top image: first host Melanie with Hush. Bottom image: second host Leo with Lucy.

Status: Partially Found

The Good Night Show is a children's television block, with segments that aired in a blockisode format between other shows on Sprout (now known as Universal Kids). While Michele Lepe became very popular with audiences, there were two other, more obscure hosts that came before her: Melanie Martinez (the actor) & Noel Macneal, who played their respective roles between 2005-2006.

History

In September 2005, between a joint venture with Comcast, NBCUniversal, PBS, and HiT Entertainment/Sesame Workshop, PBS Kids Sprout first launched on Comcast (later on other cable & satellite providers) & The Good Night Show premiered on the same day.

Hosts/Cast

Melanie Martinez as Melanie the Babysitter

For Season 1 and Season 2, the show was hosted by Melanie and Hush (her pet goldfish). Sprout called Melanie a babysitter, and she talked to the viewers like one.[1] Melanie liked to talk with Hush and draw pictures of him. She and Hush did various activities every night like singing songs, telling stories, performing yoga stretches, making crafts, playing games, and introducing shows. Season 2A expanded upon the show's format by teaching words in Spanish & Sign Language, having real Sproutlets alongside Melanie during yoga pose segments, and introducing a new Co-Host called Star, who played along with the main host Melanie on their nighttime adventures.[2]

Controversy

While Season 2 was airing, Melanie Martinez notified Sprout that she had appeared in two parody commercials from the Technical Virgin website six years earlier. This was because two unauthorized uploads of the commercials had resurfaced online. Even though the information was disclosed in her resume when applying for the job several years prior, Melanie was fired by Sprout since the commercials contained "inappropriate dialogue".[3][4] PBS's own ombudsman, Michael Getler, supported Melanie and criticized her firing. Melanie herself was quoted as saying, "I'm sad that I don't have a job and also sad I don't have that job."[4]

Noel MacNeal as Leo

From Sept-Dec 2006, Noel MacNeal (more famously known as Bear in Bear in the Big Blue House) became an interim host on The Good Night Show for Season 2B,[5] alongside Star, introduced (& widely speculated that he created) a new puppet character called Lucy the Firefly who from that point on would introduce shows and hang out with Leo in the Goodnight Garden. During his time on the show, the "Moonbeam Wheel" and "Yoga & Craft" segments were suspended, Shadow Play was permanently removed, Goodnight Tales was modified to a different storytime segment, and a brand new segment where the host asks a question and Sproutlets provide answers was also introduced.

Co-Hosts/Supporting Characters

  • Star, a child-like star-shaped pillow who is portrayed by Stacia Newcomb, serves as the main co-host. He was first introduced with Melanie in Season 2A and stuck around for the rest of the series run. He has conversations, provides commentary, asks questions, plays along with the host during various activities through each adventure & encourages viewers to perform various bedtime routines.
  • Lucy the Firefly, a puppet character that was first introduced with Noel MacNeal in Season 2B, is used to introduce shows & also hangs out in the goodnight garden when Noel MacNeal was the host.
  • Hush the Fish is Melanie's pet goldfish. He was played by a real-life fish. In Melanie's episodes, he was a main character and blew bubbles to announce the shows that came between the block. In Leo's episodes, Hush seemed to be absent. He returned in Nina's episodes, but his role was heavily reduced, and he only appeared at the end of each show.

Host Episodes

# Host Name Co-Host(s) Season(s) Original Air Date Status
1 Melanie Hush (Season 1)
Hush & Star (Season 2)
Season 1, Season 2A Sept 26th, 2005-Mid July 2006 Partially Found
2 Leo Star and Lucy Season 2B Sept 10th-Dec 17th, 2006 Partially Found

List of Known Episodes

Season 1

Episode Status
Bath & Bubble Time Partially Lost
Pets Lost
Dreams Lost
Sunrise and Sunset Lost
The Dark Lost
Moon and Stars Lost
Imaginary Friends Lost
Fairies Lost
Night Noises Lost
Nocturnal Animals Lost
Babysitters Lost
Camping Lost
Growing Lost
People Who Work At Night Partially Found
Bedtime Routines Lost
Time & Clocks Lost
Shadows & Friendly Monsters Lost
Stories Lost

[6]

Availability

Prior to April 2016, it was assumed that Melanie Martinez's version of The Good Night Show was completely wiped away, but since then clips & a partially lost episode "Bath & Bubble Time" have resurfaced online. The same was assumed for Noel Macneal's version of the show as well until September 5th, 2020, when Noel himself uploaded two clips of the show on his Instagram Page. [7] & on January 26th, 2022 a partially lost episode of his version has also resurfaced. Since these variations of the show aired during a time when Sprout was less popular than it was in later years, they have become pretty obscure, and information on exactly how many episodes were produced & aired for both hosts is unclear.

Speculation

  • There are believed to be around twenty episodes in Season One with Melanie Martines, but only 18 episode titles are confirmed. Another episode has had a few clips resurface, but the episode's title is currently unknown. As for Season 2A with Melanie & Star, only a few screenshots & several seconds of footage has resurfaced. It's unknown how many episodes were produced, let alone aired, due to its short run on TV.
  • While it is known that Noel Macneal co-produced episodes of the show and wrote several songs,[8] for his version of the show, it is unknown how many episodes were produced and aired because they were never documented on the Sprout website.

Gallery

Hosts/Cast

Miscellaneous

Clips

Opening of Noel Macneal's Version of GNS.

Goodnight Song "Noel Macneal aka Leo's Version."

Partially Found Episode of Noel Macneal on GNS.

Goodnight song "Melanie version."

The Good Night Show original season 2 reel with Star (0:30-1:05).

See Also

The Good Night Show

Bumpers

PBS

PBS Kids

External Links

References