''Sponk!'' is a children's television game show produced by

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

and Insight Productions for the Noggin channel. It was Sesame Workshop's first original production for Noggin. It premiered on Noggin on September 10, 2001 and ended on March 4, 2002. The series reran on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

on Sunday mornings, starting September 16. The premise of ''Sponk!'' was improvisational comedy, similar to the show ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. The three major versions of the show are the original 1988 British radio programme (from which all subsequent versions are ada ...

'' Two teams of performers depicted suggestions in a variety of games. Viewers suggested their ideas by submitting them to the Noggin website. "SID" (Suggestion & Idea Distributor) was the name of the computer on the show that picked the ideas submitted by Noggin.com members. From 2002 to 2004, Noggin aired reruns of ''Sponk!'' as part of its nighttime programming block,

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a prime time and late-night block programming, programming block on the Noggin (brand), Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by MTV Networks and Sesame Works ...

Cast

The cast included host Johnathan McClain, and announcer (as the voice of SID) Karen Fowler. The performers were all young actors. Among them were Julia Kay, Tim Dorsch, Scott Irby-Rainnar, Lori Wells, Miles Thompson (who later went on to star in the feature film '' Me and You and Everyone We Know'' and cameoed in '' Return To Sleepaway Camp''), Allie Berdebes, Vanessa Lengies, and Louie Torrellas.

Gameplay

The game show featured young actors and a young studio audience. The performers were four boys and four girls but with two sitting out and six competing in a red team and blue team. The ideas for the improvisational and sketch contests were submitted by the home audience through Noggin.com. SID would then pick a submission and provide credit for the home audience (as their screen name). Later, She announced the winner of a small electronic device. The studio audience participated as judges for the sketches. They disqualified a contestant by yelling out, "Sponk!". When time ran out, the audience voted the winner by raising the side of their "Spaddle" to vote for the red team or blue team. The "prize" that the performers competed for was the Sponk Trophy, a golden rubber chicken. Occasionally an audience member would be the sketch participant while the original performers acted as a celebrity panel, and won a small prize for participating.

References

External links

*
''Sponk!'' on SesameWorkshop.org
{{Noggin shows Noggin (brand) original programming The N original programming 2000s American children's game shows 2000s American comedy game shows 2000s American sketch comedy television series 2001 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings 2000s Canadian children's television series 2000s Canadian game shows 2000s Canadian sketch comedy television series 2001 Canadian television series debuts 2002 Canadian television series endings American children's education television series Canadian children's comedy television series Canadian children's education television series Children's sketch comedy American English-language television shows Improvisational television series American television series about teenagers Canadian television series about teenagers Television series by Insight Productions Television series by Sesame Workshop