Jack's Big Music Show

Jack's Big Music Show
Genre	Children's
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Original release
Network	Noggin
Release	September 12, 2005 – February 10, 2007

Jack's Big Music Show is a children's television program shown on the Noggin television network. The show premiered on September 12, 2005.

The main characters are Jack, his best friend Mary, and his drum-playing dog Mel, all of whom are puppets. The show takes place in Jack's backyard clubhouse, and centers on the characters' love for music. Each episode runs without commercials for a duration of approximately 22 minutes. The characters play music in every episode, and are often accompanied by other puppets or human musicians. Each episode also features two music videos by children's musical artists.

According to Noggin's website:

The mission of Jack’s Big Music Show is to expose and foster an appreciation of music. Music and musical instruments help children expand their universe and develop memory, language, literacy, and reasoning skills as well as the cognitive, social, and motor skills that are needed to excel in school.

The show is produced by Spiffy Pictures—David Rudman, Todd Hannert, and Adam Rudman. David Rudman, who also stars as Jack, is a veteran of the long-running public TV children's show Sesame Street, playing such popular Muppets as Baby Bear, Cookie Monster, and half of the Two-Headed Monster. Adam Rudman won six Emmys for his writing on Sesame Street; Mary's Alice Dinnean and Mel's John Kennedy are also Sesame Street alums.

The popularity of the show makes the idea of appearing on it attractive to musicians. An executive at Noggin says that they're "clamoring to get onto Jack's Big Music Show."

Guest Puppets

• The Little Bad Wolf
• The Bongo Birds
• The Bugs
• Henry the Monster
• Animal Music Camp
• The Squirrels
• Gertrude the Groundhog
• Phil the Coo Coo Bird
• Leonard the Country Squirrel
• Spunky the Alien

Guest musicians

Most episodes feature a music video by popular children's musician Laurie Berkner. The music videos are produced by SnapFilms in New York.

Musician Cathy Richardson joins the characters in the clubhouse in multiple episodes, and also provides the voice of Jack's mother, who speaks off-camera with Jack at the beginning and end of every episode. When she appears in the clubhouse, she greets Mel with the catchphrase "What up, dawg?"

In one episode, Chicago blues legend and guitarist Buddy Guy appears as the "King of Swing," Jack's favorite musician. In another episode, violinist and vocalist Anne Harris appears as "Prudence," the music genie who especially loves yodeling.

Other musicians featured on the show, appearing either in videos or with the puppets, include:

• Yolanda Adams
• Guy Davis
• Dirty Sock Funtime Band
• Rebecca Frezza
• Hot Peas 'N Butter
• Elizabeth Mitchell & Lisa Loeb (formerly Liz and Lisa)
• Jamia Simone Nash
• Jerry Lawson and the Talk of the Town
• Milkshake
• Music for Aardvarks & Other Mammals
• Cathy Richardson
• Sweet Honey in the Rock
• Comic Book Heroes
• Andrew Bird
• Audra Rox
• Steve Burns (formerly of Blue's Clues) & Steven Drozd (of the Flaming Lips)

Influences

In an interview on the Nick Jr. website, Rudman says that The Jack Benny Show was an influence on Jack's Big Music Show (along with The Little Rascals). The names Jack, Mary, Mel, and the "Schwartzman Quartet" are references to characters on The Jack Benny Show (Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Mel Blanc, and the Sportsmen Quartet).

Hannert says that the music is influenced by Chuck Berry and the whole history of rock and roll.

Episode guide

Season One

First aired September 2005–February 2006

Episode title	Guests	Songs performed
The Little Bad Wolf	Laurie Berkner The Dirty Sock Funtime Band	"Mary Had an Accordion", "The Little Bad Wolf Had a Tuba", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "My Energy", "Music Everywhere"
How Mel Got His Groove Back	Cathy Richardson Laurie Berkner Sweet Honey in the Rock	"Listen to the Animals", "Every Animal Has Its Groove", "Mel the Meowing Dog", "Mister", "I Like It That Way"
Music Genie	Anne Harris Laurie Berkner Hot Peas 'n Butter	"Mel's Musical Trunk", "Prudence", "Yodel", "Under a Shady Tree", "Number One"
Baby Bongo Bird	Laurie Berkner Jamia	"Song of the Bongo Bird", "Bongo Bird Beat", "Bongo Bird Lullaby", "I Know a Chicken", "Bongo"
Marching Band	Cathy Richardson Laurie Berkner Milkshake	"Marching Song", "Rain Rain Go Away", "Rhythms Around You", "Boots", "Bottle of Sunshine"
Bug Love	Laurie Berkner Rebecca Frezza	"Loud Sound/Soft Sound", "A Pretty Good Bug", "Bugs Are Really Swell", "I'm Me and You're You", "B3"
Mel's Super Swell Dance Party	Cathy Richardson Yolanda Adams Laurie Berkner The Dirty Sock Funtime Band	"Dance How You Like", "Mel Polka", "Rock and Roll Freeze Dance", "The Me Dance", "I Really Love to Dance", "Dino-sauring"
A Space Opera	Laurie Berkner Jerry Lawson and the Talk of the Town	"Mary's Opera", "Space Explorer", "Space Opera", "What Are They Gonna Do About That?", "I'm Not Perfect", "I'm Glad"
Grow Daddio, Grow	Cathy Richardson Laurie Berkner Rebecca Frezza	"Where Is Mary?", "What Will Arthur Grow Up to Be?", "Playin' Jazz", "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary", "Running Down the Hill", "H2O + O2 + Sun"
Sheldon the Grumpy Squirrel	Laurie Berkner Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals	"It's Fun to Invent Your Own Instrument", "Clap Your Hands", "Lullaby", "Music Is the Best", "I'm Gonna Catch You", "Grumpy"
King of Swing	Buddy Guy Laurie Berkner Guy Davis	"Clean Up Song", "Welcome Song", "List", "ShamaLama", "Clean It Up", "New Shoes"
The Music Monster	Laurie Berkner Milkshake	"This Song Makes Me Feel Like", "If You're Scary and You Know It", "Monster Boogie", "Scared"
Silly Show	Laurie Berkner Hot Peas 'n Butter	"Twinkle Twinkle", "Sandwich", "We Feel Silly", "Googleheads", "Deep Down"

Season Two

First aired January 2007–

Episode title	Guests	Songs performed
Snow Day	Anne Harris Laurie Berkner The Quiet Two	"Beach Party", "Wiki Wiki Hele", "Sing a Winter Song", "Mahalo", "Polar Bear"
Leonard the Country Squirrel	Laurie Berkner The Dirty Sock Funtime Band	"Found Sounds", "We're a Jug Band", "Welcome to the Jamboree", "I Am a Sad Squirrel", "I Am a Happy Squirrel", "Farm Song", "No Good Reason to Party"
Spunky the Alien	Laurie Berkner The Quiet Two	"How Loud Can You Go-Go", "Power Up", "The Fleeber Song", "We Love Fleeber", "Space Ship", "Rocket Ship"
Jack Bunny	Anne Harris Laurie Berkner Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals	"Mel the Musical Magical Magician", "The Hop", "Bugle Bunnies", "Magic Box", "Move Your Feet"
Phil the Coo-Coo Bird	Laurie Berkner Angélique Kidjo	"The Twisty Twist", "The Dance", "Phil the Coo-Coo Bird", "The Coo-Coo Bird", "Who's That", "Wombo Lombo"
Jack's Big Oops!	Andrew Bird J. Walter Hawkes Nuttin but Stringz	"Strings", "I Am Doctor Stringz", "Just Tell the Truth", "What Have I Got to Lose", "Thunder"
Jack's Big Orchestra	Laurie Berkner The Dirty Sock Funtime Band	"Being a Conductor Would Rock", "Sneaks", "Super Spies"
Scat Cat	Laurie Berkner The Trachtenburgs	"Super Swell Friends", "Scat a Tat Tat", "The Wiggle Dance", "Cat Came Back", "You're the One Who's Made for Me and I Was Made for You"
Groundhog Day	Laurie Berkner Steve Burns and Steven Drozd Jon Stewart	"Groundhog Day", "The First Day of Preschool", "When Will Spring Be Sprung", "I Had a Friend", "I Hog the Ground"
Super Swell Sing-Along	Laurie Berkner & Susie Lampert Rebekah Jordan Justin Roberts Lisa Loeb	"Sing Along Song", "Let's Samba", "We Just Stopped By", "Down at the Barbershop", "Green", "I Like to Rap", "This Is Zydeco", "Jenny Jenkins"
Laurie's Big Song	Laurie Berkner Comic Book Heroes Leon Thomas	"Get on the Train", "Little Rhythm", "It's Hard to Call an Elephant Without an Elephant Call", "Purple People Eaters", "Duck 4"
Mel's Bath Day	Cheryl Hines Laurie Berkner AudraRox	"You Must Take a Bath", "Super Sudsy Bubblestein Bubbles", "I'm a Mess", "I Hope My Momma Says Yes"
Jack and the Beanstalk	Tyler Bunch Laurie Berkner	"The Up Song", "Shalala", "Anyone Can Make a Song", "In the Clouds"

External links

• Jack's Big Music Show Noggin Website
• Spiffy Pictures
• SnapFilms