Jack's Big Music Show

**Jack's Big Music Show** is an American musical children's puppetry television series created by **David Rudman**, **Todd Hannert**, and **Adam Rudman**, with executive production. The series is produced by **Spiffy Pictures**, **Noggin LLC**, and **Nickelodeon** for the preschool sister channel network, **Noggin**. The series premiered on September 12, 2005 and ended on October 13, 2007.

The popularity of the show made the idea of appearing on it attractive to musicians. An executive from **Nick Jr**. in 2006 stated that they were "clamoring to get onto **Jack's Big Music Show**". In 2008, the show was nominated for a **Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series**.

## Premise

The series focuses on a young puppet musician named Jack (played by **David Rudman**), his best-friend named Mary, and his drum-playing dog named Mel, all of whom are puppets. The setting takes place in Jack's musical backyard clubhouse and centers around the characters' passion and love for music. The characters play music in each episode and are often accompanied by other puppet guests or human musicians.

Each episode begins with Jack's mother calling him that he has to leave for an activity soon. They feature two music videos by children's musical artists and a performance by the **Schwartzman Quartet** about the episode's theme. At the end of each episode, a big "**finale**" song is played. Sometimes, Jack leaves and tells his mother what they did today, while other times they continue to play music in the clubhouse. Mel can be seen popping up during the credits.

## Characters/Cast

**Main**

* **Jack** - A young music-loving musician who has a backyard clubhouse full of musical instruments. He is a blue mouse-like creature with short green hair, and wears an orange sweater with a red asterisk on the front. Jack has a very busy schedule, and at the beginning of each episode, his unseen mother mentions a new class or activity that he's attending. He is played by **David Rudman**.
* **Mary** - Jack's best friend, who is an accordionist. She is a yellow mouse-like creature with curly purple hair and wears a red sweater with a heart symbol on the front. She is smart, attentive, and likes to find music in unexpected places. Her catchphrase is "What a day!", which she says at the end of each episode. She is played by **Alice Dinnean**.
* **Mel** - Jack's drum-loving dog who is a gifted inventor. He is pink with green stripes and has a green spot around his left eye. He created all the contraptions in Jack's clubhouse, including the music video player, and operates them in every episode. He only communicates through "ruff" noises, but Jack understands him. He is played by
* **The Schwartzman Quartet** - A barbershop quartet of four brothers who visit Jack's clubhouse every day to sing a short song. They are all nearly identical to each other: turquoise with stringy red hair, freckles, and matching striped sweaters.

**Guests**

* **Earl The Squirrel** - A squirrel who lives next to Jack, Mary and Mel. He is gray-green with blue stripes and has a bushy tail which is light green and blue.
* **The Little Bad Wolf** - A wolf in the series. He is lime green with pink stripes, partially similar to Mel's appearance. He was introduced to music after he was saved by Jack, Mary and Mel from being lost.
* **The Bongo Birds** - Two bird characters in the series. They are known for playing the bongo drums, hence the name. They are pink birds with yellow beaks.
* **The Bugs** - A trio of bugs who visit Jack's clubhouse. They can produce music through their horn-shaped snouts. One bug is mostly yellow with red spots. The bug has six legs and a pair of black eyes. The insect has two green antennae with pink ends and purple wings. The second bug is mostly purple with red and orange stripes. It has the same pair of black eyes as the yellow bug. The insect has six legs, silver antennae with pink ends, and a yellow wing and a red wing. The last bug is mostly orange with a yellow chest covered in red and brown stripes. It has gray antennae with yellow and pink ends and a pair of green wings. It has the same colored eyes as the other two. All bugs have horn-shaped body parts on their faces.
* **Henry The Monster** - A monster character in the series. He is orange with green stripes and has a purple and pink striped horn on his forehead. He also has two yellow hair strands on each side.
* **The Squirrels** - A band of colored squirrels who appear in the series.
* **M.C. Turtle** - A turtle who appears in the series. He enjoys rap music.
* **Sheldon The Squirrel** - A squirrel who appears in the series. He is pink with orange stripes, a orange bushy tail and wears a propeller hat.
* **Gertrude The Groundhog** - A groundhog who appears in the series. She lives in a small burrow and is known for appearing on the Groundhog News Network every Groundhog Day.
* **Scat Cat** - A cat who appears in the series. She is aqua turquoise with purple stripes. She has her own style of singing and is very cool.
* **Phil The Coo-Coo Bird** - A long neck-like bird who appears in the series. He is red with purple stripes and has a yellow beak. He has family members who are similar to him, except with different colored stripes on their necks.
* **Leonard The Country Squirrel** - A squirrel who appears in the series. He is associated with country music.
* **Spunky The Alien** - An alien visitor in the series. He is green with hot pink spots, wears glasses, and has purple hair with a red tin hat.
* **Royal Messenger Marvin** - A minor character in the series.

**Guest Musicians**

* **Yolanda Adams**
* **Angelique Kidjo**
* **Laurie Berkner**
* **Andrew Bird**
* **Buddy Guy**
* **Steve Burns - (He was formerly on Blue's Clues) & Steven Drozd (of the Flaming Lips).**
* **Comic Book Heroes**
* **Guy Davis**
* **The Dirty Sock Funtime Band**
* **Rebecca Frezza**
* **Jerry Lawson**
* **Leon Thomas III**
* **The Mighty Weaklings**
* **Milkshake**
* **Lisa Loeb**
* **Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals**
* **Jamia Simone Nash**
* **Nuttin But Stringz**
* **Cathy Richardson**
* **Audra Rox**
* **Sweet Honey in the Rock**
* **David Pleasant**
* **The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players**
* **The Quiet Two**
* **Anna Harris**

## Episodes

**Jack's Big Music Show** - **Spiffy Pictures**, **Noggin LLC** & **Nickelodeon.**

**Season 1**

1. **Little Bad Wolf**
2. **How Mel Got His Groove Back**
3. **The Music Genie**
4. **The Bongo Bird**
5. **Marching Band**
6. **Bug Love**
7. **Mel's Super Swell Dance Party**
8. **Space Opera**
9. **Grow Daddio**
10. **The Grumpy Squirrel**
11. **The Music Monster**
12. **King Of Swing**
13. **Silly Show**

**Season 2**

1. **Snow Day**
2. **Leonard The Country Squirrel**
3. **Spunky The Alien**
4. **Jack Bunny**
5. **Phil The Coo-Coo Bird**
6. **Jack's Big Oops!**
7. **Jack's Big Orchestra**
8. **Scat Cat**
9. **Groundhog Day**
10. **Jack's Super Swell Sing-Along**
11. **Laurie's Big Song**
12. **Mel's Bath Day**
13. **Jack And The Beanstalk**

All episodes are available on the Official Youtube Channel for Jack's Big Music Show.

## Broadcast

The series' first episode premiered on both **Nickelodeon** and **Noggin** on September 12, 2005. It ran for two seasons, with 26 episodes in total. It finished airing its run on October 13, 2007. In May 2007, the production of the series was disbanded and it was announced that no new episodes would be produced. The last episode aired on October 13, 2007. However, **Nick Jr**. reran the series until March 11, 2013. The show returned once on December 26, 2014, as part of the network's interstitial block, the **Nick Jr. Holiday Party**. The last episodes were "**Snow Day**" and "**The Grumpy Squirrel**".

## Home Media

Jack's Big Music Show released a single DVD set, titled "**Let's Rock!**", released on October 23, 2007. The set contains four episodes: **Groundhog Day**, **Jack And The Beanstalk**, **How Mel Got His Groove Back**, & **Little Bad Wolf**. It also contains 8 music videos from the series.

**DVD Music Videos**

* ***I Hog The Ground*** **(Steven Burns & Steven Drozd)**
* ***I Had A Friend* (Laurie Berkner)**
* ***In The Clouds* (Laurie Berkner)**
* ***Deegah Joyah* (David Pleasant)**
* ***Mister* (Laurie Berkner)**
* ***I Like It That Way* (Sweet Honey In The Rock)**
* ***My Energy* (Laurie Berkner)**
* ***Music Everywhere* (Dirty Sock Funtime Band)**

## Songs

Song releases/performances of **Jack's Big Music Show...**

* **Mary Had An Accordion**
* **The Little Bad Wolf Had A Tuba**
* **My Energy**
* **Music Everywhere**
* **Listen To The Animals**
* **Every Animal Has Its Groove**
* **Mel The Meowing Dog**
* **Mister**
* **I Like It That Way**
* **Mel's Musical Trunk**
* **Prudence**
* **Yodel**
* **Number 1**
* **Under A Shady Tree**
* **Yeah, Yeah, Yeah**
* **The Song Of The Bongo Bird**
* **Bongo Bird Beat**
* **Bongo Bird Lullaby**
* **I Know A Chicken**
* **Bongo**
* **Marching Song**
* **Rain Rain Go Away**
* **Rhythms Around You**
* **Boots**
* **Bottle Of Sunshine**
* **Loud Sound/Soft Sound**
* **A Pretty Good Bug**
* **Bugs Are Really Swell**
* **B3**
* **I'm Me And You're You**
* **Dance How You Like**
* **The Mel Polka**
* **Rock And Roll Freeze Dance**
* **The Me Dance**
* **Dino-Sauring**
* **I Really Love To Dance**
* **Mary's Opera**
* **Space Explorer**
* **Space Opera (song)**
* **What Are They Gonna Do About That?**
* **I'm Glad**
* **I'm Not Perfect**
* **Where Is Mary?**
* **What Will Arthur Grow Up To Be?**
* **Playing Jazz**
* **Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary**
* **H20 + H20 + Sun**
* **Running Down The Hill**
* **It's Fun To Invent Your Own Instrument**
* **Brahams' Lullaby**
* **Music Is The Best**
* **Grumpy**
* **I'm Gonna Catch You**
* **Row, Row, Row Your Boat**
* **This Song**
* **If You're Scary And You Know It**
* **Monster Boogie**
* **Scared**
* **The Welcome Song**
* **List**
* **Shama Lama**
* **Clean It Up**
* **New Shoes**
* **Silly Song**
* **Bologna Sandwich**
* **Silly Things**
* **Googleheads**
* **Deep Down**
* **Beach Party**
* **Wiki Wiki Hele Hele**
* **Sing A Winter Song**
* **Mahalo**
* **Polar Bear**
* **Found Sounds**
* **We're A Jugband**
* **Jugband Jamboree**
* **I Am A Sad Squirrel**
* **I Am A Happy Squirrel**
* **Farm Song**
* **No Good Reason Party**
* **Yo Yo Yo**
* **Gotta Power Up**
* **Spunky's Lament**
* **Fleeber**
* **Rocketship**
* **Rocketship Run**
* **Mel The Musical Magical Magician**
* **The Hop**
* **Bugle Bunnies**
* **Magic Box**
* **Wombo Lombo**
* **The Twisty Twist**
* **The Dance**
* **Phil, Phil, Keep On Trying**
* **Move Your Feet**
* **Who's That?**
* **Strings**
* **Dr. Strings**
* **Just Tell The Truth**
* **What Else Have I Got To Lose?**
* **Thunder**
* **Being A Conductor Would Rock**
* **Sneaks**
* **Can Can**
* **Super Spies**
* **The Barber Of Seville**
* **I Have A Friend (Super Swell Friends)**
* **Scat-Scat-a-Tat-Tat**
* **The Wiggle Dance**
* **The Cat Came Back**
* **You're The One Who's Made For Me And I Was Made For You**
* **Hip Hip Hooray For Groundhog Day**
* **First Day Of Preschool**
* **When Will Spring Be Sprung?**
* **I Hog The Ground**
* **I Had A Friend**
* **Sing-Along Song**
* **Let's Samba**
* **Just Stopped By**
* **Down At The Barbershop**
* **Kelly Green**
* **I Like To Rap**
* **This Is Zydeco**
* **Jenny Jenkins**
* **Get On The Train**
* **A Little Bitty Rhythm**
* **You Can't Call An Elephant Without An Elephant Call**
* **Purple People Eater**
* **Duck 4**
* **You Must Take A Bath**
* **Super Sudsy Bubblestein Bubbles**
* **I'm A Mess**
* **I Hope Mama Says Yes**
* **A Bath Is Alright**
* **Up**
* **Shala-La-La**
* **Anyone Can Make A Song**
* **In The Clouds**
* **Deegah Joyah**

## Album

An album from the first season of Jack's Big Music Show was released on September 26, 2006. It consists of 15 songs.

**Tracklist**

1. **Jack's Big Music Show Theme Song**
2. **Grumpy**
3. **Under A Shady Tree**
4. **Music Is The Best**
5. **Number 1**
6. **I'm Gonna Catch You**
7. **Me Dance**
8. **Bugs Are Really Swell**
9. **I Like It That Way**
10. **Music Everywhere**
11. **I'm Not Perfect**
12. **Space Explorers**
13. **B3**
14. **Bottle Of Sunshine**
15. **Jack's Big Music Show End Theme/Close**

## Games

Flash game releases of **Jack's Big Music Show...**

* **Jack's Big Animal Jamboree**
* **Jack's Clubhouse**

## 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 Program**" (Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Mel Blanc, and the Sportsmen Quartet). Other possible name references to **Jack Benny Program** regulars include the squirrels Sheldon and Leonard (**Sheldon Leonard**), Phil the Coo-Coo Bird (**Phil Harris**), and Gertrude the Groundhog **(Bea Benaderet**'s recurring character Gertrude Gearshift).

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

## Trivia

* "**The Squirrels**" band is based off the popular rock band "**The Beatles**".

## Gallery

Jack's Big Music Show - TV PosterJack's Big Music Show - LogoJack's Big Music Show - Opening Title