Jack's Big Music Show

*“Hello, everybody! It's me, Jack! Welcome to my backyard clubhouse. Say, are you ready for some music and fun.”*

— Jack Opening Theme)

## Jack's Big Music Show

### Company

Noggin LLC
Spiffy Pictures

***Jack's Big Music Show*** is an original series created by Noggin. It is a preschool show about a puppet named Jack, who has a clubhouse in his backyard full of musical instruments. Each episode features a variety of music videos.

The show premiered on September 12, 2005, during Noggin's daytime block. The show ran for two seasons and 26 episodes in total. The last new episode aired on October 13, 2007, but reruns continued until the Noggin channel closed on September 27, 2009. The show then reran on Nick Jr., Noggin's replacement, until March 15, 2013. The last episode to air regularly was "Jack's Big Oops!". The show then aired once more a year later on December 26, 2014, with the episodes "Snow Day" and "The Grumpy Squirrel".

## History

The show was created by brothers David and Adam Rudman of Spiffy Pictures. Episodes rarely aired on the Nick Jr. block on Nickelodeon. The series premiere was a simulcast with the block and Noggin. The popularity of the show made the idea of appearing on it attractive to musicians. An executive from Noggin in 2006 said that they were "clamoring to get onto Jack's Big Music Show." In May 2007, production was suddenly cancelled and it was announced that no more new episodes would be produced. The show was already in the middle of a hiatus at the time, with the most recent episode being aired in February of that year. The last episode aired on October 13, 2007. In 2008, the show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series.

## Summary

In each episode, Jack takes a break from his busy kid schedule to visit his favorite place in the world: his backyard clubhouse. Here, he can do what he loves best: create and enjoy music, sing, dance and have a ball with his friend Mary, his faithful dog Mel, and all of his neighborhood pals who stop by. Anything can happen in Jack’s clubhouse. Jack and Mary are focused and goofy, adventurous and safe, with a fresh and original way of looking at and hearing things. You never know when a baby bongo bird or the King of Swing may unexpectedly visit the clubhouse, or an entire show is sung in a silly opera style.

## Characters

* **Jack** - A young musician who has a backyard clubhouse. He is blue with short green hair, and he wears an orange sweater with an 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 is attending. He is named after Jack Benny, the host of *The Jack Benny Program*. He was played by David Rudman.
* **Mary** - Jack's best friend, an accordionist. She is yellow 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 named after Mary Livingstone from *The Jack Benny Program*. She was played by Alice Dinnean.
* **Mel** - Jack's drum-playing dog who is a gifted inventor. He is pink with green stripes and a green spot around his left eye. He created all of the contraptions in Jack's clubhouse, including the music video player. He can only talk through "ruff" noises, but Jack understands him. He is named after Mel Blanc from *The Jack Benny Program*. He was played by John Kennedy.
* **The Schwartzman Quartet** - A group of four brothers who visit Jack's clubhouse every day to sing a short, topical song related to the episode's theme. They have suave, deep voices. They are all nearly identical to each other: turquoise with stringy red hair, freckles, and matching striped sweaters. They are named after the Sportsmen Quartet from *The Jack Benny Program*.

## Episodes

The show has two seasons of 13 episodes each (26 in total).

## Online

The show had its own page on Noggin's website, Noggin.com. To promote the show's premiere, three online activities were made for the site.

Laurie Berkner: Mister

Mr. Chimpanzee, swinging from a tree. You look so free to me, cause you’re a chimpanzee. Mr. Chimpanzee, swinging from a tree. I’d love to be a chimpanzee. Mr. Parakeet, flying down the street. I think you’re pretty neat, cause you’re a parakeet. Mr. Parakeet, flying down the street. I’d love to be a parakeet. And all the animals I ever see. Look like they could be pretty fun to be. Mr. Elephant, living in a tent. You don’t pay any rent, cause you’re an elephant. Mr. Elephant, living in a tent. I’d love to be an elephant. Mr. Alien, where has your spaceship been? To Jupiter and back again. That’s cause you’re an alien. Mr. Alien, where has your spaceship been? I’d love to be an alien. Yeah, I’d love to be an alien. Or a parakeet or elephant. And I’d love to be a chimpanzee. But what I love to be the best is me.

* **Rock 'n' Roll Freeze Dance** - An online version of the Freeze Dance game from the episode "Mel's Super Swell Dance Party." The characters dance and encourage players to get up and dance, too. When the characters shout "Freeze," everyone has to stop. The user was able to decide when everyone freezes by clicking the space bar to shout "freeze."
* **Mel's Marvelous Melody Maker** - A video jukebox that played every video featured in the series.
* **Play Along** - A game that gave users the chance to join in and play music with an animated version of Jack's band. Players could select and click on one of three instruments (a toy piano, a xylophone, or a set of bongos) and play along with the band.
* Find more Jack's Big Music Show facts on the Jack's Big Music Show Wiki https://jacksbigmusicshow.fandom.com/wiki/Home