Sponk!
Sharpen Your Ad-Libbing Skills and Win a Rubber Chicken!
The TV show Sponk! was an improvisational comedy game show that required speed, spontaneity, and wit. Broadcast on Noggin from 2001 to 2003, Sponk! featured two teams of players competing in games that sharpened their language skills.
| A game of Sponk! |
The game show was geared toward eight- to twelve-year-olds, and included games such as:
- Story Survivor, in which the host points a stick at a team member, who then has to ad lib a story on a suggested subject. The host then points the stick at another contestant, who must pick up the storyline where the first player stopped. A player is eliminated when they pause or stray from the topic at hand. When a player is eliminated, the audience yells, “Sponk!” Audience members voted for the winning team using red and blue paddles that represented the two teams’ colors.
- Identity Crisis, in which the host shows one member of each team a card that bears the name of a famous person. The player then has to act out this identity, while their teammates guess who it is.
One of the first original productions on Noggin, Sponk! also brought the audience online. When viewers wanted to suggest an idea for the show’s participants to act out, they went to the Noggin website to submit their suggestions. They were actually submitting their ideas to Sponk, the computer that selected from among the submissions. Each episode featured a random online winner from the pool of people who had submitted ideas online.
The show’s educational goals were to:
- Model good collaboration and teamwork skills. Since successful improvisation requires teamwork and communication, players learned and practiced cooperative skills. Sponk! illustrated specific elements that contributed to positive interdependence, such as active observing and listening, providing thoughtful feedback, and sharing leadership roles.
- Promote good problem-solving strategies. In highlighting the improvisation process, viewers learned about each player’s behavior and observed them going through the fundamentals of good problem solving (understanding and clarifying expectations, planning, executing, critiquing, and trying again).
- Promote pride in imagination and creativity. Watching improvisational comedy can spark viewers' imaginations and help them see ideas from a new angle. Sponk! sought to inspire kids build on this and present their thoughts in new ways.
Trivia
The Sponk! trophy was a golden rubber chicken.
The buzzer sound was the chicken's caw.
Notable Cast Members
Tim Dorsch
Scott Irby-Rainnar
Lori Wells
Miles Thompson
Allie Berdebes
Karen Fowler (announcer)
Vanessa Lengies
Johnathan McClain (host)
Louie Torrellas
Number of seasons
One (show then aired in repeats)
Number of episodes
26 30-minute episodes
Broadcasters
Nickelodeon
Noggin
