Blue's Clues is a daytime children's show which airs on Nickelodeon and now appears on several "On Demand" channels. It features live action superimposed upon paper-cutout animation similar to that of South Park. The seriesws a blue dog, named Blue, through her everyday life, providing small children educational entertainment.
The Show
From 1996 to 2002, Blue's owner was Steve, a non-animated character played by Steve Burns. When Burns chose to leave the show, the character Steve went off to college and his younger brother Joe (played by Donovan Patton) moved in to take care of Blue.
The game of Blue's Clues begins near the beginning of the episode, when the host asks Blue some sort of question. Blue responds by jumping at the screen and marking it with a blue pawprint. The host, with the help of the audience (who are constantly spoken to and asked questions by the host), then searches the house for Blue's three clues. Along the way, the host speaks with many other residents of the house, which are usually characters based on inanimate objects such as a side-table drawer, a salt shaker, and a mailbox. After all three have been found, the host sits in his "thinking chair" and puts the three clues together to form a central image. This image is the answer to the host's original question, which goes along the lines of "What does Blue want to do today?"
The show uses phrase repetition and a minimum of editing in an attempt to avoid confusing its young audience.[1]
In a 2004 Blue's Clues episode, The Legend of the Blue Puppy, Blue talks as a puppet in a segment called Blue's Room. Several direct-to-video DVDs have since been made based around the Blue's Room concept.
Blue's Clues was extensively analyzed by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book, The Tipping Point. According to Gladwell, Blue's Clues has been carefully designed, using methods pioneered by Sesame Street, to allow its educational messages to 'stick' in a child's mind.
A UK version of Blue's Clues also exists, with Kevin Duala as the host.
The original show, dubbed in German, appears on German TV under the title "Blau und Schlau", literally "blue and smartly".
Blues Clues was created at Nickelodeon by a creative team led by Angela Santomero, who is currently creating similarly advanced children's programming with her partner, Samantha Freeman (also of Nickelodeon), at their new production company Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC.
Humongous Entertainment released several PC/Mac games featuring Blue's Clues characters.
Controversy
On February 11 2003, Nickelodeon aired an episode of Blue's Clues that was an obvious St. Valentine's Day special, yet was referring to the holiday as "Love Day". Nickelodeon was widely criticized for attempting to evade the Christian connotations concerning the Catholic St. Valentine.
Characters
Hosts
- Steve:
Up until 2002, was the host of show. Steve's motive for leaving was to attend college. A widely popular internet rumor stated that he had died of a heroin overdose. However these claims later proved false.
- Joe:
Joe is the younger brother of Steve.
Animated Characters
- Blue - a female, blue dog and namesake of the show. on the first episode of blues clues
- Side Table Drawer - talking furniture that holds the clue notebook; first interacted directly with Steve in "Steve Gets the Sniffles".
- Slippery Soap - a talking male bar of soap; first appeared in "What Does Blue Need?"
- Tickety - a talking clock; first interacted directly and talked with Steve in "What Time Is It for Blue?"
- Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper - The French salt and pepper shakers.
- Paprika and Cinnamon - Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's children. Paprika, a girl, first appeared "Blue's News"; Cinnamon, a boy, debuted in "The Baby's Here".
- Shovel and Pail - talking sandbox toys; first appeared in "Story Time".
- Mailbox - delivers the mail at mail time, first interacted directly with Steve in "Mailbox's Birthday".
- Magenta - Blue's best friend, a male dog; first appeared in "Blue's Story Time".
- Periwinkle - the next-door neighbor, a talking male blue cat; first appeared in "Blue's Big Mystery".
- Miss Marigold - Blue's teacher; first appeared in "A Surprise Guest".
- Green Puppy - Blue's female friend and classmate; first appeared in "Blue's Sad Day".
- Orange Kitten - Blue's female friend and classmate; first appeared in "Blue's Sad Day".
- Purple Kangaroo - Blue's male friend and classmate; first appeared in "Blue's Sad Day".
- Turquoise - Blue's pet turtle; first appeared in "Blue's Birthday".
- Polka Dots -A green dog with purple polka dots; first appeared in "Meet Polka Dots!"
- The Felt Friends - characters who live in a world of colored felt shapes; two recurring Felt Friends are Freddy and Fifi, who first appeared in "Blue's Favorite Song".
- Moona - A moon fairy who tells what time it is. She has a crescent-shaped body and crescent-shaped pigtails.
- Horace - Steve's stuffed anteater; first appeared in "Blue's Big Pajama Party".
- Boris - Joe's toy duck; first appeared in "Joe's First Day".
- Sprinkles - Blue's baby brother; first appeared in "Meet Blue's Baby Brother".
Episode list
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 1995-1996 | |
| 2 | 26 | 1997-1998 | |
Season 1
| Episode# | Title | Airdate | Code | |
| Pilot | 1.0 | "Blue Prints" | August 14, 1994 | 000 |
| 1 | 1.1 | "Snack Time" | September 8, 1996 | 101 |
| 2 | 1.2 | "What Time Is It for Blue?" | September 16, 1996 | 102 |
| 3 | 1.3 | "Mailbox's Birthday" | September 23, 1996 | 103 |
| 4 | 1.4 | "Blue's Story Time" | September 30, 1996 | 104 |
| 5 | 1.5 | "What Does Blue Need?" | October 7, 1996 | 105 |
| 6 | 1.6 | "Blue's Favorite Song" | October 14, 1996 | 106 |
| 7 | 1.7 | "Adventures in Art" | October 21, 1996 | 107 |
| 8 | 1.8 | "Blue Goes to the Beach" | October 28, 1996 | 108 |
| 9 | 1.9 | "Pretend Time" | November 4, 1996 | 109 |
| 10 | 1.10 | "A Snowy Day" | November 11, 1996 | 110 |
| 11 | 1.11 | "The Trying Game" | November 18, 1996 | 111 |
| 12 | 1.12 | "Blue Wants to Play a Game" | November 25, 1996 | 112 |
| 13 | 1.13 | "What Does Blue Wants to Do Outside?" | December 2, 1996 | 113 |
| 14 | 1.14 | "Blue Wants to Play a Song Game!" | December 9, 1996 | 114 |
Season 2
| Episode# | Title | Airdate | Code | |
| 15 | 2.1 | "What Does Blue Want to Make?" | September 1, 1997 | 201 |
| 16 | 2.2 | "What Story Does Blue Want to Play?" | September 8, 1997 | 202 |
| 17 | 2.3 | "Tickety's Favorite Nursery Rhyme" | September 15, 1997 | 203 |
| 18 | 2.4 | "What Is Blue Afraid Of?" | September 22, 1997 | 204 |
| 19 | 2.5 | "Magenta Comes Over" | September 29, 1997 | 205 |
| 20 | 2.6 | "Blue's News!" | November 10, 1997 | |
| 21 | 2.7 | "Steve Gets the Sniffles" | November 17, 1997 | |
| 22 | 2.8 | "What Does Blue Want to Build?" | November 24, 1997 | |
| 23 | 2.9 | "Blue's Senses!" | December 1, 1997 | |
| 24 | 2.10 | "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?" | February 9, 1998 | |
| 25 | 2.11 | "What Does Blue Want to Make out of Recycled Things?" | February 16, 1998 | |
| 26 | 2.12 | "What Was Blue's Dream About?" | February 23, 1998 | |
| 27 | 2.13 | "Blue's ABCs" | March 2, 1998 | |
| 28 | 2.14 | "Math!" | March 9, 1998 | |
| 29 | 2.15 | "Blue's Birthday" | March 16, 1998 | |
| 30 | 2.16 | "What Does Blue Want to Do With Her Picture?" | March 23, 1998 | |
| 31 | 2.17 | "What Does Blue Wanna Do on a Rainy Day?" | March 30, 1998 | |
| 32 | 2.18 | "Blue's Surprise at Two O'Clock!" | April 6, 1998 | |
| 33 | 2.19 | "The Lost Episode!" | April 13, 1998 | |
| 34 | 2.20 | "Blue's Sad Day" | April 20, 1998 | |
| 35 | 2.21 | "What Game Does Blue Want to Learn?" | April 27, 1998 | |
| 36 | 2.22 | "What Did Blue See?" | May 4, 1998 | |
| 37 | 2.23 | "Nurture!" | May 11, 1998 | |
| 38 | 2.24 | "Blue Is Frustrated" | May 18, 1998 | |
| 39 | 2.25 | "What Is Blue Trying to Do?" | May 25, 1998 | |
| 40 | 2.26 | "Mechanics!" | June 1, 1998 | |
Season 3
- Blue's Big Treasure Hunt 3/8/1999
- Art Appreciation 4/26/1999
- Weight and Balance 5/10/1999
- What's That Sound? 6/7/1999
- Hide and Seek 6/14/1999
- Animal Behavior! 6/21/1999
- Blue's Big Pajama Party 10/10/1999
- Draw Along With Blue 10/18/1999
- Blue's Big Holiday 11/29/1999
- Pool Party 4/3/2000
- Anatomy 4/10/2000
- Signs 4/25/2000
- Nature 7/3/2000
- Geography 7/10/2000
- Musical Show 2000
- Occupations 7/17/2000
- Blue's Big Mystery 9/25/2000
- Periwinkle Misses His Friend 10/2/2000
- What's So Funny? 10/9/2000
- Inventions 10/23/2000
- Blue's Play 10/30/2000
- Prehistoric Blue 11/6/2000
- Opposites 11/13/2000 (aka The Wrong Shirt)
- Words 12/5/2000
- Magenta Gets Glasses 2/19/2001
- Blue's Collection 2/26/2001
- Cafe Blue 3/5/2001
- Shy 3/12/2001
- Environments 3/19/2001
- Stormy Weather 3/26/2001
- Thankful
- Blue's Big Costume Party
Season 4
- The Anything Box 4/16/2001
- Adventure! 4/19/2001
- Superfriends! 4/23/2001
- What's New, Blue? (1) 10/8/2001
- Blue's New Place (2) 10/15/2001
- Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper Day (3) 10/22/2001
- The Baby's Here! (4) 10/29/2001
- Making Changes (5) 11/5/2001
- Bugs! 11/12/2001
- ¡Un Día Con Plum! 11/19/2001
- What's Inside? 11/26/2001
- Blocks 12/3/2001
- Blue's Backyard Ballgame Bonanza 2/15/2002
- Puppets 2/25/2002
- Rhyme Time 3/4/2002
- Let's Plant! 3/29/2002
- Imagine Nation
- Blue's Book Nook
- Let's Boogie!
Season 5
- Joe's First Day (1) 4/29/2002
- Joe Gets a Clue (2) 4/29/2002
- Steve becomes a rockstar (3) 4/29/2002 (this rockstar is not this episode)
- Can You Help? 4/30/2002
- Colors Everywhere! 5/6/2002
- The Snack Chart 5/13/2002
- The Big Book About Us 5/20/2002
- Playing Store 5/27/2002
- Patience 6/3/2002
- Blue's Clues 100th Episode Celebration! 6/10/2002
- Joe's Birthday Party 8/5/2002
- I'm So Happy! 9/2/2002
- The Boat Float 9/9/2002
- Bedtime Business 9/16/2002
- Shape Searchers 9/23/2002
- Blue's Checkup 9/30/2002
- Contraptions! 10/7/2002
- A Brand New Game 10/21/2002
- A Surprise Guest 1/6/2003
- The Dress-Up Day 1/13/2003
- Blue's Big Band 2/17/2003
- Up, Down, All Around! 3/3/2003
- The Story Wall 4/28/2003
- The Alphabet Train 5/5/2003
- Numbers Everywhere! 5/12/2003
- Blue's Predictions 5/19/2003
- Our Neighborhood Festival 6/23/2003
- Blue Takes You to School 8/11/2003
- Meet Polka Dots! 9/15/2003
- The Scavenger Hunt 9/16/2003
- Let's Write! 9/17/2003
- Magenta's Messages 9/18/2003
- Body Language 9/19/2003
- Blue's Big Car Trip 9/22/2003
- Look Carefully... 9/23/2003
- I Did That! 9/24/2003
- Animals in Our House? 9/25/2003
- Morning Music 9/29/2003
- Blue's First Holiday 12/12/2003
Season 6
- The Legend of the Blue Puppy 2/8/2004
- Love Day 2/16/2004
- Blue's Wishes 2/16/2004
- Joe's Clues 2/23/2004
- Skidoo Adventure 3/15/2004
- Playdates 3/22/2004
- The Fairy Tale Ball 4/5/2004
- Soccer Practice 4/26/2004
- Bluestock 5/10/2004
Season 7
- Behind the Clues: 10 Years with Blue
- Meet Blue's Baby Brother 8/6/2006
10th anniversary
To celebrate the 10th anniversary (2006) of Blue's Clues, a "Meet Blue's Baby Brother" primetime special premiered on August 6, 2006, where her brother was revealed to be a multi-colored puppy named Sprinkles. Nickelodeon also created a 12-minute documentary going behind the scenes of Blue's Clues.
Trivia
- A pink snail appears in each episode three times as an extra challenge for older kids.
- The "12" on the face of the clock Tickety changes each episode depending on the particular plot at that time.
Parody
- In Fairly Odd Parents, there is an episode where Timmy is running through various television shows. One happens to be called "Clint's Hints", a reference to Blue's Clues.
External links
- Blue's Clues on Nick Jr. site
- Blue's World (A Blue's Clues fan/information site)
- steveswebpage.com (Steve's Web Page, where he is now.)
- The Donovan Patton Fan Site (All about the talented young actor who plays Joe)