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Blue's Clues

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Blue's Clues
Created byTraci Paige Johnson
Todd Kessler
Angela Santomero
StarringSteve Burns (1992-2007)
Donovan Patton (2002-2006)
Traci Paige Johnson
Nick Balaban
Kelly Nigh
Aleisha Allen
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes140
Production
Running time30 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseSeptember 8, 1992 –
August 8, 2006

Blue's Clues is an educational children's show about a dog named Blue, featuring live action superimposed on paper-cutout animation. The series follows a dog named Blue through her everyday life. The show airs on both Nick Jr. and Noggin, and had aired on Nick Jr. on CBS until September 2006.

Format

From 1996 to 2002, Blue's owner was Steve, a non-animated character played by Steven 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 a question. Blue responds by jumping at the screen and marking it with a blue pawprint, which is sign that Blue wants to answer the host's question by playing Blue's Clues. The host happily asks the audience if they want to help with the game. The audience does not really respond in more recent episodes. The host, with the help of the audience (who are constantly spoken to and asked questions by the host, effectively breaking the fourth wall), then searches the house for Blue's three clues. Along the way, the host speaks with other residents of the house, often characters based on inanimate objects such as a side-table drawer, a shaker of salt, and a mailbox. After all three clues 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?" Blue's Clues also has lots of songs about every event, like "We Just Got a Letter".

The hosts use a few American Sign Language signs during the show, signing words like smart, help, or adventure and also thank you as they speak them. ASL is not used consistently enough to teach ASL to a child, but those who are already learning ASL may enjoy seeing a tiny modicum of sign in a mainstream program.

File:BluePeriwinkle.jpg
Toys made in Blue and Periwinkle's image

Farewell Song

The original version of the Blue's Clues goodbye song (from 2002 to 2004) goes like this:

Now it's time for so long,
But we'll sing just one more song,
Thanks for doin' your part, you sure are smart,
You know, with me and you
and our friend Blue
We can do anything that we wanna do!

Today, the song goes like this:

Come on, won't you help me say so long?
Everybody sing the goodbye song
Ready...here we go!
Bye...bye bye
See ya later...sweet potato
Bye bye!
*When the show was hosted by Steve, the line was My Dog Blue.

Origin

Blue's Clues was created by a creative team led by researcher Angela Santomero and Todd Kessler, who at the time was a writer, director, and producer at Nickelodeon. Kessler and Santomero hired cut-out animator Traci Paige Johnson to collaborate on the pilot. (Johnson would eventually provide Blue's voice. A child voice actor filled in for part of season 2.)

Kessler had previously worked on the PBS children's show Sesame Street, and both he and Santomero hoped to build on and improve that model of educational programming. "We wanted to learn from Sesame Street and take it one step further," said Santomero.[1]

"I love Sesame Street," said Kessler. "But I always believed that kids didn't have short attention spans, that they could easily sit still for a half an hour."[2] While Sesame Street was originally organized around short, commercial-like segments, each Blue's Clues show is a single extended narrative.

"There was...a theoretical perspective at the time, based in part on Piaget, that a preschool child couldn't follow an extended narrative," according to Daniel Anderson, who helped develop Blue's Clues for Nickelodeon. In the early 1980s, however, research suggestive that narrative was in fact a crucial way that small children organized their experiences.[3]

The show also uses phrase repetition and a minimum of editing in an attempt to avoid confusing its young audience.[1]

Blue's Clues was extensively analyzed by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book The Tipping Point. According to Gladwell, the show was carefully designed, using methods pioneered by Sesame Street, to encourage its educational messages to "stick" in a child's mind.

Blue's Room

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". "Blue's Room" has become a regular segment of the show, with several direct-to-video DVDs based around the concept. Some viewers have argued that Blue's speaking ability in "Blue's Room" negates the purpose of the "clues" she leaves to communicate in the regular show. [citation needed] Other viewers say that the pacing is much faster in this segment. [citation needed]

Actors

Hosts

Up until 2002, Steve Burns was the host of the show.

Joe is Steve's younger brother. He was phased in as the new host in 2002, with a number of shows featuring both Joe and Steve (sometimes only Steve's voice). On the show, Steve explained to the audience that he was moving away for college.

Kevin is the host of the UK version.

Duarte is the host of the Portuguese version.

Other (human) actors

Musical Guests

Toni Braxton, India.Arie, Macy Gray and They Might Be Giants all appear as guests in the episode Bluestock. The first three are animated, They Might Be Giants appear in a short film.

Animated characters

Note: Genders of characters are from the Nick Jr. FAQ.
  • Blue (Tracy Paige Johnson) - a female, blue dog and namesake of the show. Does not speak except in Blue's Room. First appeared in "Snack Time."
  • Side Table Drawer (Aleisha Allen) - Female talking furniture that holds the clue notebook; first interacted directly with the host in "Steve Gets the Sniffles".
  • Slippery Soap (Cody Ross Pitts) - a talking male bar of soap; first appeared in "What Does Blue Need?"
  • Tickety Tock (Kathryn Avery) - a talking female clock; first appeared in "What Time Is It for Blue?"
  • Mr. Salt (Nick Balaban) and Mrs. Pepper (Penny Jewkes) - The French salt and pepper shakers. First appeared in "Snack Time."
  • Paprika (Jenna Marie Castle) and Cinnamon (Corrine Hoffman) - 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 (Jonathan Press) and Pail (Julia Wetherell) - talking sandbox toys (Shovel is male and Pail is female - brother and sister) (referenced in "Meet Blue's Baby Brother"); first appeared in "Story Time".
  • Mailbox (Seth O'Hickory) - delivers the mail at mail time; first talked in "Mailbox's Birthday". First appeared in "Snack Time
  • Magenta (Koyalee Chanda) - Blue's best friend, a female, pink dog; first appeared in "Blue's Story Time".
  • Periwinkle (Jansen Panettiere) - the next-door neighbor, a talking male periwinkle cat; first appeared in "Blue's Big Mystery".
  • Miss Marigold - Blue's teacher; first appeared in "A Surprise Guest".
  • Green Puppy (Adam Peltzman) - 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 - (Christiana Anbri) A "moon fairy" who tells what time it is in Blue's Room. 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".
  • Key - He opens the box in which Blue's Room is held. He also unlocks Dress-up Chest. He first appeared in "The Legend Of The Blue Puppy".
  • Boo - ghost from the skidoo picture of a spooky house who appears only in the episodes "What is Blue Afraid Of?" and "Blue's Big Costume Party".

Movie

In 2000, a Blue's Clues movie called Blue's Big Musical was released. In this movie, a music show is planned. Blue and Tickety want to sing a duet together, but Tickety loses her voice and decides to ring her bells instead. Blue needs another partner because a duet needs two singers. They play Blue's Clues to find Blue a new partner. Also, Side Table Drawer wants to sing in the music show, but is too shy to ask and everyone else is too busy to notice. Meanwhile, Periwinkle sees the show being prepared and mistakes it for a magic show, so he gets himself ready by practicing magic tricks.

During the "Blue Skidoo" segment, a music lesson is provided by G-clef (played by guest star Ray Charles). Throughout the movie, Steve keeps complaining that he never gets to find the clues by himself, and he eventually finds the third one without the viewers' help. In the end, Steve figures out that Blue wants to sing a duet with Side Table Drawer.

Episodes

Season 1

  1. Snack Time 9/8/1996
  2. Blue's Story Time
  3. What Does Blue Need?
  4. Blue's Favorite Song
  5. Adventures in Art
  6. Blue Goes to the Beach
  7. Pretend Time
  8. The Trying Game
  9. Blue Wants to Play a Game
  10. The Grow Show
  11. Steve Gets the Sniffles
  12. What Does Blue Want to Build?
  13. Blue's Senses!
  14. What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?
  15. What Does Blue Want to Make out of Recycled Things?
  16. What Was Blue's Dream About?
  17. Blue's ABCs
  18. Math!
  19. Blue's Surprise at Two O'Clock!
  20. Blue's Sad Day
  21. What Game Does Blue Want to Learn?
  22. What Did Blue See?
  23. Nurture!
  24. Blue Is Frustrated
  25. What Is Blue Trying to Do?
  26. Mechanics!
  27. Hide and Seek 7/19/1998
  28. Blue Wants to Play a Song Game!
  29. What Does Blue Want to Make?
  30. What Story Does Blue Want to Play?
  31. Tickety's Favorite Nursery Rhyme
  32. Magenta Comes Over
  33. Blue's News!
  34. Blue's Big Treasure Hunt 3/8/1999 (blue's clues special)
  35. Art Appreciation 4/26/1999
  36. Weight and Balance 5/10/1999
  37. What's That Sound? 6/7/1999
  38. Animal Behavior! 6/21/1999
  39. Draw Along With Blue 10/18/1999
  40. Anatomy 4/10/2000
  41. Signs 4/25/2000
  42. Nature 7/3/2000
  43. Occupations 7/17/2000
  44. Blue's Big Mystery 9/25/2000
  45. Periwinkle Misses His Friend 10/2/2000
  46. What's So Funny? 10/9/2000
  47. Inventions 10/23/2000
  48. Blue's Play 10/30/2000
  49. Prehistoric Blue 11/6/2000
  50. Opposites 11/13/2000 (aka The Wrong Shirt)
  51. Words 12/5/2000
  52. Magenta Gets Glasses 2/19/2001
  53. Blue's Collection 2/26/2001
  54. Shy 3/12/2001
  55. Environments 3/19/2001
  56. Stormy Weather 3/26/2001
  57. Cafe Blue 3/27/2001
  58. The Anything Box 4/16/2001
  59. Adventure! 4/19/2001
  60. Superfriends! 4/23/2001
  61. What's New, Blue? (1) 10/8/2001
  62. Blue's New Place (2) 10/15/2001
  63. Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper Day (3) 10/22/2001
  64. The Baby's Here! (4) 10/29/2001
  65. Making Changes (5) 11/5/2001
  66. Bugs! 11/12/2001
  67. ¡Un Día Con Plum! 11/19/2001
  68. What's Inside? 11/26/2001
  69. Blocks 12/3/2001
  70. Blue's Backyard Ballgame Bonanza 2/15/2002
  71. Puppets 2/25/2002
  72. Rhyme Time 3/4/2002
  73. Let's Plant! 3/29/2002
  74. Can You Help? 4/30/2002
  75. Colors Everywhere! 5/6/2002
  76. The Snack Chart 5/13/2002
  77. The Big Book About Us 5/20/2002
  78. Playing Store 5/27/2002
  79. Patience 6/3/2002
  80. I'm So Happy! 9/2/2002
  81. The Boat Float 9/9/2002
  82. Bedtime Business 9/16/2002
  83. Shape Searchers 9/23/2002
  84. Blue's Checkup 9/30/2002
  85. Contraptions! 10/7/2002
  86. A Brand New Game 10/21/2002
  87. Imagine Nation 7/4/02
  88. Blue's Book Nook 9/2/02
  89. Let's Boogie! 9/3/02
  90. Blue's Big Musical Movie (with Ray Charles and The Temptations) 9/4/02
  91. Mailbox's Birthday 10/24/02
  92. Blue's Birthday (blue's clues special) 10/25/02
  93. Joe's Birthday Party 10/27/2002
  94. What Is Blue Afraid Of? (Halloween episode) 10/29/02
  95. Blue's Big Costume Party 10/31/2002 (Halloween episode
  96. Thankful (Thanksgiving episode) 11/23/02
  97. Blue's First Holiday 12/02/2002 (Christmas episode)
  98. Blue's Big Holiday 12/04/2002 (Christmas episode)
  99. A Snowy Day (Christmas episode) 12/19/02
  100. Blue's Big Pajama Party 12/30/2002 (blue's clues special)
  101. Blue's Clues 100th Episode New Year Eve Celebration! 12/31/02
  102. Blue's Clues 100th Episode Celebration! 1/1/2003
  103. A Surprise Guest 1/6/2003
  104. The Dress-Up Day 1/13/2003
  105. Blue's Big Band 2/17/2003
  106. Up, Down, All Around! 3/3/2003
  107. The Story Wall 4/28/2003
  108. The Alphabet Train 5/5/2003
  109. Numbers Everywhere! 5/12/2003
  110. Blue's Predictions 5/19/2003
  111. Our Neighborhood Festival 6/23/2003
  112. Blue Takes You to School 8/11/2003
  113. Meet Polka Dots! 9/15/2003
  114. The Scavenger Hunt 9/16/2003
  115. Let's Write! 9/17/2003
  116. Magenta's Messages 9/18/2003
  117. Body Language 9/19/2003
  118. I Did That! 9/24/2003
  119. Animals in Our House? 9/25/2003
  120. Morning Music 9/29/2003
  121. The Legend of the Blue Puppy 2/8/2004
  122. Love Day 2/16/2004
  123. Blue's Wishes 2/16/2004
  124. Joe's Clues 2/23/2004
  125. Skidoo Adventure 3/15/2004
  126. Playdates 3/22/2004
  127. The Fairy Tale Ball 4/5/2004
  128. Soccer Practice 4/26/2004
  129. Bluestock 5/10/2004
  130. Blue's Big Car Trip 5/22/2004
  131. Look Carefully... 5/23/2004
  132. What Does Blue Want to Do With Her Picture?
  133. What Does Blue Wanna Do on a Rainy Day?
  134. what blue wants to draw? 7/24/2007
  135. Pool Party 7/30/2007

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. Sprinkles got spots as he learned his Letters, Colors, Numbers, and who Blue's Baby Brother is.

Network

References

  1. ^ Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, p. 111.
  2. ^ Gladwell, p. 110.
  3. ^ Gladwell, pp. 118-121.
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