48 Fun Facts About Blue's Clues

On which network did Blue's Clues premiere in September 1996?

Nickelodeon left the show's young creators alone in a conference room for a month to invent it, and from its first week it was the top-rated preschool show on commercial TV.

Blue was originally conceived as what kind of animal?

A cat was the plan until network executives said they already had a cat show on the way, so Blue was redrawn as a puppy.

What was the working title of Blue's Clues?

Blue Prints was the title on the test pilot, but the children who watched it 'almost universally' called the show Blue's Clues, so the name changed.

How many clues does Blue leave in each episode?

Three, and the host almost never spots them first: he plays dumb and pauses so that children at home can shout out where each clue is.

In Blue's Clues, where does the host sit to work out the answer once all the clues are found?

The Thinking Chair is a big red armchair where the host asks viewers for help, then sings that they solved it 'because we're really smart'.

What does Blue's Clues call the move in which the host jumps into a picture or book?

Skidoo was built as a clear signal that the scene is about to change, because preschoolers find sudden jumps between places hard to follow.

What inspired the look of Steve's green shirt on Blue's Clues?

Fruit Stripe gum gave the shirt its look, though in the test pilot Steve wore no green stripes at all.

Which reason did Steve Burns give for leaving Blue's Clues?

He refused to lose his hair on kids' TV, he said, because it 'was happening, fast'; once he had left the show he shaved his head.

In Blue's Clues, where does Steve go when he hands the house over to Joe?

To college: he sings his goodbye song one last time, picks up a suitcase and rides off on a cartoon bus, leaving his younger brother in charge.

Who played Joe, the second host of Blue's Clues?

Donovan Patton was waiting tables when he won the part; he was renamed Joe because, a co-creator said, 'Donovan was a little too hard on a preschooler's tongue'.

Steve Burns and his Blue's Clues successor both impersonated which actor?

Walken, twice over at the audition: the newcomer is convinced his Christopher Walken impression won him the part, and Burns told the producers 'I want him', the pick of some 1,500 applicants.

Who provides the voice of Blue?

Traci Paige Johnson, one of the show's creators, got the part because nobody else on the crew could sound so much like a dog, and she barked again for the 2019 revival.

Which accent did composer Nick Balaban settle on for Mr. Salt after first trying a Brooklyn one?

French won out for the kitchen's resident chef, and the part became a family affair: Balaban's own daughter later voiced Mr. Salt's baby son.

In the original Blue's Clues, what are the names of Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's two children?

Paprika and Cinnamon each arrived as a baby during the original run, and the 2019 revival made them big siblings to twins, Sage and Ginger.

Which character is the keeper of the Handy Dandy Notebook?

Sidetable Drawer hands over the notebook at the start of every game; shy about her singing, she ends Blue's Big Musical Movie as Blue's duet partner.

What kind of timepiece is Tickety Tock in Blue's Clues?

A pink alarm clock, she rings her bells to wake the whole house each morning, loves counting and is best friends with Slippery Soap.

In Blue's Clues, how are Shovel and Pail related?

Brother and sister, and both plan to be vets when they grow up; the UK version swapped in British words and renamed the pair Spade and Bucket.

Blue's best friend Magenta looks just like her apart from her colour and, from 2001, which accessory?

Glasses arrived in the episode 'Magenta Gets Glasses': she visits the eye doctor, and Steve works out what she can do now that she has them, which is see Blue.

Which hobby does Periwinkle the kitten love to show off on Blue's Clues?

Magic tricks are his thing: in Blue's Big Musical Movie he mishears the plan as a magic show, and ends up opening the concert with his act.

In Blue's Clues, what does Mailbox want to be when he grows up?

A comedian: Mailbox loves cracking jokes, and though he is planted on a post outside the house, an extending arm lets him bring the letter indoors.

How were new episodes of Blue's Clues first scheduled?

The same episode every day for five days let preschoolers master it, answering sooner each time, and it stretched a budget too small for a full season.

Which animation style gives the original Blue's Clues its storybook look?

Cutout: artists built the characters from paper, fabric and pipe cleaners, then scanned them into a computer so nothing had to be redrawn frame by frame.

Blue's Clues co-creator Todd Kessler had worked on which classic children's show, whose format he disliked?

Sesame Street's fast 'magazine' format bothered him: he believed children could follow one story for half an hour, so each Blue's Clues tells just one.

Which children's TV figure did Blue's Clues co-creator Angela Santomero call her hero?

Fred Rogers heard it from her in person at a conference lunch, and after his death his company asked her to create Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

Which Oscar-winning actress appeared alongside Steve on Blue's Clues to introduce viewers to sign language?

Marlee Matlin, who is deaf, played a librarian named Marlee; from 2000 the show wove a handful of American Sign Language signs into its episodes.

Which musical legend appeared in Blue's Big Musical Movie in 2000?

Ray Charles voiced G-Clef, a musical note who teaches Steve how to write a song of his own for the backyard show.

The 2004 spin-off Blue's Room replaced animation with what?

Puppets let Blue talk at last: children had told the producers they wanted to hear her speak, so she stepped out of the cartoon and into a playroom.

In the revival Blue's Clues & You!, what has Steve grown up to become?

A detective: after all those years hunting for clues he runs his own agency, while his brother Joe now keeps a present store.

Which Disney stage show did the revival's host leave to front Blue's Clues & You!?

Aladdin: he had spent five years understudying the title role when his agent mentioned an audition for the new Blue's Clues.

In the 2022 film Blue's Big City Adventure, Josh and Blue travel to New York to audition for what?

A Broadway musical staged by Rainbow Puppy: Josh leaves the notebook holding the theatre's address at home, so Steve and Joe join the race to get it to him.

Which Steve Burns song became the opening theme of Young Sheldon?

Mighty Little Man opens the album he made after leaving the show, and years later he guest-starred on the sitcom himself.

Which band's Steven Drozd helped Steve Burns with drums and arrangements on his first solo album?

The Flaming Lips connection stuck: Burns took a bit part in the band's film Christmas on Mars and later formed a children's duo, STEVENSTEVEN, with Drozd.

Which small pink creature hides somewhere in the background of every Blue's Clues episode?

A snail, tucked into the scenery again and again for sharp-eyed viewers to spot; in Blue's Big Musical Movie it finally gets a solo, rolling in on a skateboard.

In a viral 2021 anniversary video, what did Steve Burns tell the grown-up fans of Blue's Clues?

'I never forgot you', he said, back in his old green shirt, admitting that the way he left had been 'kind of abrupt'.

The actor who played Joe on Blue's Clues went on to voice Bot the robot in which preschool series?

Team Umizoomi cast him as Bot, the robot sidekick of two young heroes, in a play-along maths show that asks viewers for help just as Blue's Clues did.

What is the name of Blue's baby brother, introduced in a 2006 Blue's Clues special?

Sprinkles arrived in a prime-time special marking the show's tenth birthday; he starts out as a plain white puppy and earns his spots along the way.

Which PBS show, launched in 2007, did Blue's Clues co-creator Angela Santomero create?

Super Why! turns four fairy-tale friends into reading-powered superheroes and signs up the child at home as 'Super You', with the 'Power to Help'.

Which bestselling author wrote that Blue's Clues 'may be one of the stickiest television shows ever made'?

Malcolm Gladwell gave the show a section of The Tipping Point, tracing its hold on children to research: every script was tried out on preschoolers three times before it aired.

Which Golden Girls star played Steve's grandmother in a Blue's Clues special?

Rue McClanahan, the sitcom's Blanche, turned up in Blue's Big Treasure Hunt in 1999, in a green dress patterned to match her grandson's shirt.

Which later preschool hit followed Blue's Clues in asking viewers a question, then waiting for an answer?

Dora the Explorer took up the pause for children's answers in 2000; one scholar says the curriculum advisers on today's children's shows are 'definitely because of Blue's Clues'.

In which Manhattan neighborhood was the original Blue's Clues filmed?

Tribeca housed the tiny studio where Burns worked ten-hour days as the only actor on set: 'It's never anybody else's turn,' he said.

After leaving Blue's Clues, Steve Burns kept appearing on television to dispel which rumour?

That he had died, of an overdose in some versions and a car crash in others: for years he kept turning up in interviews to prove he was alive.

In which city was the revival Blue's Clues & You! filmed?

Toronto, where the host performed on an empty stage to a laser-pointer dot standing in for Blue, who was drawn in afterwards.

Josh's grandmother Lola in Blue's Clues & You! is originally from which country?

The Philippines: 'Lola' is simply the Filipino word for grandmother, and she and Josh sing together in both English and Tagalog.

Which broadcast network began airing Blue's Clues on weekend mornings in 2000?

CBS had just come under the same owner as the show's first network, Viacom, which made Blue's Clues the centrepiece of its weekend children's line-up.

Which prestigious honor did Blue's Clues win in 2001 for its children's programming?

A Peabody went to the show 'for its pioneering and consistent efforts in children's programming that always respects its very special audience'.

Before casting Steve Burns, what kind of host did the producers originally want?

A woman was the original plan, but Steve Burns's audition won the producers over, and preschool test audiences responded to him more than to anyone else.

In the 2019 revival, the Handy Dandy Notebook doubles as what?

A smartphone now sits on the notebook's flip side, so emails arrive at mail time, and in one remade episode the phone replaces the original's camera as a clue.