Blues Closure
September 8, 2021 10:58 AM   Subscribe

 


I've never even seen Blues Clues and somehow, that made me feel better about myself.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:06 AM on September 8, 2021 [15 favorites]


A good story by Steve on Fameishness.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:12 AM on September 8, 2021 [10 favorites]


I kind of needed someone to tell me 1. It’s been hard and 2. I look great. Because yes, 1. it has been hard and 2. I absolutely do.
posted by erinfern at 11:15 AM on September 8, 2021 [24 favorites]


I was too old to appreciate Blue's Clues, but this was sweet. I'm not even sure what my generational analogue would be, as I grew up with deeply self-referential and postmodern icons like, uh, the entire cast and guests of the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. I guess if Charo or Grace Jones told me I was looking great, I'd die a slightly happier man.
posted by mykescipark at 11:41 AM on September 8, 2021 [22 favorites]


I, too, was too old for Blues Clues, but after he quit the show, he put out a pretty decent album that was produced by Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips. If you ever wanted more Yoshimi, he's got what you're looking for. I think the song "Mighty Little Man" is now the theme song of that Young Sheldon show?
posted by higginba at 11:48 AM on September 8, 2021 [11 favorites]


Aw, I am legit misty (in one eye, at least)!

A couple of my kids were the right age to watch Blue's Clues, and I still sing "Mail, mail, never fails/makes me want to wag my tail" whenever I get to go out to the mailbox. That was a genuinely awesome show.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:54 AM on September 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


Sniff - I am going to have to share this with my daughter - Blue's Clues was our jam - we were kinda devastated when he left.
posted by rozcakj at 11:57 AM on September 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


Steve's one of the good ones, and Blue's Clues is one of the greatest children's shows of all time.

I'm not even sure what my generational analogue would be

Don't tell me you can't picture Fred Rogers delivering this exact kind of message, though perhaps you're like my wife and couldn't stand his earnestness.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:00 PM on September 8, 2021 [26 favorites]


This gave me big fat hot tears. Well, probably I already felt like crying & this just worked. I was a young adult when blues clues came out, and I started watching it with the kid I was babysitting but then I found I just liked watching it. It was funny and cute.
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on September 8, 2021 [5 favorites]


mykescipark - not sure if this would be your generation, but LeVar Burton is still happy to tell you a story.
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 12:05 PM on September 8, 2021 [12 favorites]


One of my grandsons was absolutely obsessed with Blues Clues. He would walk around with his "handy-dandy notebook" and look for clues during the show. He would sing every song and dance the dances. His folks even found him a wee pint-sized blue couch he could sit on while he watched (chin propped on fist in the classic Thinker pose). When Steve went off to college, it kind of broke my grandson's heart. He probably would have phased out of the show around that time, anyway, but once Steve left, that was the end.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:06 PM on September 8, 2021 [8 favorites]


My mom was a preschool teacher when Blues Clues was first on the air, and she thought it was by far the best kids' show there was. (Her "by far the worst" was Barney, which amused me greatly.) She liked it so much that when she had to break the news to the kids that she was retiring, she bought a Blues' Clues brand "Handy Dandy Notebook" and came up with three "clues" to help the kids process her news a little (I think she drew a picture of a suitcase, a car, and then a fancy-looking house to help convey the message that she was going to pack up and move away to a new place).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:29 PM on September 8, 2021 [16 favorites]


I was too old when it came out, but Steve's gentle voice was so soothing when I was up at 6am with a cranky baby. I teared up too.
posted by emjaybee at 12:32 PM on September 8, 2021 [4 favorites]


"We started out with clues and now it's what? student loans"

...yeah.
posted by doctornemo at 12:44 PM on September 8, 2021 [12 favorites]


I was sort of too old for Blue's Clues but watched it anyway, first for the entertainment value, and then again to understand the structure of each episode and how the show works to walk children through the thinking process. It's honestly one of the most brilliant pieces of children's media out there, and Steve was someone I could look to at any age and go, oh, there's a friend, what a nice friend to see every day, in sort of the same way I did Mr. Rogers. I sign thank you every time I say bye because Steve and his pals do. What a gift Nick Jr. gave to the world in this way! And the very real comment about student loans was delightfully delivered. I am verklempt over this. Gosh.
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:55 PM on September 8, 2021 [16 favorites]


I have absolutely no emotional attachment to Blue's Clues—was already a teen when it started, did not have Nickelodeon, have never watched it—and this still made me cry??? How dare you, Mr. Shirt

Edited to add: Oh, spoke too soon—actually the video that made me cry wasn't either of these, I think! It was this one, also going around Twitter.
posted by babelfish at 12:57 PM on September 8, 2021 [5 favorites]


I have never seen a single episode of the show - I'm too old to have grown up with it, and have no kids - but that still connected with me pretty damn well. It is absolutely a generationally-shifted Fred Rogers affect, and I mean that as the highest possible praise. I *am* looking great. It's so wonderful he noticed. I felt good.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:59 PM on September 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


The Wiggles cover Tame Impala 'Elephant' for Like A Version

Seeing The Wiggles grown up and out of context does it for me as an Aussie.
posted by adept256 at 1:10 PM on September 8, 2021 [9 favorites]


Honorable mentions:
The Bear {Who Hasn't Left} the Big Blue House {In Almost Two Years}
The Big Comfy Couch {that is also my office now}
posted by bartleby at 1:37 PM on September 8, 2021 [10 favorites]


Steve's one of the good ones, and Blue's Clues is one of the greatest children's shows of all time.

Both my kids were in the age range for Blues Clues and, yeah, it was a great show.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:42 PM on September 8, 2021 [3 favorites]


*I was actually 12 in 1996 so according to my memories I've been an adult my entire life.
posted by bleep at 2:07 PM on September 8, 2021 [7 favorites]


I grew up with this show, and that video just brought back so many memories. When Steve left, my brother and I were devastated; we used to boo at his replacement, Joe, in the early days of his appearance before we eventually got used to him. Later - when we were in 4th or 5th grade or so - the prevailing theory at school was that Steve had left to go to rehab (?!).
posted by chaiyai at 2:16 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


My kids were born in 94 ans 96, so I watched a lot of Blue's Clues back in the day.
posted by COD at 2:35 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


We caught the Blue's Clues era with our kids... I liked the show overall, but the moment that stole my heart forever was a scene in an art gallery. There's a clue on a painting. The offscreen child yells, "A clue, a clue!" Steve turns to the camera and says, in his best snotty art critic voice, "Oh yes, I agree, it is quite... jejune."
posted by sockshaveholes at 2:59 PM on September 8, 2021 [6 favorites]


Later - when we were in 4th or 5th grade or so - the prevailing theory at school was that Steve had left to go to rehab (?!).

Ugh, I HATE when people do this to kids' TV show characters. This was such a pervasive rumor and it made me so angry, not because going to rehab is a bad thing, but because it was done in a mean, mocking, "haha, all people on kids shows end up going cr*zy" way. There's a bizarre contingent of people who LIVE to see a kids show fall. The schadenfreude that came from the scandal surrounding Elmo's actor was obscene. Really gross.

/Vent session
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:40 PM on September 8, 2021 [8 favorites]


oh hey wow guess who just figured out what gives her life meaning right now because of this thread
posted by Hermione Granger at 3:43 PM on September 8, 2021 [14 favorites]


this was what I didn't know I needed today. My kids watched this when they were young and me watching over their shoulder watched it to. It was a great great show. Andwhat a wonderful person and if you haven't watched the Moth segment on 'famishness' it is so so good. Thank you so much for this post!
posted by bluesky43 at 4:10 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


I was a teenager and then in college during Blue's Clues heyday but we were oddly obsessed with it when I was in college (I wasn't a pot smoker but it was possible the people I was around were ... I honestly don't remember) so this kind of felt right.

I also bought Steve Burns' Songs for Dustmites & I still think it's great.

I will second/third that his segment from The Moth is really great and sweet in a surprising way.
posted by edencosmic at 5:26 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


"I mean we started out with clues and now it's what? Student loans..."
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:54 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Man I just got done chopping onions to make cream of mushroom soup why you gotta do me like this!?
posted by loquacious at 6:05 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


Steve Burns tells a hilarious story about being invited on a date that went wrong on The Moth - Fameishness.
posted by Knowyournuts at 6:14 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]


🐾
posted by pyramid termite at 6:42 PM on September 8, 2021 [6 favorites]


often wondered if Steve was more like Watson, Holmes or Mrs. Hudson.
posted by clavdivs at 7:28 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


It just hit me when he said he'd never forgotten about us and I was a (notional) adult 25 years ago and I am a (very serious) grownup now and do you know how rare it is to hear simple beautiful things like that? After I got myself sorted, it was dusty for a while, I went and reached out to everyone I hadn't spoken to for a while to say Hi and hoped they were ok and let's talk if you want to or need to. And, yes, I am looking great. Thanks, Steve. We missed you.
posted by nfalkner at 7:36 PM on September 8, 2021 [11 favorites]


My kids watched Blues Clues, but I have to admit, I never liked it. Never really got it. I am now a Steve Burns fan after watching the link JustSayNoDawg posted of Steve telling the story of what it was like being Steve from Blues Clues and about going on a date with a Playboy model. Both touching and funny at the same time.
posted by AugustWest at 8:35 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]


Reading this I can't help but feel deep nostalgia for Blue's Clues. My 22 year old daughter watched it as a little kid and even had a Blue's Clues backpack. I really miss those simpler, sweeter days.
posted by drstrangelove at 3:59 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]


Steve calls the departure “abrupt”, but I recall that there were episodes with both hosts, sort of like on-the-job training before Steve got on the bus for college. That was a sensitive and considerate way to hand off between hosts, considering the very young audience.
posted by dr_dank at 4:25 AM on September 9, 2021 [8 favorites]


So, I wanted to share this with my daughter, and I asked her if she used to watch Blue's Clues. She excitedly reminded me that she would always watch BC right before I drove her to kindergarten. I'm so old...
posted by Thorzdad at 5:17 AM on September 9, 2021 [7 favorites]


Maybe this was in a link above and I missed it, and at one point it was common knowledge, but for any who didn't know...

Steve basically left because he felt like he was aging out of the role (he was going bald, for one) and because he wanted to spend more time on his own music. His album Songs for Dustmites came out in 2003 and was produced by Dave Fridmann (who was a member of Mercury Rev and also produces for The Flaming Lips). That next career didn't entirely take off, but many people thought he acquitted himself pretty well. Here is the single.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:13 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]


Oh, this is way fun - the three different Blues' Clues hosts all together, watching and reacting to each of their first episodes.

Steve cracks jokes during this on his energy level; it reminded me of an interview he did when he was on the show that his whole performance was largely based on "six cups of very strong coffee first thing in the morning".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:42 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]


And in 25 more years we will see this.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:52 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


We’re all so emotionally damaged from this last year and a half that Steve from Blue’s Clues was like “I have to address the nation”— Jaron Myers (@jaronmyers) September 8, 2021
posted by ob1quixote at 9:59 AM on September 9, 2021 [14 favorites]


...So.....I am actually two-degrees-of-separation removed from the actual Steve Burns. I am going to send the playwright I know who knows Steve a link to that sweatshirt, and ask him to send it to Steve - and then get his reaction.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:08 AM on September 9, 2021 [4 favorites]


My daughter (and my wife and I) loved Blue's Clues so dang much. It was so nice to see a gentle, warm, caring unselfconscious male role model on TV at the time. Songs for Dustmites is indeed fantastic (I'm partial to "A Reason"), and I was bummed he didn't keep making music. Super glad to hear from him again, and good to know he is doing well.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:25 PM on September 9, 2021 [5 favorites]




He was in my town doing stuff w/ the Flaming Lips once, & I saw him walk out of a record store & get into his car. The most boring celebrity sighting possible, but nearly twenty years later it's still what pops in my head whenever anybody brings him up.
posted by broken wheelchair at 12:14 AM on September 11, 2021


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