30 Years of Blue's Clues

Madeline Fretz - In the 38 years of Nick Jr., few of their shows have had a profound effect on childhood as the show this Facebook group and fansite are about... Blue's Clues. 30 years ago today, Blue's Clues had its primetime premiere on Nickelodeon with a morning premiere on the Nick Jr. block with Face a day later. (Steve even introduced it, telling Face to "take it away") Throughout the 30 years that followed, the show had three co-productions around the world, dubs in other languages, live on stage touring shows, celebrity guests, primetime specials, and two movies; it has dealt with Steve's departure, and after a few years, it was all gone, until 2019, when Blue's Clues & You! premiered, introducing this storybook-inspired world and characters to a new generation of preschoolers. Despite abruptly being cancelled after a four episode fifth season (Blue's Clues History Fans was founded so this franchise wouldn't be forgotten), Nick Jr. occasionally acknowledges the show on the Nickelodeon Family social media, reruns of Blue's Clues & You! premiered earlier this year, and a new book has recently been published. So could this mean more Blue's Clues in the future?

From the moment they came up with the idea for a preschool game show after Gullah Gullah Island and Allegra's Window premiered on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon was expecting Blue's Clues to be a hit, but Nick Jr. didn't only have a hit on their hands, they had a hit that was an effect on childhood and pop culture. For years, there were only two shows for preschoolers, and both were on PBS - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street, but by the 1980s, more shows for this age range were starting to be churned out. Good timing, too, since a lot of shows at the time were animated shows for older kids that were made to sell toys, and nothing else, so there was a rule for television networks to air educational shows in morning hours. So it's fair to say Blue's Clues came at a time when the children's television landscape was growing and only getting better.

Little did Traci Paige Johnson, Angela Santomero, and Todd Kessler know that this little show they created would become a worldwide phonomenon. Heck, I bet the whole family knows Blue's Clues - perhaps you grew up on the show and have children who watch Blue's Clues & You! or reruns with Steve or Joe, or perhaps your parents watched it with you as a kid and you all have memories of it. So whereas the original show came at a time when more shows were being made for the preschool audience, Blue's Clues & You! came at the time of the rising digital age, making something old new again, while the kids who were the first to watch Blue's Clues with Steve were grown up and about to have kids of their own, so it felt like the perfect time to introduce their children to their own childhood.

Sure, Winky Dink and You may have encouraged 50s kids to draw on their television screens, but Blue's Clues was television at its most interactive. Kids can shout "a clue! a clue!" when they see a blue pawprint on screen or figure out how the clues go together even before the last one is found. And with Steve by our side, forming a television relationship that felt real (though the real Steve had trouble distancing himself from his TV counterpart, especially with the shared name), the show's changed millions of lives. Have you heard how many Make-a-Wish Foundation recipients wished to meet Steve? (with the collapse he had gone through, he figured they would want to meet both him and real-life him) Today we celebrate 30 years of clues, skidoos, letters, love, and happiness. Blue's Clues has brought smiles to faces young and old for 30 years now, and hopefully more to come.

Who doesn't know Blue's Clues? Ask any adult on the street and they'll tell you at least one thing they know about the show. Blue's Clues gives children and children at heart a place where they feel warm, safe, and always welcome, with lifelong friends.

Thank you, Blue's Clues, and to everyone in the cast and crew. Thank you for giving us something that gave hundreds within a generations plenty of love and enjoyment, and happy 30 years.