There are two scandals in Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues history that will be forever seared into the memories of folks who grew up watching the series during its original run: when Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper had their baby Paprika in the season one finale, and when Blue’s first owner Steve (Burns) left the show in 2002.
What made Steve’s departure — and the introduction of Steve’s younger brother Joe (Donovan Patton) — such a big deal to Blue’s Clues fans was how it marked the passage of time and the reality that things change. In the years since the fictional Steve left Blue with Joe to go off for college, the Blue’s Clues legacy has lived on in subsequent series Blue’s Room and Blue’s Clues & You, where both Burns and Patton have reprised their roles alongside Josh (Joshua Dela Cruz), Steve and Joe’s cousin.
Aside from the finale, where Joe watches Steve catch a bus out of town, Blues Clues never spent too much time dwelling on the gravity of his exit, but this week ahead of a new live-action Blue’s Clues movie, Steve popped up on Nick Jr.’s Twitter page with a message to all the people who knew him when.
So about that time Steve went off to college… #BluesClues25 pic.twitter.com/O8NOM2eRjy
— Nick Jr. (@nickjr) September 7, 2021
It’s jarring at first to hear Steve acknowledge the student loan debt he incurred after going off to school, but that’s a part of life that many of Blue’s Clues fans eventually came to understand as they followed in his footsteps. That said, it’s a bit odd to hear Steve tapping into that good-old Blue’s Clues parasocial relationship with other grown adults. But the the video’s earnest message might be the sort of thing you’d be interested in hearing if you’ve ever wondered whether Steve from Blue’s Clues ever thinks about you.
Blue’s Clues & You is now airing on Nickelodeon, and the new Blue’s Clues movie is due out some time in the near future.
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