Blue's Clues

infobox television
bgcolor =
show_name = Blue's Clues


caption = Toys made in Blue and Periwinkle's image
format = Children's television series
runtime = 30 minutes per episode
country = USA
network = Nickelodeon
first_aired = September 8, 1996
last_aired = August 6, 2006
creator = Traci Paige Johnson
Todd Kessler
Angela Santomero
executive producer =
starring = Steve Burns (1996–2002)
Donovan Patton (2002–2006)
num_seasons = 10
num_episodes = 140
list_episodes = List of Blue's Clues episodes
imdb_id = 0163929
tv_com_id = 4339

"Blue's Clues" is a children's television show that premiered on Nickelodeon on September 8, 1996,cite video | people = Jim Forbes (narrator) | title = Behind the clues: 10 years of Blue | medium = Short documentary | publisher = Nickelodeon | date = 2006-07-27 ] and ran until 2006. It was created by a "green team" of producers, Todd Kessler, Angela Santomero, and Traci Paige Johnson, who used concepts learned from child development and early-childhood education research to create a television show that would capture preschool children's attention and help them learn. They used the narrative format in their presentation of material, as opposed to the more traditional magazine format, and structured every episode the same way.

The result, "Blue's Clues," has been called "one of the most successful, critically acclaimed, and ground-breaking preschool television series of all time". Author Malcolm Gladwell called the show "perhaps the 'stickiest'—meaning the most irresistible and involving—television show ever". [cite news | last = D'Angelo | first = Joe | title = Ex-'Blue's Clues' host Steve Burns an indie rocker at heart | publisher = MTV.com | date = 2002-04-30 | url = http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2004/02/me_you_dog_named_blue/ | accessdate = 2007-12-18 ] Its innovative use of research, technology, and interactive content has influenced its genre since its debut, including the "gold standard of preschool TV programs" that inspired it, "Sesame Street."cite news | last = Weisman | first = Jon | title = Interactive innovator draws raves | work = Variety.com | date = 2006-08-02 | url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117947877.html?categoryid=2271&cs=1 | accessdate = 2007-11-21 ] It became the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial television, and received nine Emmy awards. Its efficacy in teaching children using the media of television has been documented in research studies.

"Blue's Clues", shown in over sixty countries, [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 61 | isbn = 079315376X ] was hosted by Steve Burns, who left the show to pursue a music career in 2002, and Donovan Patton. A spin-off called "Blue's Room" premiered in 2004.

Origin

In 1993, Nickelodeon assigned a team of its producers to create a new television program for young children, using research on early childhood education and the viewing habits of preschoolers. Their goal was to develop a children's television program that would "empower preschoolers to learn through active participation in activities that are grounded in their everyday lives, to redefine the approach to problem-solving for preschoolers in an engaging environment, to encourage preschoolers and those who work with them to apply the thinking skills and activities presented on "Blue's Clues" outside the television world, and to model prosocial messages."cite conference | first = Koshi | last = Dhingra | coauthors = Alice Wilder, Alison Sherman, Karen D. Leavitt | year = 2001 | month = April | title = Science on television: Case study of the development of "Bugs" on "Blue's Clues" | conference = Annual meeting | booktitle = Change agents in science education | publisher = American Educational Research Association | location = Seattle, Washington | url = http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/17/1d/35.pdf | accessdate = 2008-03-08|format=PDF] The producers, Todd Kessler, Angela Santomero and Traci Paige Johnson (whom Brown Johnson, executive creative director at Nickelodeon, called a "green creative team"), were influenced by "Sesame Street" but wanted to utilize research performed during the 30 years since it debuted. "We wanted to learn from "Sesame Street" and take it one step further," Angela Santomero said. [cite book | last = Gladwell | first = Malcolm | title = The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | year = 2000 | location = Boston, Mass. | pages = 111 | isbn = 0-316-34662-4]

Based on research of theorists such as Daniel Anderson of the University of Massachusetts (who served as a consultant for "Blue's Clues"), the producers set out to develop a show that took advantage of children being intellectually and behaviorally active when watching television. Research since "Sesame Street" changed how attention span in young children was perceived. "Sesame Street" was developed with the understanding that children have short attention spans, so the show was designed in a magazine-like format.cite journal | last = Jaffe | first = Eric | title = Watch and learn | journal = APS Observer | volume = 18 | issue = 12 | month = December | year = 2005 | url = http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1900 | accessdate = 2007-12-04 ] Until then, children's educational television programs presented their content in a one-way conversation, but "Blue's Clues" revolutionized the genre by inviting their viewers' involvement. Its creators believed that if children were more involved in the action of what they were viewing, they would attend to its content longer than previously expected, up to a half hour, and learn more. They also dropped the traditional magazine format for a narrative format. "... The choice for "Blue's Clues" became to tell one story, beginning to end, camera moving left-to-right like reading a storybook, transitions from scene to scene as obvious as the turning of a page." Every episode of "Blue's Clues" was structured in this way. Its pace was deliberate and its material was presented clearly.cite news | last = Collins | first = James | title = Tube for tots | publisher = Time Magazine | date = 2006-08-02 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,987416-1,00.html | accessdate = 2007-12-04 ] One way this was done was in the use of pauses—"long enough to give the youngest time to think, short enough for the oldest not to get bored."

The production of "Blue's Clues" was upon research that showed that television could be a "powerful educational agent" because for most American children, it was an accessible medium and a "powerful cultural artifact". Since television programs tell stories through pictures, the potential for episodic learning was high. Television, using film techniques, was able to present information from multiple perspectives, in a variety of "real world" contexts (i.e., situations within the daily experiences of young children), and that television could be an effective method of scientific education for young children. The creators wanted to provide their viewers with more "authentic learning opportunities" by placing problem-solving tasks in the context of storytelling techniques, by slowly increasing the difficulty of these tasks, and by inviting their direct involvement.

The show's creators encouraged participation with their use of repetition. At first, Nickelodeon aired the same episode daily for five days before showing the next one.cite news | last = Mifflin | first = Lawrie | title = The joy of repetition, repetition, repetition | publisher = The New York Times | date = 1997-08-07 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E4DA1F30F930A3575BC0A961958260 | accessdate = 2007-12-09 ] In field tests, the attention and comprehension of young viewers increased with each repeated viewing. [cite book | last = Gladwell | first = Malcolm | title = The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | year = 2000 | location = Boston, Mass. | pages = 125-126 | isbn = 0-316-34662-4] Repetition was built into the structure of each episode; for example, "in an episode called 'Blue's Predictions,' the show's human host, Joe, says some variation of the word 'predict' around 15 times."

Development

In the summer of 1994, Kessler, Santomero, and Johnson met at the Nickelodeon studios to develop "Blue's Clues". At first, the character Blue was a cat and the name of the show was "Blue's Prints." Blue became a dog only because Nickelodeon was already producing a show about a cat. Kessler handled the production aspect of the show, Santomero research, and Johnson the animation and design.The creators understood that the show's look and visual design would be integral to the attachment children would have to the show. [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 95 | isbn = 079315376X ] Johnson utilized simple cut-out shapes of familiar objects with a wide variety of colors and textures to resemble a storybook. She hired artist Dave Palmer to develop what was at that time a new technology—creating the animation from simple materials like fabric, paper or pipe-cleaners and then scanning them into a computer so that they could be animated without repeatedly re-drawing them like in traditional animation. The result was something that looked different from anything else on television at the time, and they were able to animate their shows in less time compared to traditional methods, eight weeks for two episodes as opposed to sixteen weeks for one. [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 94 | isbn = 079315376X ] It took an average of two years for the development process, from scripting to music, of an episode to be completed.

Another innovative aspect of the production process of "Blue's Clues" was the producers' use of research. By 2001, the research team consisted of Alice Wilder, Alison Sherman, Karen Leavitt, and Koshi Dhingra; Wilder was head of the show's research department and a member of the team that developed it after the premiere aired. The research team field tested every episode three times before putting it on air, as compared to "Sesame Street", which tested a third of its episodes once, after they were completed. [cite book | last = Gladwell | first = Malcolm | title = The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | year = 2000 | location = Boston, Mass. | pages = 127 | isbn = 0-316-34662-4] In their tests at preschools before the premiere, the show was "immediately successful."

Another key to the success of "Blue's Clues" was casting. According to Traci Paige Johnson, she was cast as Blue's voice because out of the show's crew, she sounded the most like a dog. Nick Balaban, who, along with Michael Rubin, wrote the music for the show, was cast as the voice of Mr. Salt. (Balabin reported that Mr. Salt was not originally French; he spoke with a Brooklyn accent.)

The most important casting was that of the host, the only human character in the show. After over 100 auditions and months of research, the producers hired actor/performer Steven Burns, who remained on "Blue's Clues" for seven years and was in over one hundred episodes, until he left to pursue a musical career in 2002. As Johnson said, "What made Burns a great children's host was that 'he didn't want to be a children's host ... He loved kids, but he didn't want to make a career out of it.'"cite news | last = Norris | first = Chris | title = Me and you and a dog named Blue | publisher = Spin Magazine | date = 2004-02-09 | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453666/20020429/steve_burns.jhtml | accessdate = 2007-12-18 ] Burns himself stated, tongue-in-cheek, "I knew I wasn't gonna be doing children's television all my life, mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kid's TV show, and it was happenin'—fast."

Burns' departure caused a resurface of the rumors that had circulated about him since 1998. As Burns said, "The rumor mill surrounding me has always been really strange." These "specious claims" included dying from a heroin overdose, being run over by a car, and being replaced, like Paul McCartney of The Beatles, by a look-alike. Some viewers claimed that "clues" regarding Burns' demise were placed within the show.cite web | last = Mikkelson | first = Barbara | title = Demise or shine | publisher = Snopes.com | date = 2007-08-05 | url = http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/bluesclues.asp | accessdate = 2008-01-30 ] Burns made an appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show to dispute these rumors, and he and co-creator Angela Santomero appeared on Today to help parents assuage the fears of children who might have heard the rumors.

Burns was replaced by Donovan Patton, who was subjected to the same kind of scrutiny to earn the job."We saw Steve Burns' retirement from the show as a chance to put "Blue's Clues" on a new course," Johnson said. [ cite news | last = Kiesewetter | first = John | title = 'Blue's Clues' puts on new host, new shirts | publisher = The Cincinnati Enquirer | date = 2002-04-29 | url = http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/29/tem_blues_clues_puts_on.html | accessdate = 2008-01-31]

Format

The format of each episode of "Blue's Clues" is the same.

Steve, the host, presents the audience with a puzzle involving Blue, the animated dog ... To help the audience unlock the puzzle, Blue leaves behind a series of clues, which are objects marked with one of her paw prints. In between the discovery of the clues, Steve plays a series of games—mini-puzzles—with the audience that are thematically related to the overall puzzle ... As the show unfolds, Steve and Blue move from one animated set to another, jumping through magical doorways, leading viewers on a journey of discovery, until, at the end of the story, Steve returns to the living room. There, at the climax of the show, he sits down in a comfortable chair to think—a chair known, of course, in the literal world of Blue's Clues, as the Thinking Chair. He puzzles over Blue's three clues and attempts to come up with the answer. [cite book | last = Gladwell | first = Malcolm | title = The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | year = 2000 | location = Boston, Mass. | pages = 122 | isbn = 0-316-34662-4]

Reception and influence

"Blue's Clues" premiered on September 8, 1996. It was a "smash hit," largely in due to the intensive and extensive research its producers employed. Within eighteen months of its premiere, "virtually 100% of preschoolers' parents knew about "Blue's Clues", an awareness comparable to "top-tier" shows like the 30-year old "Sesame Street." [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 3 | isbn = 079315376X ] It became the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial television; by 2002; 13.7 million viewers tuned in each week. In 2000, the show had generated over $1 billion in licensing products. It has received numerous awards for excellence in children's programming, educational software, and licensing, and has received nine Emmy nominations. More than ten million "Blue's Clues" books were in print by 2001, and over three million copies of six CD-ROM titles based on the show were sold. [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 3-4 | isbn = 079315376X ]

Much of the credit for the success of "Blue's Clues" can be given to Steve Burns, the show's original host. Burns became "a superstar" among his audience and their parents, but unknown to everyone else, [cite news | last = D'Angelo | first = Joe | title = Ex-'Blue's Clues' host Steve Burns an indie rocker at heart | publisher = MTV.com | date = 2002-04-30 | url = http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2004/02/me_you_dog_named_blue/ | accessdate = 2007-12-18 ] and enjoyed what he called "micro-celebrity, about as small a celebrity as you can be." As the "New York Times" reported, he "developed an avid following among both preteen girls and mothers. The former send torrents of e-mail; the latter scrutinize the show with an intensity that might make even Elmo, the red Muppet, blush."cite news | last = Iovine | first Julie V. = | title = At home with—Steven Burns; A few clues in Brooklyn | publisher = The New York Times | date = 1999-11-18 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E4D71E3DF93BA25752C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | accessdate = 2007-12-11] In 2000, People Magazine included Burns in their annual list of America's most eligible bachelors.cite news | title = Questions and answers: Steve Burns | publisher = Newsweek | date = 2000-07-08 | url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/85284/page/1 | accessdate = 2009-01-12] Burns was "very involved" with the production of "Blue's Clues" from the beginning, first becoming a creative consultant and by 2000, a producer.

"Blue's Clues" was one of the first children's television shows that allowed countries outside the U.S. to produce their own versions of the show. It was a run-away hit in the U.K., and has become part of pop culture in Korea. The "dubbed" American version is shown in over sixty countries. [cite book | last = Tracy | first = Diane | title = Blue's Clues for success: The 8 secrets behind a phenomenal business | publisher = Kaplan Publishing | year = 2002 | location = New York, New York | pages = 59-60 | isbn = 079315376X ] It was also one of the first preschool shows to incorporate American Sign Language into its content. (Approximately seven signs were used consistently in each episode.) [cite news | last = Lee | first = Felicia R.| title = A children's adventure in a Deaf world | publisher = The New York Times | date = 2000-04-22 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E0DE1630F931A15757C0A9669C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/S/Sign%20Language | accessdate = 2007-12-14]

The show's extensive use of research in its development and production process inspired several research projects that have provided evidence for its efficacy as a learning tool. In 2000, four studies, funded by Nickelodeon and the University of Alabama, researched the impact of "Blue's Clues" on its young viewers. When repeated viewings of the same episode were tested, children showed increased material comprehension, especially in their use of problem-solving strategies. The show improved children's flexible thinking—solving riddles, creative thinking, and non-verbal and verbal skills. Regular viewers tended to interact with other TV programs more than other children. [cite journal | last = Anderson | first = Daniel R. | title = Researching Blue's Clues: Viewing behavior and impact | journal = Media Psychology | volume = 2 | issue = 2 | pages = 179–194 | year = 2000 | accessdate = 2007-12-12 | doi = 10.1207/S1532785XMEP0202_4 ] A two-year longitudinal study of the impact of viewing "Blue's Clues" was conducted; its result was that viewers of the show were more proficient in flexible thinking than their non-watching peers. [ Citation | last = Bryant | first = J. Alison | last2 = Bryant | first2 = Lisa | last3 = McCollum | first3 = James F. | last4 = Love | first4 = Curtis C. | contribution = Curriculum-based preschool television programming and the American family: Historical development, impact of public policy, and social and educational effects | year = 2001 | title = Television and the American Family | editor-last = Bryant | editor-first = Jennings | editor2-last = Bryant | editor2-first = J. Alison | place = Mahwah, N.J. | publisher = Lawrence Erlbaum Associates | isbn = 0-8058-3421-4] There is no evidence that watching "Blue's Clues" improves children's expressive vocabulary. In one of the few real criticisms of "Blue's Clues", researcher Shalom M. Fisch stated that although the show attempted to be "participatory", it could not truly be so (unlike interactive games) because the viewers' responses could not change or influence what was occurring onscreen. [cite book | last = Fisch | first = Shalom M. | title = Children's learning from educational television: "Sesame Street" and beyond | publisher = Lawrence Erlbaum Associates | year = 2004 | location = Mahwah, N.J. | isbn = 0-8058-3936-4]

ee also

* List of Blue's Clues episodes
* Traditional animation
* "The Tipping Point", by Malcolm Gladwell – contains an analysis of "Blue's Clues"

References

External links

* [http://www.nickjr.com/shows/blue/index.jhtml "Blue's Clues" on Nick Jr. site]
*
* [http://www.nickjr.com/shows/blue/blues_clues_faq.jhtml Nick Jr. FAQ]
* [http://epguides.com/BluesClues/ An episode guide]