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If you were a parent of a child in the 1990s or were a child, you remember the Nickelodeon show Blue’s Clues. The show premiered in 1996, hosted by actor Steve Burns. He spent six years on it, connecting with audiences and featuring show content that encouraged children to figure out small problems and look around for clues when they didn’t understand something. Some of the original toys and merchandise from the show could spark interest among collectors and fans now that Burns has announced he will be hosting a podcast.
Burns left the show in 2002 to do a different kind of television work, and for years, there were death rumors, so the podcast is aptly named “Alive with Steve Burns.” He says the podcast will be “basically about what we’ve always done. You and I have always been about this deep and curious investigation of our world.” In this video, he explains how he connected with his audience in a very personal and individual way and how important that was to him.
The podcast reminds millennial fans of the show and characters like Blue and Mr. Salt, and collectors and fans are showing new interest in the toys and games available when the show was on the air. The Handy Dandy Notebook, a staple for Steve, was one of the more popular items from the show, and kids wanted their own versions, complete with the striped crayon that matched Steve’s shirt and featured the “thinking chair.”
The original notebooks fetch hundreds at auctions, likely because the company that produced them, Colorbök, had to recall them soon after their release when small parts broke off, creating a choking hazard. The recall created a smaller supply than normal of television merchandise tie-in items, which are often mass-produced, so if you spot one at a yard sale or in an old toy box, grab it.
Time will tell if other items from the show, like plush stuffed animals, dolls, and other toys, will also spark interest among fans. Viewers and fans often compared Burns to another childhood television great, Fred Rogers. In this panel discussion, Burns tells fans that Blue’s Clues is a “direct homage” to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and that is why he always wore the same clothes and used the same set; it was comforting to children to see him where he was always expected to me, waiting in his chair for visitors and friends.
Brenda Kelley Kim lives in the Boston area. She is the author of Sink or Swim: Tales From the Deep End of Everywhere and writes a weekly syndicated column for The Marblehead Weekly News/Essex Media Group. When not writing or walking her snorty pug, Penny, she enjoys yard sales, flea markets, and badminton.
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