A speckled blue dog and a room full of cartoon furniture said their goodbyes to Steve Burns one day in 2002, and he vanished into a two-dimensional school bus.
Numerous young viewers were left without a genial host who encouraged them through their televisions during their formative years after the “Blue’s Clues” era ended abruptly.
Mr. Burns was absent from “Blue’s Clues” except for occasional appearances in spinoffs. Dedicated fans, as they grew up and found one another, began to wonder — often online — what had become of him after his sudden disappearance.
Mr. Burns made a triumphant return to the world of Nickelodeon on Tuesday in a video posted to Nick Jr.’s Twitter account. In the lime-green rugby shirt he wore as a child, he addressed his now grown-up audience.
“I realise that was kind of abrupt,” he said when recalling his departure nearly two decades ago. I woke up one morning and decided to go to college. In addition, “that was really challenging, by the way, but wonderful because I got the opportunity to use my mind and take one step at a time, and now I literally am doing many of the things that I wanted to do.”
Next, Mr. Burns urged his audience to reflect on their own paths in his characteristically upbeat manner: “And then look at you and all of the things you have done and accomplished in all that time. There are no words for how amazing this is.
Many viewers were moved by his reappearance, recalling happy memories of their own childhoods in the face of current global crises such as the coronavirus pandemic and the extreme weather brought on by global warming. The video had been viewed more than 20 million times in less than 24 hours.
Mr. Burns was aware of the difficulties that some of his former viewers may have had to deal with.
There were clues, and now it’s…?” He asked, “What about student loans, jobs, and families?” You know, some of it has been a little challenging, you know?” “I’m sure you already know.”
As a final thank-you, he said he could not have done it without the support of his fans. In the end, “I guess I just wanted to let you know, even after all these years, I’ve never forgotten about you. “Ever,” he said.
As a music producer and musician, Mr. Burns couldn’t be contacted right away for comment. But in the years since he left the show, he’s spoken about his complicated relationship with fans and the programme, which he hosted in his 20s. However, he’s left the show. Many of his young fans believed they had a personal relationship with him, and he admitted that he was conflicted about it.
The Moth, a storytelling organisation, hosted a live performance in which he said, “Kids thought I was their friend for real.”
After a while, I began to question whether I was saying the right things to children when I said things like, ‘You are so smart, and you can do anything you want to.'” However, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is that really true? “. As Mr. Burns went on to say,
During his time as host of “Blue’s Clues,” Mr. Burns experienced an identity crisis as the show grew in popularity, peaking at more than 14 million viewers per week.
Even though this is fantastic, he began to question whether they had the right person in place; he wondered aloud whether they should have hired someone with more of a background in education or child development instead.
There was a lot of speculation among fans after his departure from the show. Using the handle @steveburnsalive on his Instagram account, Mr. Burns appears to playfully deny reports of his death. As the show’s creators moved on to other projects, he said in a HuffPost interview that “it was simply time to go,” and jokingly told Nickelodeon that he “refused to lose my hair on a kid’s television show.”
In reviving his “Blue’s Clues” role on Tuesday, Mr. Burns’ message struck just the right note with many of his social media fans, who said that his message brought them back to the innocence of childhood while also acknowledging the realities of adulthood.
Video reminded Chuck Gaffney, a computer programmer and voice actor in Rocky Point N.Y., of the recent deaths of his younger brother and cousin who had just celebrated their 25th birthday. Many of his seven younger siblings had grown up watching the show.
No matter how fast the clock has ticked by, our hearts have not. In an interview, he said, “Seeing messages like this—that there are people there for you—is comforting.” It’s important to keep in mind that we’re all in this together.
Mr. Gaffney said he intended to show the show to his 2-year-old daughter when she gets home from preschool.
However, in 2019, a new version of the show titled “Blue’s Clues and You!” was launched in place of the 2006 finale of “Blue’s Clues.” Josh Dela Cruz, the franchise’s first Asian American host, is in charge of hosting this episode. In October, a new season will premiere.
