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Blue's Clues: Difference between revisions
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Set in a vibrant, candy-colored world of [[Roger Rabbit Effect|animated characters combined with a human host,]] the show features the escapades of Blue, a [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|blue-colored dog.]] [[Once an Episode]], Blue will want to do something--be it read a book, have a snack, or make some kind of craft. However, Blue seems to be [[Talking Animal|the only creature in her world who can't talk]], so the only way she can communicate with her human owner is by playing Blue's Clues--a game in which she will tag 3 objects around the house (or backyard) with her pawprint, labeling them a "clue." It's up to her owner--along with the kids at home--to figure out what she wants to do by piecing together the clues.
First introduced in 1996, the show is notable for [[Trope Codifier|pioneering]] the kid's show version of an [[Interactive Narrator]]--one who talks "to" the camera, seemingly at the children watching. ''Blue's Clues'' was so successful, this went on to become the norm for most kid's show hosts--especially those directed at the "Under 6" age bracket. It also originally ran under the notion that children learn through repetition--so the same episode of the show would run for a full week. (The show no longer practices this.) It was ''hugely'' successful, leading to several direct-to-video movies, an eventual [[Spin
The show was originally hosted by Steven Burns (A.K.A. "Steve"), but he quit the show--not due to heroin overdose, as rumors claimed, but due to the fact that he was [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|losing his hair]], and was afraid of seeming too "old" to the kids. (He also was somewhat worried about typecasting, and he also wanted to pursue a career in music - and he has been successful in indie rock circles thanks to his connections with his friends, the [[Flaming Lips]].) His replacement was [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|"Joe,"]] his TV younger brother, who still runs the show, and its spinoff ''Blue's Room,'' until 2006, when production came to a halt. Reruns are now seen on the [[Nick Jr]] channel, and DVDs still exist.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Adorkable]]: Steve
* [[Adobe Flash]]: Until Blue's Room, all the animated parts were animated this way. Thus, it the first Nick show to use Flash. (At least on the whole network. ''Kablam!'' was the first show to use Adobe Flash on the regular Nick schedule).
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* [[The Danza]]: Steve Burns as Steve. (Joe's real name, however, was Donovan.)
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Poor Magenta (and Green Puppy, and Purple Kangaroo, and Orange kitten...)
* [[Depraved Kids' Show Host]]: Subverted, all of the nasty rumors of why Steve left were false, and he appeared on Oprah to dispel the rumors and give advice to parents on how to help children who thought he had died. He was careful with publicity things he appeared in afterwards for a while, in case kids might confuse him for his character, and when his girlfriend asked him if he wanted to have relations on the Thinking Chair he received as a gift, he declined, saying it would feel like millions of parents would be watching him.
* [[The Ditz]]: There's always at least one clue in the show (sometimes ALL THREE) where Joe or Steve will ask the kids if they see a clue, or where it is. It takes three times for him to FINALLY understand what the kids are saying. ("A clue!" "A shoe? Yes, I'm wearing shoes." "No, a clue!" "You, too?" "No, a clue!" "Oh! A clue! Right over there!")
* [[Dropped a Bridget On Him]]: Kids who watch Blue's Clues most likely believe that Blue is a boy, [[Pink Girl, Blue Boy|due to the color of his fur.]] [[Inverted Trope|Not so.]]
* [[Excited Kids Show Host]]: Steve goes (very close to) BERSERK when he finds a clue for the first time.
* [[Happily Married]]: Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper.
* [[Hey
** The late [[Golden Girls|Blanche Deveroux]] shows up as Steve's grandmother.
* [[Hey
** One-appearance characters in older episodes? Some of them were [[Ka Blam|Henry and June]].
** One of the voice actors for Periwinkle was Jansen Panettiere, who voices Truman in ''[[The Xs]]'' and young Rodney Copperbottom in ''[[Robots]]''. You might also know his older sister, [[Heroes|Hay]][[Kingdom Hearts|den]].
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* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Steve wore nothing but green striped shirts and khaki pants. All of Joe's shirts are different colors, but they have the same square pattern.
* [[Matryoshka Object]]: One episode has Steve opening a present with an increasingly smaller present inside each one.
* [[Merchandise
* [[No Fourth Wall]]: The people on the show would often query the "audience" on the answer to the show's questions and puzzles. Not to mention Blue pawprints the screen in the beginning of an episode.
** One interesting example: One time after Steve greets the viewer, he asks how they "got" there. The conclusion he reaches? "Oh, by ''television''. Cool! ''([[Screen Tap|knocks on the screen]])''".
* [[Once an Episode]]: ''Tons.'' Getting mail, sitting in the Thinking Chair, the "Skidoo..."
* [[Parental Bonus]]: There's a scene in one episode where Steve, Blue, and some bunny are acting out a story. Steve is playing the king, and impersonating of course, [[Elvis Presley|The King of Rock and Roll]].
* [[Pink Girl, Blue Boy]]: A notable subversion - both Blue and Magenta are female.
* [[Portal Picture]]: Blue, Steve, and Joe can all "Skidoo" into pretty much any picture around and interact with the residents. Actually, that's pretty awesome...
* [[Put On a Bus]]: Steve (literally)
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** There are also three pink snails hidden in the background of every episode for older viewers to find.
* [[Running Gag]]: In "What is Blue Afraid Of?," Steve and Blue skidoo into a mansion with a ghost, Boo, who's afraid of his own name. Whenever Steve says it, the ghost shrieks and shudders. Steve eventually catches onto this and starts getting quite a kick out of saying the name and watching the ghost jump in fright.
* [[Spin
* [[
** And to a lesser extent, Sidetable Drawer.
* [[Suddenly Voiced]]: Blue in the ''Blue's Room'' spin-off series. Additionally, in the book releases, Blue was suddenly voiced before ''Blue's Room'' even started. Seriously, pick up any of the more recent numbered ''Blue's Clues'' book releases not set within the world of ''Blue's Room'' and you'll find that Blue actually talks out loud to Joe, Green Puppy, Magenta and everyone else.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Steve's replacement, Joe.
* [[Take Your Time]]: Blue wants a snack, but won't tell us what that specific snack is. We have to waste god-only-knows how much time playing Blue's Clues to find out what snack she wants. (She must not have been ''that'' hungry). What are we going to do today? We have to play Blues Clues to find out we're going to the beach! (Wouldn't that time have been better spent actually DRIVING there?)
** In fairness, all episodes seem to take place in [[Real Time]], so we can be sure that things will be resolved in less than 20 minutes, which isn't that long. And besides, Blue's Clues is ''[[What Do You Mean
* [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]]: The show actually makes a concentrated effort to ''avoid'' this. Almost all of the characters have non-gender-specific features, and all of them speak with the wholly androgynous voices of small children. It's actually more likely for random characters to be ''female.''
* [[The Movie]]: ''Blue's Big Musical Movie'', the only direct-to-video movie for the show.
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* [[Title Theme Tune]]: "Another Blue's Clues Day." They didn't start using it until after Joe became host, though. Up until then, a simple instrumental theme was used to lead into the program.
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: At least one promo for an episode actually gave enough information for especially astute viewers to figure out the answer to Blue's Clues before the episode ''had even started''.
* [[Universal
* [[Viewers
** In the tenth anniversary special, "Meet Blue's Baby Brother," Blue, Joe and the viewers were treated to a game of Gold Clues to figure out the identity of Blue's baby brother. The first clue was the word "puppy." Er, gee, thanks, but was it really necessary to give us a clue for us to figure out that Blue's baby brother is a ''puppy''? Especially considering the fact that we traveled to ''Puppyville'' to find Blue's baby brother.
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