Blue's Clues - History

History

PBS was one of few sources for children's educational television programming in the U.S. prior to 1990. According to Blue's Clues for Success (2002) author Diane Tracy, "the state of children's television was pretty dismal". Congress passed the Children's Television Act that year, but the legislation did not specify how many hours of programming broadcasters were required to air, set no guidelines or criteria for educational programs, and had no provisions for enforcement. Most of the children's programming in the U.S. was violent and created for the purpose of selling toys. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled in 1997 that the commercial networks had to air educational children's programs for a minimum of three hours per week. The cable network Nickelodeon, which had been airing programs for 6- to 12-year-olds, was not legally bound by this legislation, but complied with it anyway, many years before the laws and regulations were passed.

Nickelodeon assigned a team of producers to create a new U.S. television program for young children in mid-1994, using research on early childhood education and the viewing habits of preschoolers. These producers, who were made up of the "green creative team" of Angela Santomero, Todd Kessler and Traci Paige Johnson, met at Nickelodeon Studios for a month to develop Blue's Clues. Kessler, Santomero and Johnson, according to Tracy, did not have the traditional backgrounds of most producers of children's programs, but "did possess an amazing combination of talents, backgrounds, and personal attributes". The character Blue was originally conceived as a cat, and the name of the show was to be "Blue's Prints," but Blue was changed to a dog, as Nickelodeon was already producing a show about a cat. Kessler handled the show's production, Santomero the research, and Johnson the animation and design. They were given a modest $150,000 to produce a pilot.

Blue's Clues premiered in the U.S. on September 8, 1996. It was a "smash hit", largely due to the intensive and extensive research its producers employed, and became "crucial" to Nickelodeon's growth. 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. It became the highest-rated show for preschoolers on commercial television. By 2002, 13.7 million viewers tuned in each week.

In January 2006, a spin-off, Blue's Room, was launched. It starred Donovan Patton and featured puppets instead of animation. Blue's Clues celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2006 with a DVD compilation of "milestone" episodes that included Burns' departure and a 12-minute retrospective produced by VH1's "Behind the Music" staff.