Someone's gonna see me interviewing a groundhog and think I don't have a future.
From the wikipedia entry for Blue's Clues:
Unlike his cousins, Jack is being raised in a household that favors the original host Steve over second-stringer Joe. When I was trying to find the year/reason that Steve left I found that article and thought that the musical career thing was pretty random (moreso even than the hair loss, which was less surprising).
I read that a month or two ago. Cut to today andI'm watching Jack's watching some show called Jack's Big Music Show. The episode was appropriately entitled "Groundhog Day" and I want to make a quick pause to say that every show in existence should have at least one Groundhog Day themed episode. Anyhow this particular episode features Jon Stewart (whose thirst for acting has apparently not been quenched by his role in 1999's Big Daddy) doing his best to impersonate Phil Connors (or Ernest). Meanwhile, the groundhog had decided to go into hiding rather than deal with all the pressure associated with being a groundhog. Anyhow, Amy says the show is usually pretty annoying, but this episode was actually pretty humorous. My favorite part of this clip is the very end, although I doubt most of you will watch that far.
Apparently the offers from Nick Jr to return were too much for Steve to ignore. If I hadn't read that wikipedia article then I doubt I would've been able to place him.
Hosts
* Steve (Steven Burns):
Up until 2002, was the host of show. The character Steve left in order to go to college when the actor Steven Burns decided to pursue a musical career. Also, according to the 10th Anniversary documentary, he also was losing his hair very quickly, which was another reason he left the show.
* Joe (Donovan Patton):
Joe is Steve's younger brother on the show. He was phased in as the new host in 2002, with a number of shows featuring both Joe and Steve (sometimes only Steve's voice).
Unlike his cousins, Jack is being raised in a household that favors the original host Steve over second-stringer Joe. When I was trying to find the year/reason that Steve left I found that article and thought that the musical career thing was pretty random (moreso even than the hair loss, which was less surprising).
I read that a month or two ago. Cut to today and
Apparently the offers from Nick Jr to return were too much for Steve to ignore. If I hadn't read that wikipedia article then I doubt I would've been able to place him.
11 Comments:
Man, get with the times. I saw this over a month ago.
Oh yeah, Steve sucked as host.
Congrats, Jeremy. You've just figured out Blue's clues.
You saw it a month ago? Nick Jr celebrates groundhogs a month in advance? Well, kudos to them then.
If you were wondering....The other guy in the spot is Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips fame. Not surprising to see him associating with Blue's crew, as he also hangs out with SpongeBob's posse. They made a music video too. There must be some local joint where they all hang out and talk about...kids.
Ohh. I can see now my previous comment is made unnecessary by way of Steve Burns' wikipedia page. Being redundant is something I do well.....at.
I'm glad you brought this to my attention. I was under the impression that Steve had died. Not sure where that came from, but I heard it somewhere. Glad to see that he is still around to teach kids that groundhogs really might possibly maybe be important in some way, although all the research hasn't come in yet.
Another thing that's funny is that I was watching the whole clip at my desk at work, which is about 4 feet away from my boss' desk. He turned around and said, "What are you watching?" He heard the line about groundhogs being brown and thought it was a song about a BM.
He is no longer under that impression.
Those knowledgeable about the transitional period of Blue's Clues will realize that the writers considered several different plot lines to write Steve off the show. The path they eventually chose (i.e. Steve leaving for college), confused and upset long-time fans of the show, figuring a grown man who could not decipher a series of clues left by a mute dog without the assistant of preschoolers was hardly cut out for grade school, much less an institution of higher learning. Originally, Steve began mistaking household items for Blue's pawprints, and when his solution for "What game does Blue want to play today" resulted in the offhand conclusion of "mortar joint grout," the writers knew he had to go.
The first of such attempts to write Steve's character off the show involved a conceptual integration between "Where's Waldo?" and "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" whereby Steve was given the monumental task of traveling the world looking for international Blue's Clues, none of which actually existed.
The second idea was to introduce the Blue's Clues Paradox, in which Blue's three clues were so difficult to understand, Steve could no longer be the host of the show without resolving what Blue wanted to do with "quantum decoherence," "dark energy," and an "event horizon."
The third option, my personal favorite, was to simply have Blue (who has 67% creative control over the show) simply fire Steve as the host, in clue-form, of course. "What is Blue going to do with Me, a severance check, and an unemployment line?
What do you think, sirs?
Speakish - your comment was not unnecessary but informative! Consider yourself a worthy commenter! I knew that he'd worked with the Flaming Lips drummer, but wasn't aware that was him in the video.
Trent - I suspect that you bit on the heroin rumor, which you can read more about on his wikipedia page or on this snopes entry.
Drew - Man, how do you know all this stuff? I'm very jealous of your knowledgeableness (?). I think I would have enjoyed a Blue's Clues Paradox spinoff show, with more advanced clues geared toward adults.
Don't patronize me.
Hey, I was serious. Draw up a proposal and send it in to Nickelodeon.
Can no one answer your "What do you think, sirs?" question without being accused of patronization?
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