Someone's gonna see me interviewing a groundhog and think I don't have a future.

From the wikipedia entry for Blue's Clues:

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 I'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.