FYI

I just realized that many people are not familiar with the show Blue's Clues. Steve is a man in his early twenties who has a dog named Blue and other helpful characters made of felt that help him find clues about what Blue wants to do. Blue leaves clues around the house that are little blue pawprints over an item that gives Steve a clue. Steve lives alone in a two-dimentional house that seems to be made of construction paper. (I didn't want to say that he lived in a cardboard house; that would sound pathetic, but even so, it is a very colorful, pretty cardboard house.)

The Cast

Magenta is another dog that sometimes comes over to play with Blue and Steve. Shovel and Pail live in the backyard and help Steve dig in the sand box. Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper live in the kitchen and have a child named Paprika. They season Steve's food and help him find pawprints that are left in the kitchen. Steve speaks to himself, narrating his actions while a child's voice speaks from nowhere, helping him find Blue's pawprints. Strangely, Blue never gets punished for leaving pawprints around the house, but she actually gets rewarded when Steve figures out what she wants by drawing the clues in his Handy Dandy Notebook. Steve then has to sit in his Thinking Chair because he has trouble thinking anywhere else in the house. The child who speaks from nowhere helps him figure out the clues.

Steve's favorite time of the day is mail time. He sings a jingle every time the mail comes, and always politely thanks Mailbox for bringing the mail to him. Mailbox is a character that cranks in on a metal crank that strangely makes no noise. A male chorus in the background sings "mail time, mail time, mail time!" and Mailbox makes his grand entrance, wearing a white smile of pure construction paper, or felt, or whatever it is. Steve reaches out his hand in a grand gesture and a letter pops out, flies toward the screen and opens into a video of children telling Steve what they are doing, for example, "Hey, Steve, we are building a snowman!" Steve says that he happens to be doing the same thing; what a coincidence! (There are a lot of coincidences in this show.)

The saddest part of Blue's Clues is the So Long Song. Steve sings so long to everyone and the camera pans out, leaving the felt creatures and happy cardboard house completely out of view.

Joe is now growing on me, but Steve will live in my memory forever.