Blue's Clues Analysis

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Created in 1996, Blue’s Clues told the story of a puppy named Blue and her owner Steve as they explored the world around them. Done completely in computer animation, aside from the live-action host, Blue’s Clues ran for 8 years before a puppet-based sequel was created (IMDB). Designed for Nickelodeon’s preschool block, Nick Jr., the show aimed to change the way young children watched and learned from television. Each 30 minute long episode followed the same general formula. The show would open with a greeting from Steve and Blue, in which the viewer was invited into their home, and into their world. From there, Steve would introduce the theme of the day, as well as the initial conflict. This could range from Blue’s choice of hiding spot in …show more content…

There Steve would lead the viewer through a game, often designed to help someone in that area, and once the game was finished, a clue would be discovered, marked by Blue’s paw print. Steve always needed help finding the clue, asking the viewer to point to it, or explain what they were seeing. Midway through the episode Steve would return to the living room, and talk to Mailbox, who would share a video letter of children discussing or demonstrating something related to the week’s theme. The conclusion of the episode usually returned to the living room, during which Steve would sit in the big red thinking chair and go through the three clues they’d collected, and try to come up with a solution, after which the answer would play out on scene. Steve would also take the time to review what they’d done throughout the course of the …show more content…

While normally creators need to completely come up with an idea for a show, pitch it, and hope for the best, Blue’s Clues was the opposite (Jaffe). Nickelodeon approached the creators specifically about creating a new type of television show for their new Nick Jr. line-up, shoving the creative team in a conference room for a month until pre-production was finished (Behind the Clues). But the idea for Blue’s Clues didn’t just pop up out of thin air. To understand how this show came about, one must first look back to the popularization of children’s’ television. In 1969, Sesame Street was introduced to families across the country, and the very idea of how children learn was challenged. The most important contribution Sesame Street added to educational programming was the increase of the importance of child research. I’ll go into detail about the different research behind the two aforementioned shows a bit later, in an effort to analyze it against developmental ideas discussed within this course. But, as a brief summary, Sesame Street directly addressed the question of how children allocate their attention during a standard television program, resulting in the creation of the segmented “magazine” style the show is known for

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