Nick Jr.’s original Blue's Clues series was hosted by Steve, who abruptly exited the show after four seasons in 2002. Blue's Clues, which is still available on the Paramount+ catalog, was a children’s television show following an animated blue-spotted dog, Blue, and her live-action owner Steve, as he tracks her clues (paw prints) to find out what plans she has for the day. Having led Blue's Clues since 1996, Steve Burns left the series in a three-part season finale, explaining he would be going away to college, so his younger brother Joe (Donovan Patton) would be taking over.
In an emotionally uplifting tribute, the original Blue's Clues host was featured in a viral video uploaded by Nick Jr. where he gave a heartfelt thank you to his early fans, who are now primarily in their 20s and 30s. Wearing his iconic green striped shirt, Steve reflects on how far he and now-adult fans have progressed, complementing viewers on how proud he is of them. After 20 years since Steve said goodbye to Blue and the Nickelodeon show's audience who looked up to him, fans getting the message from Steve himself was a touching note of nostalgia and hope that isn’t as present in the media viewers consume once they’ve grown up.
The season 4 Blue's Clues episode when Steve left noted that the character would be leaving for college, though it wasn’t obvious why the actual actor abruptly exited, leaving kids in the hands of his “brother” Joe. In character for the 2021 Blue's Clues video, Steve maintains his controversial exit from the series as him leaving for college, a journey he cryptically thanks his fans for allowing him to embark on and find himself. According to Huffington Post, the real reason Steve left was that he was quickly losing his hair and, at 30 years old, was ready to move on from being the center of Nickelodeon's children's TV show. Apparently, he refused to lose his hair on a children’s show, so he decided it was time to hang up the green shirt.
Even though Steve publicly stated the reason for his exit, it didn’t stop the internet from going wild with speculation. Certain rumors speculated that Steve had died from a heroin overdose or in a car crash, or that he left to pursue a music career, none of which were accurate. While Burns did embark on a music career after exiting Blue's Clues, the primary reasons were his aging, which was beginning to show, and the fact that most of Nickelodeon's original behind-the-scenes players who created the program had begun to pursue different opportunities in their careers. According to Burns, it seemed to be the best time for him to leave and pass on the hosting torch to a younger guy, who would become fictional Steve’s younger brother.
With Blue's Clues now being a show that many of the original viewers are showing to their kids today, it was extremely special that the show included a tribute to the loyal grown-up fans from their beloved host. It’s been 25 years since Blue's Clues premiered, though the show lives on the next generation of kids, namely the kids of those who grew up on Steve finding clues with Blue. Similar to the Rugrats reboot, Blue's Clues was rebooted in 2019 as Blue’s Clues and You! with a new host, Josh, who is Steve and Joe’s younger cousin. As Steve remarks in his 25th anniversary Blue's Clues tribute video, fans have come a long way since they were the ones watching the series, and it’s amazing to see a new generation of viewers develop the same bond with Josh and Blue.