Behind the Scenes at Blue's Clues

Meet Two Moms Who Make It Happen

By Belinda Clarke

If your kids are preschool age, they are likely avid fans of the television show Blue's Clues. And if so, you are of course already aware that "Joe" has replaced "Steve" as the host who guides viewers, along with Dog, Blue, through the mini-mystery that comprises each episode.

What you may not know is that making this transition involved hours of work on the part of the Blue's Clues development team to ensure that the preschool audience understood and was comfortable with the change. At the center of it all are the creators, Traci Paige Johnson and Angela C. Santomero, who are responsible for the phenomenon that is this exceptionally unique program.

Johnson, co-creator, executive producer and director of design for Blue's Clues, says that they looked at more than 1,000 candidates for Steve's replacement in order to find just the right personality for the job. "We had a TV in the interview room, because we needed to know what he would look like from the viewers' perspective," Johnson says. "When we got to Joe, we immediately saw a connection, because he had just the right silly, preschool personality we were looking for."

Another part of helping viewers embrace the change, which took place in April 2002, was to ease them into it with a three-part "Meet Joe" special featuring both Steve and Joe. This special event, which kicked off with a first glimpse of Joe, Steve's younger brother, and a game of show-and-tell, allowed viewers a chance to get to know Joe and culminated with a finale in which Steve leaves for college and Joe stays on to lead Blue's Clues.

"Steve's going to college (with his notebook, of course!) gets the kids excited about that prospect, but also lets them know that he is growing up, just as they will," says Santomero, co-creator, executive producer and head writer. "When developing this three-part transition special and the subsequent 'Joe' episodes, we took great strides to ensure that the viewers know they are valued and active participants in solving Blue's Clues." In many cases, Joe defers to the viewers for extra help since he is new at the game. "When we tested the final Steve/Joe episode and Steve asked the viewers if they would be willing to help his younger brother, Joe, with Blue's Clues, the kids went wild with a resounding 'YES!'" says Santomero.

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