Bob Thornton's interview with Steve Burns of Blue's Clues transcribed from taped audio interview from KTLI radio Station…
Bob - "Our special guest today, is a guy that, if you don't know his name, ask a three year old and they'll tell you: Steve Burns, our special guest. He is the host, and the only live-action figure - the only human in the highly rated Nick Junior show called Blue's Clues. (after break) It has become a phenomenon across the country and we're going to talk about that today over the course of the next hour or so in some interview segments with Steve Burns. Steve, thanks for being with us today."
Steve - "Hey, well thanks; thank you!"
Bob - "Steve is talking to us from his home in New York. We're going to talk, over all, about the show. For those folks who may work, or don't know what the show is, or just heard second hand, Steve, let's talk a little bit about what it is. Is it true, first of all, that this show is the highest rated pre-school show on TV now?"
Steve - "Occasionally it is, yeah. It's definitely the highest rated pre-school show on Cable. It's difficult to mix markets that way in terms of ratings. It's hard to tell, you know, where channel 12, or Public Television, is."
Bob - "Yeah, we're talking about you and Sesame Street though, right?"
Steve - "Pretty much…and then, there's the other one."
Bob - "You have more people watching your show than some Cable Prime Time efforts at the bottom of the pile."
Steve - (chuckle) "That's right. We're taking over the world."
Bob - (chuckle) "Starting with the children."
Steve - "That's right."
Bob - "You're a dangerous man, as it turns out."
Steve - (great chuckling)
Bob - "How this interview came about….focusing on 'why you're interviewing a Cable guy on the radio station on some children's show' ……well, the thing was, I have a three year old, so there's a small ulterior motive here, who's been watching this show since it's inception and has learned a ton from it and so I was in great admiration of the show. Being a bit of a computer geek, admiring the computer animation in the show, we put up a couple of pictures on our home web page for my son to see when he's on the computer, and low and behold people started finding this page from all over the Internet desperately searching for Blue's Clues. More than 17,000 visitors as of this morning, and that's just been up a few months. So I started doing some research. I got a hold of Penelope Jewks, who's no longer with the show, but used to be on your crew, right?"
Steve - "That used to be Mrs. Pepper."
Bob - "That's right, used to be the voice of Mrs. Pepper."
Steve - "She stepped down."
Bob - "Anyway, one thing led to another so here we are to talk about this phenomenon that so many of us as parents…and so many of our kids are enjoying the show.. First of all, your impressions of the show and the way it's taken off. Did you expect this when you got on board?"
Steve - "Certainly not. I knew early on after the first couple episodes were fully scored and animated that we had a real quality show here. But I always questioned whether or not it would work. The idea of the show is that it's active and that children will become involved and watch the show, but also participate in the show. And I didn't know if that would work."
Bob - "How did you get involved yourself? Were your aspirations to be doing a pre-school show?"
Steve -"Well, my aspirations certainly were not to be in a pre-school show. I mean, it's certainly nothing that I considered; it's nothing I ever thought anyone would ever let me do. (chuckle) It certainly didn't seem like something that I would be well suited for. But, you know, I was just auditioning in and around New York and my manager sent me out for this audition for an animated Nickelodeon show. And I had been doing a lot of voice-over work so I assumed that this was a voice-over gig."
Bob - "Like for a cartoon….."
Steve - "Exactly. So I assumed, you know, okay, I'll go be the voice of the salt and pepper shaker, or something…."
Bob - "Right."
Steve - .."go to the audition…..but when I got there, there was a camera in the room aimed right at me so I figured this'd be a good time to jump around a little bit, you know, haha."
Bob - "If you were daydreaming, it is probably getting a gig on ER or some movie, right?"
Steve - "Oh, absolutely. But, you know, I am so lucky to be doing this particular show because I'm not a big fan of television really. I think television kind of thinks for you, and you know, that's kind of a big problem. Especially for children, especially for children, when television is so often used as a baby-sitter, and a role model, and everything. That passive attitude toward it has kind of always rubbed me the wrong way, but this show really nips that in the bud. For that reason, it's very exciting to be a part of. And plus my job's pretty unique in all of TV, from what I understand from what people are telling me. There's really no one else who's doing this much blue screen work, and who's this highly involved with animation."
Bob - "It must be difficult to…are you seeing the animation….Let's talk a little about how the show is made. You are the only live figure, the only person in the show. The entire length, every single day, day in and day out. You never have any visitors, there's no speedy delivery or anything else that comes along the way."
Steve - "Right."
Bob - "You're it. So you are acting primarily in the blue screen which some people might better understand as like the weather guy on channel 10…..on the 10:00 news. You're standing in front of a blue screen which is then taken out and the animated background is put in."
Steve - "Right."
Bob - "But, without going into something that's going to go over all of our heads, how do you do that? There are things that are animated in front of you, behind you; it's a very 3-D effect. Are you constantly looking at monitors?"
Steve - "No, not at all. We don't do any of that. It's carefully story boarded beforehand."
Bob - "So, you're not seeing Blue….."
Steve - "I'm not seeing anything. I'm seeing a big blue background."
Bob - "And disappointing as that might be to children, it is phenomenally impressive….it gives you a great more bit of credibility as an actor….it must be very…difficult."
Steve - "Well, I think it's a lot like being absolutely insane." (big laugh!).
Bob - "All right! Good!" (chuckle)
Steve - "Because, I just stand there in this blue void and talk to myself. And I also talk to the camera."
Bob - "…And sing."
Steve - "And sing. Yeah, you know, I'm having a great time out there. It's a lot like talking to yourself at the bottom of the swimming pool."
Bob - "And what are your aspirations beyond this? How long will this show last? What will Steve be doing five years from now?"
Steve - "We don't know. We're talking about that right now. It's really hard to say how long the show will last and will continue. I hope it lasts for a very long time. As long as kids watch it, anyway. But beyond this, sure, I would love to be doing film. I'd love to be doing more theater and perhaps even writing."
Bob - "Do you have children yourself?"
Steve - "No I don't."
Bob - "Does this make you want to have children? Does it make you feel differently? Did you like children before?"
Steve - "I always, always liked children…I was very afraid of them before. Because I never really grew up, I mean, with a lot of little kids around. Even though I am from a kind of Italian family, I never really grew up with a lot of little kids around. And so, one on one, I always kind of had a great time with little kids, but in droves and masses and hoards they always kind of frightened me. But absolutely, I really want one bad."
Bob - "When you go out, you probably don't wear a two-toned green shirt, but do you get recognized? Or is your appearance different enough that you can go through the mall without having every kid in the stroller jump towards you?"
Steve - "Kids have never recognized me…it's never happened to me."
Bob - "Really?"
Steve - "Parents recognize me almost every day. In fact, just yesterday I was walking up 7th Ave. and a bike messenger almost crashed into a lady because he was staring at me. And he comes back about ten seconds later and skids to a stop in front of me and I think I'm about to get beat up."
Bob - "Sure!"
Steve - "You know, and he says, 'You host the Blue's Clues?' And I said, Yeah. 'My kid loves you man!' And we talk for ten minutes."
Bob - "Wow. You must have a pretty cool job, because you literally are on the air in front of millions of people, and yet no one hassles you."
Steve - "um hum…"
Bob - "which gives you some kind of celebrity, slash, star status…although, because of who it is you can walk freely through Manhattan …"
Steve - "Absolutely. And I think that if I were a for real celebrity that was recognizable everywhere, I'd just crawl under a rock and you know, have someone run over the rock with a car, or something."
Bob - "How about the format of the show. It's the same episode five time a week. First, I thought it was a mistake the first time that I saw it, then we discovered that it is by design. What's the thinking behind that?"
Steve - "I think that's part of the genius of the show. I think that is….it's something that very few people really understand. And I can understand why, but I really think it's part of the success of the show. The point being that repetition is how children learn, especially at this age. And that's why kids are learning so much from the show. It's entertaining, yes. And it's colorful. And it's happy. But we repeat the episodes…they're very multi-layered…and incredibly well-conceived and very well researched. My hat always goes off to those guys."
Bob - "How long does it take to put together one show?"
Steve - "A very long time. We go through, I think, six different drafts of each script. And then my shooting it is roughly, you know, fifteen percent of the total work that gets done on a show. Then it's all post-production animation after that."
Bob - "How many shows do you make in a season? I know the new season just began."
Steve - "Twenty. Twenty per season."
Bob - "Let's go to the mail bag, if you will, mail time. I won't make you sing the song…"
Steve - "Um hum…."
Bob - "These are from the web site. First of all, since we're talking about the production, someone wrote and asked that they noticed that the snail appears in every episode. Is this some sort of insider joke? Or what?"
Steve - "Who wrote that?"
Bob - "I don't know. It's unsigned."
Steve - "I'm not supposed to talk about the snail."
Bob - (chuckle) "You're not supposed to talk about the snail?"
Steve - "I'm not supposed to talk about the snail. The snail is, well, congratulations to whoever noticed it. It's supposed to be a thing where you gotta look for it in every episode, and it's there three times in every episode."
Bob - "Well see, that's exactly what they wrote. There are several letters here and two or three people noticed that it's appeared. One notes that it appears three times every time. One noticed that it's appeared on the credits, so….anyway."
Steve - "Yeah."
Bob - "But there's no reward if they find it, right?"
Steve - "Um, no."
Bob - "Okay."
Steve - "I'm probably going to get fired now that I talked about the snail."
Bob - (chuckle)
Steve - "It's the big secret."
Bob - "Oh man, sorry I had to bring you down."
Steve - "Yeah."
Bob - "Okay, so, let's go to the next one. You've read some of these so you've had a chance to think about these a little bit and I want to get your reaction. I want to read an excerpt from one, 'When Steve appears on your show, please mention how much he means to our kids. My daughter is two and a half years old and she doesn't talk yet. Blue's Clues gives her so much confidence. She can play along, point, and do finger plays along with Blue and Steve without feeling left out. She's been watching for about three months and her vocabulary has improved immensely. She still won't say 'Mom' or 'Dad' but she will say 'Hi Steve.'"
Steve - (big chuckle)
Bob - "'Bethany and I both love Steve. Thank you for your site.' Jessica and Bethany. So how does that make you feel? I mean, seriously, you've got a huge impact upon children, the shaping of their minds, and all the connections going on in their brain."
Steve - "Yeah. Once again, I mean, I really have to hand those Cu do's over to the creators of the show. They've really done such a great job, and they've very carefully and sensitively researched. They know. They know how to involve kids. And I think that's obviously a wonderful, wonderful letter. Makes it all worthwhile."
Bob - "Another one says, when my thirteen month old son, Zachary, was just old enough to focus on TV, he was in the hospital having surgery. They wouldn't let him eat, drink or anything and IV's were pouring out of his little head/hand?. And it was a pain because they had infiltrated his blood vessels in his leg trying to get the IV in there. He was in constant pain; nothing worked. Television didn't work. However, the parents stumbled upon Blue's Clues because the hospital happened to have cable. He stopped crying, focused on you, Steve. His little eyes never left that TV screen until the show was over. I could have kissed Nick Jr. It goes on to say that the son has been mesmerized by it and they tape the episodes. And he's doing better now. So, another reaction to that?"
Steve - "That's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And it makes me especially happy because that shows that television can have a positive impact."
Bob - "Let's move on. 'I have two little ones. Nick is four, Amber is two'. This is just a general happy letter. 'They look forward to Blue's Clues every morning during the day. They sing the songs, pretend to find clues and actually feel like Steve is talking to them and asking for their help. It makes them feel smart and he is a lot of fun.' So, there you go. 'Do you know if they're going to make a computer-based game for the show?' That's the question from Amanda."
Steve - "I think they are. I think they're going to make a CD-ROM. And I think that's a great idea too. I think the show would make an excellent CD-ROM."
Bob - "That's a natural fit, with the amount of computer work you're already doing."
Steve - "Exactly, and it's a natural next step and that makes it truly interactive."
Bob - "This one's from a fourteen year old girl. She says, 'I was just wondering how old Steve is and if he was married. I think Steve is a wonderful man who warms children everywhere, and he's a hot babe." (chuckle)
Steve - (chuckle)
Bob - "From a fourteen year old girl."
Steve - "Well…Um."
Bob - "You're older than fourteen, right?"
Steve - "Yeah, quite. But I am painfully single and unmarried."
Bob - "Okay. But I pulled that one out because it goes to show that people of all ages, and I will not admit how many times that I have sang along with the show, and that I know every word of every song, but anyway. (chuckle) It does appeal to all ages, which is probably a nice bonus."
Steve - "Absolutely. I mean, that's another big surprise of the show, is that I see sixteen year old people who recognize me and they're honest, for-real fans of the show. And it goes down to nine months. I mean, I've heard of nine month to year-old children who are watching the show."
Bob - "Okay, now let's talk a little bit about merchandise. Okay. People have been writing and writing….out of about, close to a thousand e-mails in the box here about Blue's Clues, about 70% are looking for merchandise. Way back when I first started talking to the folks at Viacom and Nickelodeon, your parent company, they all said, well, three year olds aren't going to buy merchandise and so we probably won't do it. But over the past year, I think the thinking has changed there (chuckle), and they realize now that with this highest rated children's show on cable that maybe they should do some merchandising. However, I'm not sure you're going to carry all the things that people asked for. I have seen everything from, 'Please ask if we can get a green stripe-y shirt' down to the salt and pepper shakers. So where in that wide range of merchandise do you really think the Blue's Clues line will fall, and any ideas on when it might actually come out?" (editor's note- since this interview limited merchandise has been made available at the Viacom store in Chicago, 1-888-9VIACOM)
Steve - "Well, I think the battle plan is to test the market first with obvious merchandise like a little blue plush dog. I've heard talk of green stripe-y shirts. I've heard talk of notebooks. In terms of secondary characters, I think that will depend on how the first products do. And I would expect to see them……soon." (chuckle)
Bob - "What about…here's a couple of more requests….birthday party supplies."
Bob - "Let's see, what else here….Steve doll."
Steve - (chuckle) "Ah, if it's up to me, no. It won't happen."
Bob - "Okay, let's see here. Play at home game."
Steve - "Play at home game…like a board game?"
Bob - "Well, it looks like they're looking for paw prints and things."
Steve - "Oh. Yeah."
Bob - "I think most people make those themselves."
Steve - "Right. I think we are. I know that's been researched. I think they're playing around with trying to get that one just right. If were gonna do that….just the little blue plush stamp of the paw prints for you, or do you get re-usable color form-like stickers that stick to anything. We're trying to make sure that that one's done just right."
Bob - "Probably not the permanent marker on the wall…."
Steve - "Anything but that."
Bob - "Okay. Now, considering the fact that there's probably hundreds if not thousands of your dearest fans hanging on every word you say today on the radio….without forcing a slip into character too much, is there anything you'd like to say to them as they listen to you and listen to a little bit more about their hero from TV?"
Steve - "Yeah. I'd like to just say; Hey everybody! Thank you so much for watching Blue's Clues. Keep watching. And we'll see you on Nick Jr."
THE END
back to the Blue Thistle Patch!
Mom Anita sent in eric's bday cake pic!
Steve - "Birthday party supplies….that's a fantastic idea. I hope they're planning that."