For many a millennial kid, Steve Burns of “Blue’s Clues” was a steady presence in our lives. Until he wasn’t.
Burns – or as everyone knows him, Steve – left the show abruptly in 2002, giving many ’90s kids their first taste of being ghosted. He told viewers he was leaving for college and his brother Joe would be taking over the job of hunting for clues, waiting for mail time, talking to Mr. Salt, et cetera. And, just like that, Steve was gone.
Nearly two decades later, Steve has returned to give us closure.
“Can we just talk about that?” he says in a video posted by Nick Jr. to Twitter. “Because I realize that was kind of abrupt.”
Steve calls his time in “college” – we’re sticking with that cover story, it seems – “challenging” but “great.” He acknowledges all that’s changed in the past 20 or so years.
“Look at you, and look at all you have done and all you have accomplished in all that time. It’s just so amazing, right? I mean we started out with clues, and now it’s what? Student loans, and jobs, and families.”
But Steve wouldn’t just leave us with thoughts of student loan debt and 9-to-5 jobs.
“I guess I just wanted to say that after all these years, I never forgot you … ever. And I’m super glad we’re still friends,” he says, instantly melting our real world-hardened hearts.
The show, which debuted in Sept. 8, 1996, celebrates its 25th birthday Wednesday.
