If you know about Blue’s Clues and watched it when you were little, you’ll probably heard by now that Steve who starred with Blue, the dog, threw in the towel suddenly. He left without saying anything else and left it to his brother Joe to take over the show.
So recently, Steve returned after almost 20 years to explain why he suddenly left. But we think maybe there’s more to it than just wanting to go college. Just like good ol’ Steve, he left a lot of clues for us to understand what he was going through. And maybe, just maybe, since we are mostly at that age when Steve left, it may help us too in this bewildering age.
Going from a teenager to an adult can be quite tricky. It’s a season with a lot of changes physically, biologically, socially and hence can affect us psychologically. Some call this the quarter-life crisis b’cos it hits those who are age 18 to as grown-up as 29 years old.
Neither in or out
It’s a time when we are searching for our identity and not sure who we are. For many it’s an uncomfortable in-between stage where we are uncertain about whether we are still teens or adults. Steve experienced this.
“I was getting older, and I kind of occupied this weird older brother space on the show. Like I was sort of an adult but not really”
Feeling left behind.
It can also be a time when you are scrutinizing everything and everyone including yourself. You may feel like everyone else is doing better than you and you are left behind not realising your dream.
As for Steve, we find it strange that he should up and leave in 2002 since he won the Daytime Emmy just the year before in 2001. But he says
“Everyone in the show was moving to other careers”.
Unhappy about position in life
Steve says he never wanted to be a children’s host and could not make it a life-time career. Steve was studying theatre in DeSales University when a talent scout discovered him. He moved to New York and starred in many serious dramas and crime series including Law & Order. Steve had also been doing Shakespearean productions such as Comedy of Errors and Midsummer Nights Dream. When he auditioned for Blue’s Clues, he thought it was a voice over job. I guess, Steve Burns just grew out of his role in Blue’s Clues.
“I was getting older, I was losing my hair and it just felt like it was time to go”.
Still responsible
But Steve did a great thing, he was responsible despite choosing to leave. He continued to provide advice on the subsequent Blue’s Clues productions and was also responsible for choosing the latest host Josh Dela Cruz. His advice to Dela Cruz:
“Just do you and be proud of that”
So, thanks Steve for leaving these clues so that we can understand what’s happening in our lives.
Here’s more serious information about quarterlife crisis and problems faced transitioning to adulthood.
