Blue's Clues' unaired pilot episode has become a much sought-after piece of lost media. And co-creator Angela C. Santomero says she has a copy!
Blue Prints, the original, unaired test pilot for Nick Jr.'s Blue's Clues, became a sought-after piece of lost media after its existence became widely known in 2006 -- and series co-creator Angela C. Santomero says she has a copy in her possession.
In a recent post to Instagram, Santomero shared a photo of herself alongside original Blue's Clues host Steve Burns on the set of the Blue Prints pilot, which she says was taken in 1994. Santomero added a comment to the post, which simply reads, "I have the PILOT!!!!"
The Lost Media Wiki currently categorizes Blue Prints as "partially found," as a small amount of footage is currently available to the public, though the episode has yet to ever be released in its entirety.
Following its completion, the pilot was screened exclusively for preschoolers in 1995, so as to test the show's interactive elements with its target audience. Blue Prints never aired on television and was largely unknown until 2006, when Nickelodeon released some footage from the pilot as part of a special celebrating Blue's Clues' 10th anniversary. There are a few noticeable differences between the pilot and the final show, such as the fact that Steve did not yet have his iconic green striped shirt.
Following the 2006 special, Blue's Clues fans scoured the internet in an attempt to locate a full version of Blue Prints, though ultimately came up empty-handed. Many years later, in 2020, Nick Jr. released a previously-unseen screenshot of the pilot's title card on its official social media pages.
It remains to be seen if Santomero will release Blue Prints to the public. Notably, there are potential legal issues that might stand in the way, especially if the pilot is still considered the intellectual property of Nickelodeon. Such legal issues have already prevented the release of Nickelodeon's original Drake & Josh pilot.
That said, Santomero releasing the Blue's Clues pilot wouldn't be entirely unprecedented. Johnny Quasar -- an early pilot from John A. Davis that would eventually evolve into his Nickelodeon creation Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius -- was considered lost for years, until the eponymous character's original voice actor found the footage and shared it to YouTube.
Created by Santomero alongside Traci Paige Johnson and Todd Kessler, Blue's Clues officially premiered on Nick Jr. in 1996, running for a total of six seasons and concluding in 2006. Steve Burns hosted the series from 1996 to 2002 as the character Steve, with Donovan Patton taking over for the rest of the show's run as the character Joe, Steve's younger brother. Santomero and Johnson also created a spinoff titled Blue's Room, which aired from 2004 to 2007. Santomero, Johnson and Kessler returned in 2019 to create a reboot titled Blue's Clues & You!, with actor Joshua Dela Cruz hosting as the character Josh, Steve and Joe's cousin.
Originally published: Thursday, January 21, 2021.
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