Contemporary Blues Dog Names

While the average viewer without children may not have noticed, the show Blue’s Clues was by most accounts, a work of genius. At its head was a female puppy named Blue who could not speak, but could communicate with her owners based on their interpretation of her tone and delivery. On top of that, she could also enter storybooks and picture frames thanks to her specialized dance, and was even able to interact with viewers through her magic playroom. 

Many saw the show as a childish sensation largely driven by the blind desires of kids, but what most don’t know is what kind of work went into creating and developing the series. 

The show itself was originally the project of three somewhat inexperienced producers at Nickelodeon who were saddled with the task of creating a hit show. After 30 days, they had come up with an idea, but not just any idea. It was not only fun and clever, but extremely well-researched, as one of the co-creators had a master’s in child developmental psychology and the team used it to their advantage. Instead of short, individualized segments, like that of Sesame Street, they developed a narrative, one that employed a call-and-response type format that was meant to engage the kids watching the show. They used simple and recognizable objects to give viewers clues that would not only provide them easy-to-mild challenges, but keep them from feeling frustrated, improving their sense of critical thinking while also giving them a sense of mastery, which is a boon for a child’s self-esteem. In turn, the repetition of new words, objects and concepts helped them understand quicker. 

What’s even more impressive is the amount of work that went into each episode. Unlike most other children’s shows, which were written and quickly sent to production, every individual episode went through multiple edits and were field tested by three different groups of preschoolers, each time after which, the episode was further refined after the writers and producers were able to gauge each group’s reactions to the material covered in the show. When all was said and done, it took 9 to 10 months to produce just one from start to finish — a testament to the dedication the team had to providing fun, educational, and meaningful content for their undeniably impressionable views. 

And of course, it didn’t hurt to have Blue, the adorable spotted blue dog, front and center, helping kids figure out what exactly she was implying without using any words at all and providing a cute character they could easily identify with.