‘Blue’s Clues’ Original Stars Steve Burns & Donovan Patton Return For Nick Jr.’s ‘Blue’s Blues & You!’ Reboot

Blue’s Clues is back! After more than a decade-long hiatus, the beloved preschool series about beloved puppy Blue and her live-action human owner will return to Nick Jr., and some familiar faces will help launch the reboot of the classic children’s show.

TV Line reports that the premiere episode of the reboot, Blue’s Clues & You!, will bring back original host Steve Burns (Steve) and his predecessor, Donovan Patton (Joe), who played host to Blue during the show’s original run from 1996 to 2006. The Blue’s Clues veterans will help welcome new host Joshua Dela Cruz (“Josh”) to the family.

In addition to the original and new hosts, Blues Clues & You! will welcome back original characters, including Tickety Tock, Slippery Soap, Shovel, Pail, Paprika, Sidetable Drawer, and Mailbox. The original Thinking Chair will also make a return, as will returning vets Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper and their twins, newcomers Sage and Ginger.

Of course, Blue’s Clues wouldn’t be complete without that all-important Handy Dandy Notebook, but for 2019, the must-have prop has been upgraded to feature a smartphone so Josh can call “cousins” (aka Steve and Joe) for help solving the first puzzle on the new season of Blue’s Clues. In addition to the upgraded notebook, there’s also a new Handy Dandy Guitar. Does that mean Josh sings?

Fans of the original series know that Steve Burns hosted Blue’s Clues for seven years, but his character left in 2002 to “go to college” and was replaced by Donovan Patton’s Joe. In an interview with The Huffington Post, Burns, now 45, revealed why he left Blue’s Clues at the height of its popularity when he was 29-years-old.

“I left the show because it was just simply time to go,” Burns told HuffPo.

“I was pretty much playing a boyish, older-brotherish kind of character on the show. I was getting older; I was losing my hair; a lot of the original gangsters on the show, like the people who created it, were all moving on to other careers. It just felt like time.”

Burns, who owns the original Thinking Chair from the show, went on to become a musician and do voiceover work. He previously told Nerve magazine that he couldn’t imagine ever returning to Blue’s Clues in his 40s.

“I don’t know how that would work,” Burns said. “Steve has gone to college and he majors in shapes and colors and he’s in the middle of doing his thesis on shapes and colors and he’s come back very professorial.”

You can see the teaser for the new Blue’s Clues & You! below.

Blue’s Clues & You! premieres Monday, November 11 at 9 a.m. on Nickelodeon.