Photo: Nickelodeon Network/Courtesy Everett Collection, Rob Kim/Getty
Long beforeBlue’s Cluesbecame a staple in children’s television,Steve Burnswas unsure how the show would translate to audiences.
“I didn’t think it would work at all,” Burns tells PEOPLE alongside fellowBlue’s CluesstarsDonovan PattonandJoshua Dela Cruz, who all united for the movieBlue’s Big City Adventure.
Little did Burns know, the 1996 Nickelodeon show would go on to run for a decade, spawn the revivalBlue’s Clues & You!(starring Dela Cruz) and lead to the new feature film, which was released on Paramount+ last month.
Still, he says, “These are all the things that I liked about it, but I didn’t think that they would work. I doubted it. I was skeptical that they would work. I liked that it was kind of theRocky Horror Children’s Show.”
Nickelodeon/PARAMOUNT+
After shooting the pilot, Burns, now 49, recalls thinking, “That was deeply weird television.”
“Then it aired, and it became immediately No. 1, and it had this global reach and everything,” he says, adding: “It always felt like a very small and personal experience to me.”
“It was me and a camera. And in my mind, it was me and a conversation with one other human being. So it always felt very small to me,” he says, noting that the series feels “special.”
RELATED VIDEO: Steve fromBlue’s CluesTalks About Growing Up and Why He Left Show: ‘I Never Forgot About You’
“When I was a kid watching the show, it was such a small personal experience, even though it was a huge mega hit,” he tells PEOPLE. “So even to this day, the original series is so important because of the work that they’ve done.”
He adds, “Did I think that the show would be received in such a big way when I took over? No, I didn’t think that it would. Not in a way that we’d get a movie like this where we’re out on location.”
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Looking back at the impactBlue’s Clueshas had since its 1996 premiere, Burns says, “There are only three people in the world who understand our job.”
While the trio may be celebrities to little kids around the world, Patton admits, “I don’t know how to be an idol, but I do strive to be a friend. We can only really try to be there for each other. And that’s kind of what the show is — the home viewer comes over and ends up helping us more than we help them.”
source: people.com
