About a year ago, I happened to catch Steve Burns at the Crocodile Cafe. In case you don’t know who Steve Burns is, he was the goofy host of the popular children’s show Blue’s Clues.

I thought his music was by itself nothing remarkable. However, he had managed to blend it with a myriad of other visual media to create a show that was very unique and extremely engaging. It had seemed somewhat paradoxical at the time that this guy from a stupid kid’s show would demonstrate such artistic sophistication.

I mean, how could someone like this:

Steve & Blue

Transform himself to this:

Steve Burns 1

I’m about halfway through The Tipping Point right now, and Gladwell is discussing the incredible amount of thought and research that went into the creation of Blue’s Clues. Every single episode was test run at least three times before it was aired even once. Apparently, the show revolutionized the way the industry approached educational programming.

I’m finally now able to reconcile the diametric versions of Steve Burns that I have in my head.