The Thinking Squad

The Thinking Squad
Episode number	Season 1, Episode 13 (#116)
Airdate	April 3, 2020
Written by	Adam Peltzman and Michael T. Smith (original script) Alyson Piekarsky (script editor)
Directed by	Steve Wright Jennifer Sherman
Chronology
Previous episode	"Story Time with Blue" (season order) "Bluestock Remake" (production order)
Next episode	"Science with Blue" (season order) "Colors Everywhere with Blue" (production order)
Update and new versions
Update of/New version from	Superfriends

"The Thinking Squad" is the thirteenth episode of Season 1 in the reboot series Blue's Clues & You!. It is a remake of "Superfriends."

Characters

• Blue/Super Blue
• Josh/Song Man
• Sidetable Drawer/Wonder Drawer
• Mailbox
• Tickety Tock/Clock Girl
• Slippery Soap/Super Soap
• The Viewer/The Incredibly Helpful Friend
• Mr. Salt
• Frank/The Cheerer-Upper
• Fancy Dancer
• The Runner
• Flying Boy
• Baby Bear (living room picture)

Summary

Josh, Blue, Tickety, Slippery, and the viewers become the Thinking Squad, a group of superheroes who use their brains to figure out problems. When they hear a mysterious noise, they play Blue's Clues and use their skills to figure out where the sound is coming from.

Elements

• Question: What is making that strange sound?
• Clues:
  1. Bubbles
  2. Water
  3. Clothes
• Answer to Blue's Clues: The washing machine
• Living room picture: Baby Bear dressed as a superhero
• Email or Letter?: Letter

Gallery

Bubbles

Water

Clothes

3 Clues From The Thinking Squad

Thinking Squad skidoo, to the rescue

Josh’s Super Hero Notebook

Watch Episode

This episode is available for streaming on Paramount Global's video streaming service Paramount+.

Trivia

• This is the first episode to be a remake of a season 4 episode.
• This episode aired as part of "Mighty Heroes Month" on Nick Jr., followed by a new PAW Patrol mini-mission short.
• This episode aired exactly 20 years after "Pool Party" premiered.
• This is the fifth episode not to have "with Blue" in the title.
  • If this was the case, the episode would have been "Thinking Squad with Blue" or "Superheroes with Blue" or "Playing Superheroes with Blue".
• Mr. Salt appears by himself without Mrs. Pepper, but he didn't appear again with her in the credits
• There was no wrong answer in this episode.
• This episode was later made into a story told by Josh's grandmother Lola.

  

  Super Hero Story Time With Grandma Lola! -1 - Blue's Clues & You

Differences

• Aside from Super Blue, everyone else's superhero outfits are different.
  • Stripe Man/Song Man simply wears a red cape without a mask.
    • Though in some Halloween promos and bumpers for Nick Jr. in October 2019, he also wore a matching mask and gloves.
  • Clock Girl has a brighter purple cape with white stars and numbers on it and lacked the bands on her bells.
  • Super Soap's armbands and belt are blue, the yellow star on his belt has rounder points with a light green outline, the yellow lightning bolts on his armbands are replaced with light green dots, his lightning bolt antennae are held by blue rods instead of springs, and his sponge wand has a light green handle with a rounder-pointed sponge star.
  • Wonder Drawer has a light blue cape with a yellow edge a yellow headband with a red outline Josh's notebook in the middle, pale yellow stars with red outlines on the ends, and blue lines in between the stars and notebook; and a light blue mask with a yellow outline (all of which are sparkly).
  • Wonder Drawer also had her outfit on for the rest of the original episode, while in this episode she only had it on while Josh/Song Man got the Super Duper Handy Dandy Notebook.
• Josh/Song Man winks at Slippery Soap/Super Soap after Soap said: “Anytime, Song Man!”
• In the original, Steve asks himself "Who's at the door?" and didn't say “hi” to the viewer after he opened the door, but in the remake, Josh actually did say “hi” to the viewer after he opened the door.
• At the beginning of this episode, Josh/Song Man needed help calling for his guitar. In the original episode, Steve/Stripe Man needed help finding his mask.
• The Thinking Squad followed the sound to the living room in the original episode, while they stayed in the bedroom in this episode.
• The Super Duper Notebook (which references the UK version of the original series because of the name) has a red cape, while in the original it had no cape.
• In the original, "Play Blue's Clues" was done partially the way it was in Season 3-5 episodes. In the reboot, it was done partially the way it was in the first 2 seasons of the original series.
  • Also in the original, Steve asks the viewers to help him figure out the answer to Blue's Clues after the song was finished, while in the reboot, Josh asks the viewers to help him figure out the answer to Blue's Clues before the song started.
• Josh decides to sing while drawing the clues since he is Song Man.
• Orchestral superhero music was used for the clue drawing instead of the usual electric bass guitar music.
• Josh does impressions of Superman in this episode.
• Josh/Song Man sings while drawing the clues, while Steve/Stripe Man doesn't.
• Josh/Song Man goes to the left and the bubbles with the paw print is seen out the window. In the original, Steve/Stripe Man goes to the right.
• Shovel and Pail didn't appear in the outdoor window playing with bubbles.
• They uploaded a YouTube video about Josh and Blue skidooing into the comic book, and they misspelled the word "skidoo" with "Skiddo"
• The scene when Paprika lost her teddy bear isn't in this episode due to Paprika being older.
• Josh/Song Man sings the last "MAIL!" like he usually does. In the original, Steve/Stripe Man announced heroically that "The mail's here" instead.
• The hero in the original video letter was Super Morgan, who helps people out. The superhero in this video letter is the Super Doodler, who can doodle really fast.
• The heroes of Super Hero Ville have regular skin and hair colors and wear different outfits.
• The silhouette of a flying adult superhero is replaced by a generic superhero boy.
• In the original episode, the clothes that were the 3rd clue were in the bedroom and (Super) Blue put her paw print in them. In this episode, they looked different, were in the living room, and already had a paw print on them.
• The area where the washing machine was located to the left of the kitchen in the original, while in the remake it was located to the right of the bedroom.
• Frank/The Cheerer-Upper doesn't join the others in following the sound to the washing machine.
• In the remake, Song Man skidooed back to the house when he said "Thinking Squad away!", but in the original, Stripe Man doesn't say it when he skidooed back.