Snack Time

Episode Info

Credits

"Snack Time"
Episode number	Season 1, Episode 1 (#101)
Airdate	September 8, 1996 (Nickelodeon) February 2. 1999 (Noggin)
Written by	Angela C. Santomero
Directed by	Todd Kessler
Question in the episode	What does Blue want with her snack?
Clues	A Cup A Straw A Cow
Answer to Blue's Clues	Milk
Chronology
Previous episode	"Blue Prints" (unaired pilot) Technically making this the first aired episode of Blue's Clues
Next episode	"What Time Is It for Blue?"
Update in or theme concept made into	"Meet Josh!"

"Snack Time", sometimes stylized as "Snacktime", is the very first episode of Blue's Clues from the first season,

Summary

In the first Blue's Clues adventure, something is missing from Blue's snack and the viewers play Blue's Clues to figure it out. They also take time to recognize colors as we paint elephants, we identify the shapes of fruit, and they help match chicks on a farm.

Elements

• Question: What does Blue want with her snack?
• Clues:
  • 1. A Cup
  • 2. A Straw
  • 3. A Cow
• Answer to Blue's Clues: Milk
• Wrong Answer: Blue wants to put a cow in a cup, and slurp it up with a straw
• Skidoo Location:
  • An unfinished elephant painting (unofficial)
• Living room picture: A red barn (Skidoo location)
• Felt Frame picture: Freddy holding an mint ice cream cone with a cherry on top in his right hand
• Bedroom picture: A drawing of Steve and Blue with a bunch of grapes

Recap

The series premiere opens with Steve inviting the viewers into the house. Suddenly, he does not see Blue. The viewers saw her under the table. Blue comes out from under the table. Then, she sits in her seat. Steve and Blue were going to have graham crackers for a snack. Blue tells Steve she wants something else with her snack. So, they play Blue's Clues. Steve gets his notebook from Sidetable Drawer. The viewers learn how to play the game. They have to find a paw print which was the first clue. Then, they have to draw it in the notebook. Next, they have to find another paw print being the second clue and draw it in the notebook. Then, they have to find one more paw print being the third clue, and draw it in the notebook. After that, they go to the thinking chair and put all three clues together.

Now that the viewers know how to play the game, Steve leads them into the bedroom. The viewers saw a clue on the cup. Steve draws the cup in his handy dandy notebook. After drawing the first clue, Steve wonders what Blue could have with her snack. Steve realizes that Blue wants to put something into the cup. They had to find two more clues. Steve was looking for Blue again. The viewers find Blue under his bed. Every time Steve looks under the bed, Blue is on top of the bed. It happened again several times until Steve finally finds Blue. Suddenly, they hear an animal sound. Blue sees a group of elephants. There was one elephant colored while the other three were not. "Hey Blue, there you are. I've been waiting for you. You didn't finish painting my family," an orange elephant says to Blue. Steve and the viewers help Blue finish painting the picture of the elephant family. Blue starts by painting the biggest elephant yellow, the elephant with the longest trunk pink, and the baby elephant purple. After painting each elephant, they came to life. Blue leaves the bedroom and disappears. Steve had to look for Blue again. As Steve was looking for Blue, a sudden sound startles him, and falls back onto the floor. He realizes that it was the telephone. Steve answers it and finds out it was Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper calling. They tell Steve Blue is in the kitchen and is making a really big mess. Steve tells them he will be right there.

Steve goes to the kitchen and then asks Blue when she had done it. "Blue knocked over the grocery bag," said Mr. Salt. "That's what she did," added Mrs. Pepper. It was time to clean up the mess. The foods were in different shapes. One by one, they put away all the different foods into the fridge. The orange was shaped like a circle. The Swiss cheese was shaped like a square. The graham cracker was shaped like a rectangle. And the grapes were shaped like a triangle. They all went into the fridge. Once all the food was put away, it made a house. The square Swiss cheese for the house, the triangle grapes for the roof, the rectangle graham cracker for the door, and the orange for the sun. Blue comes out of the house made of food and knocks something else down. Steve saw what Blue knocked over. It was the straws. Steve picks up the cup and stands it on the counter. Next, he picks up the straws and puts them back in the cup. Steve thought he put away all the straws but then the viewers saw another straw with paw prints. Whenever Steve tries to find where the straw is hiding, it switches sides. Steve peeks between the straws and finds the straw with the paw prints on it, which were the second clue. He draws the straw in his notebook. So far, Steve has a cup and straw as the two clues. Steve realizes that with these two clues, Blue wanted something to drink. Then, it is mail time.

Steve gets his letter from Mailbox. Steve reads the video letter which had three kids having a snack called peanut butter on apples. They spread peanut butter on apples. It tasted like apple juice. After reading the letter, Blue Skidoos into a picture frame that shows a farm. Steve follows her. He skidoos too. There was a pig who jumped into a mud puddle. There was a sheep who ate a flower. Then, he saw a swarm of chicks. One of them had a paper hat on. Steve sits down and the chick who wore a paper hat lands on Steve's hand he was holding out. The chick was trying to find her friend who wore a newspaper hat that she has on. After a couple of tries, she finds her friend. They were a good matching pair. They also help a chick who had a baseball cap with a star on it find his friend and one who wore a party hat find his friend, too. Now, Steve needed help finding Blue. Blue was on Steve's head. Blue gets off of Steve's head as he stands up. As Steve was looking for Blue, he finds paw prints on a cow. A cow was the third clue. Steve draws the third clue, a cow, in his notebook.

Now that he has all three clues, Steve and Blue have to Skidoo back home and sit in the thinking chair to figure out what Blue wants with her snack. They both did so. Now, that they were in the thinking chair, it was time to think. The clues were a cup, a straw, and a cow. "What does Blue want with her snack?" Steve wonders. Steve thought Blue wants to put the cow in the cup and slurp it up with a straw. That did not make any sense. What they do know is cows make the sound, "moo." So, what could Blue want with her snack that comes from a cow, you drink with a straw in a cup? The answer was milk because cows make the milk that gets poured into a cup and that you can drink with or without a straw. They just figured out Blue's Clues. Now, it was snack time. Steve had two cups filled with milk. One for himself and one for Blue. Blue licks Steve so much. "Stop that licking," says Steve. Blue sits at the table and drinks her cup of milk with a straw. Suddenly, the elephant family joins in with a peanut; followed by Mr. Salt, Mrs. Pepper, and the shape foods they put away earlier; then, the chicks also came with their different hats on. Steve sings the "So Long Song" and the episode ends with Blue waving goodbye from the window.

Characters

• Blue (1st appearance)
• Steve (1st appearance)
• Mailbox (1st appearance)
• Sidetable Drawer (1st appearance)
• Mr. Salt (1st appearance)
• Mrs. Pepper (1st appearance)
• Tickety Tock (1st appearance; doesn't speak)
• Felt Friends (1st appearance)
  • Freddy (1st appearance; cameo)
• Snail (1st appearance)
• Elephants
• Straw
• Chicks (1st appearance)
• Pig (1st appearance)
• Sheep (1st appearance)
• Cow (1st appearance)
• Yellow Puppy (cameo/1st appearance)
• Purple Puppy (cameo/1st appearance)

Farm Animal Sound Effect

• Sound Ideas, COW - SINGLE MOO, ANIMAL 02 (Heard once.)

Sound Effect Scene

• Steve skidoos to the farm and the cow mooing sound effect is heard once.

Video Releases

Blue's Clues Episode Number 1: Snacktime (VHS, 1997) Café Blue (VHS, 2001) Season One (3 Disc Set, DVD, 2014)

Objects

• Cup
• Handy Dandy Notebook
• Crayon
• Thinking Chair
• Graham Crackers
• Grapes
• Napkins
• Paper Plates
• Paint Jars
• Orange
• Swiss Cheese
• Straws

Gallery

Hi!

Come on in! We're so glad you're here!

"It's Almost Snack Time"

Did you see blue

Right there

Felt Friend Picture having Ice Cream Snack Time

Blue putting a Pawprint on the screen

We are Going To play Blue's Clues

Steve cleaning up the Pawprint

Steve grabbing the Handy Dandy Notebook

Blue's Clues Theme

We are looking for Blue's Clues

Cup

Cup

Steve pulling out his notebook

Steve Drawing First Clue

Cup

Tickety Tock doesn't speak

"We are going to the kitchen"

Straw

Straw

Letter From Snack Time

"Blue Skidoo, We Can Too!"

(cow mooing)

"We are farming for Blue's Clues!"

Cow

Cow

Cow

Steve skidooing back home

Spanish Version

3 Clues from Snack Time

3 Clues from Snack Time

Background

Watch Episode

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

Trivia

• This episode premiered at 8:00 pm eastern time on Nickelodeon as part of Nick at Nite instead of airing on Nick Jr..
• The first of the most popular friends of Steve include Renata Hammer, a relative of content consultant John M. Hammer from "Weight and Balance", coordinating producer Penelope Jewkes, John Rogers, a relative of Joe's friend Chad Rogers, and Perry Santomero, a relative of a creator of Blue's Clues, Angela C. Santomero.
• The scene where Blue takes the orange was used in the Noggin/Nick Jr. It's Like Preschool On TV promo from 2008-2012.
• This was the first episode to air on the Noggin (now Nick Jr.) channel when it launched.
• The original unaired pilot episode, "Blue Prints," follows the same general plot as this episode.
• In 1998 they’ve made A Coloring Book Version Inspired By The Episode
• There are several differences between this episode and the rest of the series:
  • At the beginning of the Video Letter segment, Steve introduces the kids by their names.
    • In later episodes, he (or Joe in even later episodes) simply says, "It's a letter from our friends."
  • Also, in this episode, after Steve introduces the kids, the scene simply fades into the video letter. In later episodes, it simply switches to it.
  • In this episode, Steve thinks through the clues he already has and their possibilities.
    • In all other episodes, he just asks the viewers what they think it is. The only other time that this happens is in "Joe Gets a Clue," when Joe plays for the first time.
  • One of the clues in this episode (the second (a straw)) has three pawprints on it and another (the third (a cow)) has two, which marks the first of only two episodes to do that, along with "What Does Blue Want to Make Out of Recycled Things?".
    • This is also the first time this concept happens as it also occurred in "Mailbox's Birthday," "Blue's Story Time," "What Does Blue Need?," "The Grow Show," "Blue Wants to Play a Song Game," "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?," and "Art Appreciation."
    • As a general rule in later episodes, starting with "What Time Is It for Blue?" only a single pawprint will be used for each clue.
  • A few pictures used for Blue were used in this episode.
  • Blue was frequently sticking her tongue out as idle in this episode. This is the 1st episode this happens.
• Even though Tickety first appears, she has no lines in this episode. She will talk later in the series, starting with "What Time Is It for Blue?".
• Starting with this episode, Steve's voice is higher pitched and more excited (though in some scenes in this episode, his voice is in a low pitch that would be introduced in "Pretend Time"); it would be like this until "Blue Goes to the Beach".
  • Starting in the 9th (11th in airing order and A Snowy Day as the 9th in airing order) episode of this season, "Pretend Time", his voice becomes a little bit calmer and much more chilling that would be officially become lower pitch in the second series premiere, Steve Gets the Sniffles. However, his voice would still be like this in a lot of scenes in later episodes of the first season and in two episodes of the third season, "Stormy Weather" and “Magenta Gets Glasses”.
• This is the first time that Steve and Blue visit the farm. They visit it later in "Blue's Favorite Song" and "What Does Blue Want to Do on a Rainy Day?."
  • The Skidoo location would also be picked up by Josh in "Meet Josh!", "Song Time with Blue", and "Welcome to Blue's Bistro". Those 3 episodes were mentioned in the reboot.
• When Steve picks up Sidetable's phone to talk with Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, it is a real-life telephone rather than an animated one. This is because, in closer angles, any animated thing Steve touches or picks up turns live-action.
• The phone also vibrates slightly violently when it rings.
  • Also, when Steve says "Blue, where are you?", his line was interrupted by the telephone ringing, and he falls.
• When Blue dips into the pink paint, her color would later evolve into the Magenta character.
• When the chicks jump from Steve's hand, Tickety's bounce sound was used.
• Blue's original barking for the Mailtime song would be used in later episodes up until Nurture!.
• A TV commercial shown on Nickelodeon in New Zealand in 2006 states that the show most likely premiered in Australia and New Zealand on November 11, 1996.
• In the closing sequence, after the credits, the ball bounces 3 times without rotating, and when Blue catches up to it, she winks, and when the ball gets thrown away, she leaves, and then the book closes.
  • This would happen with the exceptions of Blue's Big Pajama Party and Blue's Big Musical until the season four episode "Steve Goes to College".
• This episode was later remade in the Blue's Clues & You! episode Meet Josh!.
  • Also, both episodes are the first in both series.
  • In the episode "Hide and Seek with Blue", Magenta's animation of hiding under the bed/on the bed is just like when Blue did it.
• Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper are also able to morph their mouths into different shapes, which would be impossible and painful to do in real life.
  • Steve tries to do it, but by also using his fingers.
• This is the only time that Steve falls down when the telephone rings.
• Footage from this episode would later be reused in Backstage at Blue's Clues in Blue's Big Musical Movie on DVD.
• This was the first episode to air on Nick Jr. in 2019.
• Since this episode is the series premiere, Steve would leave for college in Steve Goes to College. Since he would be considered 18 in that episode, it seems that he is 12 in this episode, as it aired in 1996 and Steve Goes to College aired in 2002, where Joe takes over as the host for the rest of the series.

Goofs

• When each elephant took a peanut from the bowl (which was never painted), they just took the outline of the peanut, which became another peanut.
• During Steve's first Skidoo, the scene has a white border around it when Steve sings, "Blue Skidoo, We Can Too!". Errors like this are common as Blue's Clues was made when television sets were a different ratio than modern sets.
• When Steve asks the chicks where Blue is, nothing is on his head. When the chicks tell Steve where Blue is, she simply appears on his head before the camera pans up to show her. Just after this, when Steve stands up, a faint static is heard, and Steve's feet on a hard floor can be heard instead of grass.
• Graham crackers are one of the foods stored in the fridge. This is incorrect as graham crackers are never refrigerated.
  • Another goof like this happened in "Weight and Balance", but this time with popcorn.
• After Steve drew the last clue, the pawprints were still shown on the cow.
  • This was common early in the series until Signs.
• Blue runs in a backward circle 3 times during this episode: first, when Steve finds her under the snack table; second, when she Skidoos into the elephant painting, and finally when she Skidoos into the farm picture.
• In the credits, Penelope Jewkes is listed before Morgan Jean instead of after in alphabetical order.
• During the Mailtime segment, a part of the thinking chair and Steve's fingers are cut off.
• After Steve and the viewers help the first chick, the rest of Steve's body is cut off and one of the chick's beaks disappears for a frame.
• When Steve Skidoos home, the tree branch isn't connected to the tree.
• When figuring out all three clues, the thinking chair moves downwards.
• Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper say that Blue is making a very big mess in the kitchen. However, the mess was not that big, as it was only four items that fell out of the grocery bag.
• When Mailbox stretches into the room at the end of the Mailtime song, his colors are darker, but when he approaches Steve as he sits in the Thinking Chair, they are his usual bright colors, but his pupils bulge out.
• After Steve Skidoos into the farm picture, a boom mic appears above his head before he says, "Let's look around".
• At the end of the episode where the elephants come in, another boom mic can be seen at the top of the screen.