Steve Gets the Sniffles

Steve Gets the Sniffles
Episode number	Season 2, Episode 1 (#201)
Airdate	November 3, 1997 (US) July 3, 1999 (UK)
Written by	Angela C. Santomero
Directed by	Matt Sheridan John Rowe (UK)
Question in the episode	What does Steve need to feel better?
Clues	A Spoon A Bowl Vegetables
Answer to Blue's Clues	Vegetable Soup
Chronology
Previous episode	Blue's News (Produced) What Is Blue Afraid Of? (Released) What Story Does Blue Want to Play? (Season/Credit Order)
Next episode	What Does Blue Want to Build?
Update in or theme concept made into	Getting Healthy with Blue

"Steve Gets the Sniffles" (also known as "Steve's Sick Day" in the US version and named "Kevin Gets the Sniffles" in the UK version) is the first episode of Blue's Clues from the second season. It was the twentieth episode to be aired and the twenty-first produced.

Characters

• Blue
• Steve (North America)
• Kevin (United Kingdom)
• Duarte (Portugal)
• Sidetable Drawer
• Mailbox
• Mr. Salt
• Mrs. Pepper
• Paprika
• Shovel
• Pail
• Felt Friends
• Jill (debut)
• Baby Bear (cameo on the picture)
• Tickety (credits only)

Summary

Steve is sick with the sniffles, and the viewer plays Blue's Clues to figure out what Blue thinks Steve needs to feel better.

Locations

• Living Room
• Kitchen
• Backyard

Elements

• Question: What does Blue think Steve needs to feel better?
• Clues:
  • 1. A Spoon
  • 2. A Bowl
  • 3. Vegetables
• Answer: Vegetable Soup
• Wrong Answer: The vegetable dance with the spoon and bowl.
• Living room picture: Mama Bear checking Baby Bear with a stethoscope (when Steve skidooed out of Jill's storybook, he came out of the skidoo from the Living room picture instead of the book, and the Living room picture showed a blank white screen)
• Skidoo location: Jill's storybook (Skidoo In), Living Room Picture Frame (Skidoo Out)
• Felt Frame picture: Freddy is Sick & Fifi pretending doctor from "Blue Goes to the Doctor".

Summary

Steve has the sniffles. The viewer plays Blue’s Clues to figure out what Blue thinks Steve needs to feel better.

Recap

Steve has the sniffles. Blue's Clues is played to figure out what Blue thinks Steve needs to "feel better". Along the way, Steve and Blue get some tips to stay healthy. This includes learning about healthy snacks with Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper with baby Paprika. Afterward, Steve is given a "checkup" from Shovel and Pail who pretended to be a doctor and nurse respectively. The letter he receives from Mailbox is about a kid's day going to a doctor's appointment with a boy named John and receives a red lollipop at the end. Steve and Blue soon skidoo into a story about how a girl named Jill played in the rain, became sick, and how she recovers from her cold. When Steve is starting the process of figuring out what Blue's Clues meant, he sneezes after he gets his notebook out. Steve thinks Blue wants him to do the Vegetable Dance with the Spoon and Bowl, but that was not the answer. Finally, Steve is given vegetable soup to "cure" him of his sniffles.

Gallery

from the US Version "A-choo!"

from the UK Version "A-choo!"

"A-choo!"

Felt Frame Picture from Steve Gets the Sniffles

Spoon

Spoon

Steve Said Healthy Snack I let to eat some healthy Snack.

Steve Said Carrots, Bananas, and celery too.

Bowl

Bowl

Post Time Season 2 Kevin Gets the Sniffles

Blue's Clues Poster at the Doctor's Office in the Mailtime Segment

Vegetables

Vegetables

Vegetables

Blue's Clues frame from Steve gets a sniffles

Steve skidooed out of the frame instead of the book.

Steve Said Mixed up Vegetable into bowl

Steve Said Vegetable Soup

Steve sings "We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues" on the Thinking Chair in this episode instead of standing up.

Steve's mid-Season 2 hair is shown.

UK Version

Spanish version

3 Clues From Steve Gets The Sniffles

Blue's Clues Steve Gets the Sniffles Background

Watch Episode

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

Trivia

• Starting with this episode, Tickety Tock, Mr. Salt, and Mrs. Pepper appear during the credit sequence. Last season, Blue originally appears by herself during the credit sequence, but starting with this season, the new characters now appear.
• Starting with this episode, Steve’s voice is now lower pitch and calm, even though there are some scenes where he temporarily reverts to his season 1 voice, as was the case in several episodes in later seasons after this one.
• This is the first episode where in the intro, Blue hides in a different spot other than the flowers or behind the house. Beginning with this episode, she hides below Mailbox, which becomes a prominent hiding place for most of Season 2 and early Season 3, although the flower hiding place is still used in a few episodes.
• On the second round of the "Healthy Snacks" game, there is green on the carrot, just not the edible part.
• This is one of the most popular Blue's Clues episodes for a while. It was so popular that it reran on Noggin several times in the 2000s.
• A poster in the doctor's office in the Mailtime segment reads "We are looking for Blue's Clues because we're really smart" at the top and "At Nick Jr., We Play to Learn. Watch Blue's Clues on weekdays at 10:30 on Nick Jr." at the bottom. This is the first Nick Jr. poster seen in Blue's Clues and other Nick Jr. shows.
• The Mailtime segment's child is referred to by name: Jo(h)n (it is not clear by far if it's "John" with an H or "Jon" without one). This is the first time any of Steve's friends is referred to by name since the previous season's first episode.
• This is the last episode featuring Holly Klein as animation assistant from late season 1; later in season 2, she became an animator.
• In the VHS version, Steve sings: "...that we wanna do." by himself. This is the fifth episode that he does this, with the first being "The Grow Show" and its previous episodes: "What Is Blue Afraid Of?", "Magenta Comes Over", and "Blue's News".
• The pawprint moves away as Steve tries to get rid of it. Steve explains to the pawprint that he has the sniffles.
• Hal Rifken directed the video letter.
• This episode aired the same day that Barney & Friends Season 4 premiered.
• This is Yana Vainshtok's first episode as the prop master.
• The notebook phrase before the theme song uses the Notebook tone from "Pretend Time", which marks the fifth episode to use it.
• For this episode, the "A Clue! A Clue" from "The Grow Show" is used, making it the fourth episode to use it.
• Unlike "Blue’s News", this episode actually had the viewers sing the theme song. This concept also appears in the Season 2's "Blue's Birthday", making it the second of only two episodes of season 2 and the last in the series to feature the viewers singing the theme song.
• Throughout the episode, the picture frame shows a picture of Mama Bear checking Baby Bear with a stethoscope. But after Steve skidoos out of the book, the picture frame shows a blank white screen like Steve skidooed out of Squirrel Park. This is also done in "Blue's Senses".
• The episode is renamed "Kevin Gets the Sniffles" for the UK Kevin version.
• This is the first episode of season 2.
• This is the last time Blue's original vocals are featured in the theme song, the one that has her bark once before Steve says, "that we wanna do" from every episode of season 1 except "What Does Blue Want to Make?" (which also has a completely alternative version of Blue's vocals during theme song).
  • This is the only season 2 episode where this happens and to also feature her original vocals from Season 1 as these were changed onwardly starting in the next episode.
• When Steve spots the second clue on the bowl, orange peels are shown, which are eaten by Blue.
• Usually, Steve stands up to sing "We Just Figured Out Blue's Clues", but he remains sitting down in his thinking chair for this episode because he still has the sniffles.
• From now on, the end credits have the occupation name in light blue letters. The people's names are still in navy blue letters.
• This episode marks the first appearance of Blue's high singing sound effect to the Mailtime Song.
• This is the first time Steve and Sidetable Drawer have a conversation before Steve gets his notebook. This happens for the rest of the series along with Joe.
• In the Mailtime Segment, when Steve tries to finish up the Mailtime Song, he starts to sneeze again, but when he puts his tissue up to his nose, he stops, then says "Mail" calmly instead of yelling it out. Mailbox comes up with Steve, saying that he knows what Steve needs to feel better... read the get well card.
• Starting with this episode up until "What Experiment Does Blue Want to Try?" (later regularly until "Math!"), when Steve tells the viewers he needs their help figuring out the clues, a re-shot of him in his hair from mid-season 2 (introduced in "What Does Blue Want to Make Out of Recycled Things?").
  • This also happens during the So Long Song.
  • A re-shot of Steve in his mid-season 2 hair was also shown in the previous episode, "Blue's News" (the season 1 finale).
• The topic of this episode is also dealt with in Blue's Sniffly Day, series book #9. Blue gets a cold and does not feel well enough to play with Steve or her friends. They all work together to cheer her up and make her feel better.
• This is the first episode where Steve is dressed for the rain.
  • The second episode is "Stormy Weather".
• Angela Santomero is credited as Angela C. Santomero (as usual), Jenna Marie Castle is credited as Jenna Castle, and John Sheehy is credited as John Sheehy, MD.
• The audio is reused for the Dance and Sing: The Best of Nick Jr. soundtrack and its CD sampler.
• This is the first episode where the viewers saying "Notebook!" from Mailbox's Birthday is not used.
• Sidetable Drawer has the sniffles, too.
• Shovel pretends to be a doctor and Pail pretends to be a nurse. They say, "We know what you have. You have a cold."
• At one point, Steve mishears "clue" for "flu" and thinks that the audience believes he has the flu.
  • Despite that, Steve is able to "cure" his sniffles with vegetable soup. In the corresponding book Blue's Sniffly Day, Blue is still fighting off a bad cold and is given soup to help her recover even though it is unknown if she made a full recovery in the end.
• During the Thinking Time segment, Steve has just a slight bit of trouble opening the Notebook before reviewing the clues.
• This episode was remade in the reboot as "Getting Healthy with Blue".
• When Steve skidoos out of the book when Jill's story ends, his rain gear disappears and he goes back into his normal outfit. This will happen again by Joe in "Let's Write!" and "Playdates".
• Jill's story begins when Steve sings, "Blue Skidoo, ahh-ahh-choo!".
• This is the first time Blue leaves a clue onscreen.

Goofs

• When Steve sings to the garden, the house's roof is cut off, and a black bar can be seen on the bottom right corner of the screen.
• When Mailbox moves closer to Steve, he appears to be cut in half and floating in midair.
• Steve skidoos into the book, but when he skidoos back home, he skidoos out of the picture frame instead of the book.
• In the UK version, before Kevin sneezes and says “Cheer!” in a calm voice, he is on the left side, making it harder to see Blue.
• It is unknown how Steve gets the rain clothes when he skidoos into the book or where they come from.
• Blue places a paw print on the third clue before Kevin moves in front of her, but it does not show up until after he moves away.
• Steve does not have any other symptoms, so it may be allergies that cause him to sneeze and have a runny nose; he has no fever and seems just as peppy as usual. However, Steve cannot be having allergies if eating vegetable soup alleviates his symptoms, so it is much more likely that he is still recovering from a cold the day before. After all, Side Table had it, too, so maybe the house is dusty. "Feel better" is a strange way of putting it, as he does not seem to be sick, sad, worried, tired, or grumpy.
• As Steve exits the house and heads towards the backyard, several pieces of the background are missing.
• After Steve draws the second clue, when the camera is back facing toward him, a boom mic is seen on top of the screen.
• After Steve draws the third clue, the pawprint is still seen on the vegetables.