016: fools don't rush in / my imaginary friend

Written By nins & arns

Arns relives the sheer terror of falling in love through "Beyond" by Leon Bridges. Nins pays a visit to an old friend: Steve from Blue's Clues.

referenced in this episode:


0:00 - Intro
5:05 - Announcements: crying is self-care, merch, spooky sobs
8:05 - Sob story: Schitt's Creek
13:21 - Arns: "Beyond" by Leon Bridges
32:02 - Nins: Steve from Blue's Clues
55:27 - Outro

summary

—

  • (00:00) hi I'm Angela Non, I'm Ariana Kempis and this is brb [Music] crying hello everyone welcome back to BRB crying I'm Ariana also known as Arns and I'm Angela also known as Nins and and the two of us the two of us are self-proclaimed experts in the art of crying we are and understanding why beautiful you know yeah and we are here to graciously share that knowledge love it you're welcome couldn't have said it better myself you know I really scratch my brain week after week do you really do you really how else can I cuz I tried it once and it was it was

    (01:03) horrifying so yeah yeah what's up nothing much I got a new pair of glasses ooh I didn't even notice okay yeah cuz it's I'm not wearing it because when I put it on I want to throw up oh that thing okay is that normal I've noticed it before when you get that new pair you kind of have to like form a connection I mean to to be fair I did buy it off one of those very cheap websites it was like $6 so I'm like is it me not being used to it or is it because I'm cheap and Goa Goa Goa it's wrong it could be really bad if I tried

    (01:47) to adjust to it I mean I remember when I was younger and they added a stigmatism to my prescription yeah and it was like legitimately from the optometrist and I was like m not right and they were like well just wear it for a week and see if you still think it's not right so maybe you just need to adjust I know I'm just like I could really be [ __ ] my eyes up if it is wrong ah I see I see so now I'm like okay do I just go and buy a $300 pair of glasses now that's correct just to to know you only have one pair

    (02:20) of eyes you know what I mean yeah I'll set up a GoFundMe page if it's wrong for $6 and we'll pay we'll uh figure out a way to catch you your money back thank you so much um yeah how are you I'm good I'm good I feel like for the last couple of weeks I've noticed like wow I'm getting older I'm getting older like physically like physically the knees have been creaking yeah well okay so my husband and I are still trying to run routinely oh I was thinking about that I was like I wonder if n is still running yeah like

    (02:56) we do we definitely do and it's one of those things where it's like if I go whole week without running the guilt oh comes you know but I've really worn out my running shoes and I was running on them when I should not have been and it really [ __ ] up my calves oh uhoh like they were just very sore and it was taking a lot longer to recover and so I was like man I'm getting old because usually I could just like bounce back yeah and and then this past weekend I went to a wedding this really fun wedding it was actually on

    (03:36) Friday okay and it still took me like the whole weekend to feel back to normal you know and I was like babe I didn't even reach my Max of what I usually would drink before and I was like ooh yeah I feel like I felt that way many years ago M okay interesting where I like I hit this new wall yeah yeah so maybe I'm just physically aging much faster I guess I don't know but I also just like haven't been drinking I mean I'm not 27 anymore yeah yeah and the number of weddings that I'm attending per year is dwindling M thank [ __ ]

    (04:18) God no I'm kind of sad oh really no invite me to any wedding I would love to go I mean I say that but then of course I love going to them yeah but it's just like I don't know no I I love a wedding I love it you hear that everyone if you're getting married you want her as a guest she's a fun one mhm mhm give me the mic I'll give a speech I don't give a [ __ ] she can pull anything out of her ass truly truly yeah yeah so that's how I'm feeling okay feeling old feeling old okay feeling fragile you at heart okay love it at heart yeah right all

    (05:04) right what other [ __ ] are you going to pull out of your ass today well I actually have announcements so I got some things to say all right so my first announcement is that if you follow us on socials which I hope you do at BB crying. podcast you may have seen that we are doing a collab with my sister Alexa and her brand curated Cultura they are an a Le conscious consumerism brand and you may have seen that we are doing a little thing called crying is self-care because she highlights a lot of self-care products in the aapi space

    (05:45) so yeah we're going to be doing a lot of fun things we're going to be having some good conversations so keep a look out see what we're [ __ ] doing you won't want to miss out you will not you will not it's going to be a good time and my second announcement so again if you follow us on socials you may have seen that we were at undiscovered SF last weekend along with my sister's brand curated Cultura and you may have seen us sporting some merch oo and I will say that this is not yet released online so if you want to be the first to

    (06:31) know if you want the goods follow us on socials and sign up for the newsletter because that's where we're going to [  ] be talking about it and we're going to be wearing cool ass [  ] yeah and you're going to be like oh my God I want one and then you'll delay signing up for the newsletter and then you'll see sold out and then you're going to be like damn it I should have signed up yeah there's going to be so much regret and you know we really don't want that for you we are here to look out for you yes so listen to ARS so listen to me um

    (07:05) and sign up for the newsletter and then my last announcement next week is my personal favorite holiday Halloween it's spooky season so we're going to have a little spooky soab sesh so tune in it'll be a great time I mean it's always a great time but it'll be a scary great time a scary great time terrifyingly incredible so yeah that's all I got that's all we got well actually no we have a lot more but we do thanks ARS for the great announcements oh you're welcome happy to do it what else should we do now I don't know do you have

    (07:46) anything you want to say oh what's that do you he a crying baby I think I do is that a crybaby SOB I think it might be crybaby SOB okay all right folks coming in hot I have a little soab story and what PR tell is a so story for our listeners who may be new we have a section in our episodes that we dedicate to our SOB stories and these are listener submissions where we invite our fellow crybabies to write to us and let us know of something that made them cry or it could also just be you know thoughts of they've had on past episodes

    (08:31) that we really want to encourage people to share with us because I think that at the Crux of all of this is really just you and me wanting to build community and connection so the door is always open for people to tell us how they're feeling if there's something that they want to share that happened to them that made them cry or if there was just something that they took away from our episodes so today I want to share a sa story from from my college bestie Isaac and Isaac and I were in the same major so we literally saw each other every

    (09:11) [ __ ] day and we're so close during those four years and we definitely have kept in touch over the last decade uh he played the piano at my wedding and yeah I'm just very grateful for his friendship and he sent me a message after listening to episode 6 where I talked about one of my favorite scenes from shitz Creek and the show's incredible representation of the lgbtq community and here's what he had to say crying at your shits Creek episode thank you for speaking on lgbtq representation and choosing such wonderful words to describe that scene

    (09:58) and the community at Large I felt so seen the Journey of coming out was tough for me but thanks to Media like shitz Creek and also people like you sharing and digesting this information the general public can start to feel more comfortable about it your podcast has been many things for me I have found that there's something to learn in each of yours and Ariana's stories even if some of them contain things that I won't personally experience like motherhood that was the episode where you talked about ending your breastfeeding Journey

    (10:31) thank you for taking your time to be vulnerable and sharing these personal stories Tuesdays have suddenly become my favorite days of the week uh obviously cried when he sent me these texts and Isaac I just want to thank you so much for not only listening to this podcast but also taking the time to reach out and share this message and be vulnerable here with us I'm just so glad that shits Creek and the feature that we did on this tiny little podcast made you feel seen in that way and if I'm being really honest I actually was pretty

    (11:15) nervous to cover that story because knowing that I'm an ally of this community I just wanted to make sure that I was doing it in the most respectful way possible even if it wasn't my own personal story to tell and I think that ties in perfectly about what you said in your own message where it's like there is something to learn in each of these stories that we share even if they aren't exactly what we'll ever personally experience because it's so true and it's something that we've alluded to on all of these episodes all those feelings

    (11:56) underneath we can all identify with them so thank you Isaac love you Isaac I know what you mean it's sometimes it's easier to not say anything at all that idea the fear of doing it incorrectly or saying the wrong thing and that stopping you from doing or saying anything at all right right so thank you for speaking out on that me you yeah that was that was a good one yeah okay well again to all you listening if there's anything that you want to share with us please feel free to send us a note at hello BRB crying podcast.com you

    (12:43) can submit a form on our website BRB crying podcast.com or you can DM us on all of our socials find us some way somehow yeah and if you have suggestions for us too we take those very seriously and if you sign up for our newsletter we actually feature some of those join the community babes join us okay all right I think it's time I think it's time we get this [ __ ] rolling [Music] okay would you like the honors of starting us off I would love I would love to start I have a pretty light one today and by light I mean it's not sad

    (13:32) okay love that so I mean I still cried because that's the premise of the podcast what made you cry wait it is yes um should I go over the whole yeah oh oh did you prepare like a funny story uh okay so to begin I'd like to take you on a little journey into my past if you are so inclined to join Okay so you are in my shoes I'm not gonna say that year okay but you have the worst job you've ever had in your life okay your boss is a [ __ ] nightmare you got to wake up at before 6:00 a.m.

    (14:12) every day to commute into the city like an hour and a half each way mhm then you have to spend another 30 minutes looking for parking oh my god um my heart I'm having like palpitations remembering this everyday is [ __ ] miserable so you do little things to make yourself feel better one of which is you will often take the longer route into the city that drives by the ocean M and every time you listen to this one specific song a song and it is a song that breaks your heart open and fills your soul and you do this almost every day

    (14:50) for months because it is the only thing keeping you sane and this is not a sad song and yet the tears come do you have any guesses I actually don't mainly because I feel like you and I have talked before about how you don't really listen to music exactly I was actually going to say that but I didn't include it because I had too many words on this page already yeah okay I tend to skew towards podcasts and audiobooks yeah especially for longer drives but it got to the point where I was like okay I'm driving for a really long time every

    (15:25) day so I started kind of like dipping my toes and actually listening to music for fun which you know I don't really do yeah so it is a very popular song you will know it but I think it might be kind of hard for you to guess okay I'm going to lose the game I don't know that's fine I don't know that's fine hit me hit me with it today I'm talking about Beyond by Leon Bridges oh yes yes yes okay all right so some C context uhuh first of all my sources for today are an interview with Leon bridg from the great discontent and a genius

    (16:04) video where Leon Bridges is explaining the lyrics for beyond all right so some background dear sweet Leon born at Atlanta raised in Fort Worth so his genre is primarily soul/ 60s R&B and his Vibe is super old timey and vintage and it's been said that he sounds the way he looks so he very much embodies this Persona of someone from the past and skipping ahead to his later days but when he was in Community College he decided to start taking up hip-hop and ballet and Jazz and modern dance because artists are apparently multifaceted as a dancer yeah

    (16:48) yeah yeah so he was dancing he says one day after class somebody told me that there was a guy in the cafeteria playing a piano while people took turns singing I knew I could sing a little so I decided to check it out Leon I had to include that Leon please it says LOL all caps I knew I could sing a little yeah so he started singing in the cafeteria every day in between classes and he says that he got so caught up in this that it was hard for him to do his actual school workor because he was so excited to just show

    (17:20) up and sing yeah yeah yeah and then he became tired of depending on other people to be creative in terms of playing instruments so he picked he picked guitar God you know when people are just they're so [ __ ] artistic mhm that when they say they decide to dabble in something it's like they pick it up and they're just anyway sorry this sounds like I'm mad at him I might be a little so so he loves R&B and he started experimenting with different genres but he realized that he connected best with 50s and 60s R&B and he didn't know why more people

    (18:02) weren't trying to revive this type of R&B because to him it was like the best sound especially within black music and he just really wanted to get back to his roots so he started doing open mics first at coffee shops and then at bars and then Smoky lounges and all while living at his mom's house he would like come home late at night and sneak back in while she was asleep but over the course of like four years he was just showing up at these open mics doing his own shows and he alludes a little bit in the interview to the fact that he was

    (18:41) probably only playing for a few people and he probably sounded horrible but he loved doing it and he said I miss those times and I just kind of feels like us just thinking that and so he was doing open mics at bigger and bigger venues until finally he was approached by a man named Austin Jenkins from the band white denim and he was like dude we got to make some records and so they had these guys and they brought in all this vintage recording equipment that they had been saving for recording an analog soul album very specific but that's how they

    (19:22) decided to record his debut album coming home and it [  ] blew up it was nominated for best R&B album in 2015 his debut album so that's just a little little bit about him okay okay and I guess I'm just going to [  ] get into the song so a little bit of context I think he mentioned something about this being one of the first songs he really collaborated on and they wanted to capture a country and R&B feel which when he said that I was like yes that is exactly what they did and I think he also said something along the

    (20:03) lines of when they were working on this song there not being a dry eye in the room so and that's all I'll say um so I'm going to play the song for you dear listener I will link it in the show notes please please please listen to it so right before this played I asked you for tissues because I knew I would cry I mean I can listen to this song a million times and I will always cry and I was about to say I don't know why but no I do know why and that's what I'm going to [ __ ] talk about today okay so I just played the song for

    (20:44) nins and um please listen to it please so I'm going to walk us through a couple of these lines but who am I kidding I'm going to walk us through all of it because it's [ __ ] poetry okay so we open up with don't want to get ahead of myself feeling things I've never felt it's kind of hard for me to explain her personality and everything brings me to my knees she shines me up like gold on my arm I want to take it slow but it's so hard I love to see her face in daylight it's more than just our bodies at night so this to me is like the perfect

    (21:23) depiction of falling in love and what it feels like and not wanting to get ahead of yourself because you're falling so fast and also that moment where you realize that it's more than just physical attraction and he ends the verse by saying do you think I'm being foolish if I don't rush in at this point in the song You Realize like oh he's talking to someone about this girl and I love this line so much because it's so beautifully crafted the way he asks there's so much longing and urgency do you think I'm being foolish if I don't Russian versus

    (22:03) if I do Russian like oh my God anyway so the chorus is I'm scared to death that she might be it that the Love is Real that the shoe might fit I'm not even listening to the song she might just be my everything and beyond space and time and the afterlife will she have my kids will she be my wife she might just be my everything I'm so sorry everyone when I say please go listen to this it's because I am incomprehensible he's just he's so earnestly overcome with this nervous excitement about the fact that he's come across such a good thing and

    (22:47) he's terrified that it's too good to be true and yet the song is so bright and magical and it's like he's scared to death about what it might mean to choose be in love but he can't stop himself verse two I want to bring her around to meet you I think you'd like her kind demeanor I know that grandma would have loved her like she was her own she makes me feel at home so you realize he's talking to his mom in all my years of listening to this song obviously I understood this it kind of fleetingly crossed my mind and I

    (23:27) thought to myself that's really nice but a couple months ago I listened to the song for the first time in a really long time and I couldn't stop crying because I was like oh my God I don't think I've ever heard a love song from the point of view of a son coming to his mom and saying mom there's this girl I really want you to meet her I think Grandma would have loved her and there's something that's so pure about this narrative he's not seducing this girl with his sweet words or having this outpouring of love for her and confessing it to her

    (24:07) he's confessing it to the other most important woman in his life and then he earnestly asks her do you think I'm being foolish if I don't russan anyway then we go back to the chorus and then we get to the bridge and he says I give up I'm I give up I'm in love fiding out to you and he finally just admits what he can't help but feel and it opens the floodgates to his soul and his head this whole time is asking what if it doesn't work out what if it doesn't work out but his heart asks but what if it does and in the end his heart wins

    (24:49) and okay the part that always makes me without fail cry in the last chorus he says one last time so do you think I'm being foolish if I don't rush in and that extra so at the beginning it breaks me because I'm imagining like a young man coming up to his mom and asking so what do you think like what what should I do and in the beginning of the song he says it's kind of hard to explain and then at the end of the song he also says again oh me oh my I can't explain she might just be my everything and I love that he's just

    (25:32) reduced to this like he's reduced to the fact that words just fail him and I think this might be my favorite love song because so often people are plagued by like what if there's someone else out there what if this person isn't the one who's for me and in this song he's so wept up in this romance that he's like what if she is the one and if she is will she choose me back and to me this is the Hallmark of a True Romance because it's not just the light and fluffy little meat cute The Accidental bumping into each other and

    (26:16) locking eyes for the first time it's realizing the gravity of what you feel and what it would mean if you couldn't have it or how devastating it would be if you lost at all and then choosing to fall anyway I mean we all know that falling in love is exhilarating and it's a theme that in art we come back to time and time again because it's so universally wonderful and it feels so good and it feels unlike anything else and even though it feels so unique people are experiencing it every single day everywhere and it's so beautiful it's

    (26:58) such a beautiful thing and honestly I don't really have that much to [  ] say about this I think that it speaks for itself but since I know I'm not the only one who feels this way I of course had to scour through the comments and so this is just how I'm going to close out I'm just going to [  ] I'm just going to finish with this I'm just going to read like a [ __ ] ton of YouTube comments to you because I like all right when the girl You' fallen in love with sends you this song I think that's a good sign a really good

    (27:31) sign all the replies were like congrats man uh this I'm going to admit this one I had to do a little bit of um rearranging of words but I was born in 71 you bring back the atmosphere I grew up in a bit late 60s hippie-ish style that I used to fall asleep to on the sofa my parents had neighbors over talking late into the night this is not just some music this is forgotten memories and of course everyone [ __ ] is destroyed by the grandma section the part where he sings how his grandma would have loved her like she was her

    (28:08) own just brings tears to my eyes my grandma would have loved my wife someone else said that line about Grandma good Lord that is disarming and Transcendent I was like yeah exactly it's kind of like whoa like you don't expect it and then it's such a simple line mhm okay this song makes me unbelievably believe that there is someone out there that will think the world of me and thank God to have me I loved this one because it was like even if you don't necessarily know what it's like to fall in love you can imagine how

    (28:45) it feels and a song like this gives people hope that they'll find that person uh another comment Leon is an old soul for sure the type of vibe and feeling you get from listening to his music is truly special when there are no words that come to mind or that can explain the feelings you feel while listening to music this good your eyes start to water because it's so good if it really leaves you speechless all you can do is listen another comment says every time I hear this song I'm reminded that it is actually a song about one my

    (29:17) wife and I met it's just that it was created written and sung by this man whose voice and talent is Heavenly and 25 years after the fact but it's our song I'm sure of it choked me up reminded me of when my wife of almost 30 years and I met so long ago time flies Thank You Leon this is my last one absolutely beautiful video Leon that old school real love a dope bond that deeper connection on all levels when you can absolutely be yourself is so worth the risk don't wait don't give into fear share The Whispers of your heart

    (29:56) today I mean I I have nothing left to say those were beautiful comments and I feel like they summed up there was such an outpouring of love and this energy of like oh my God this is Magic and I think that all these people are feeling the same some comment I didn't write down here it was something about like this is how music should always make us feel that was nice yeah when you talk about how love and the idea of falling in love it's so common in all of our art and our storytelling it's seen everywhere but it

    (30:36) is such a unique perspective that Leon writes about in this song and I guess I never really thought like you know cuz it's a [ __ ] Bop so yes can we just say if you've never heard of this before it really is a Bop yeah I guess I never really thought about like the fear of it and it's interesting because I feel like what you're scared of says a lot about where you are right and it's like that fear like what you're scared of it shows you what it is that you are so afraid to lose or so afraid to experience you know

    (31:22) that's the angle that this song is taking yes I'm not afraid of being rejected I'm not afraid of looking dumb I'm afraid of this being the biggest [ __ ] thing yeah never really thought about it yeah I know because again it's so light it's such a feel-good song yeah yeah a Feelgood song yeah love it love you love it love you Leon can just imagine all the papies like commenting brings me back no yeah [Music] lay it on me okay is this a hard pivot um it's not a hard pivot we are also taking it easy this week oh thank and we

    (32:14) are also going to get into something very sweet okay very nostalgic okay so hold my hand as we go down memory lane for a little bit okay I like this the parallels are yeah okay and honestly the way that we formatted the story too oh you'll see okay okay we'll also start off with a little game okay yes yes so I'm going to say some things that are all within a very obvious category okay and you have to figure out what the category is and then also add your own I love this game wow our whole podcast just be game like

    (32:56) logic quizzes so I'm going to lay out a sidoku okay all right here are your things okay little bear Rugrats Bear in the Big Blue House love that one PB&J otter I got four Blues Clues mhm these felt extra young recess is that too old no no no okay okay Sailor Moon bananas and pajamas oh bananas and remember that oh my God bananas and pajamas all right did I win uh perhaps okay so clearly we are mentioning TV shows from our childhood ARs and I are perfect products of the 9s and we grew up watching Nickelodeon Cartoon Network and the Disney

    (33:55) Channel and I will always fondly remember that time in television where you didn't have a million options and you just kind of were forced to rotate between like four channels and every day at the same time was the same show and that was it that's what you watched uh channel 52 53 54 55 yeah yeah you would just go back and forth go back and forth yeah so today we will be talking about one of these shows okay and specifically one of the characters of these shows and the impact that they've had on every single 90s kids

    (34:37) okay and it was your first guest yes yes today we are going to talk about Steve from Blues Clues [  ] me up Steve [  ] me up God okay okay so sources for today is a 1998 article by Daniel Anderson entitled educational television is not an oxymoron a 2006 short documentary called behind the clues 10 years with blue a 2019 New York Times article by Katrina onstad Blue's Clues returns and silence is still the star and then a 2023 interview that Steve Burns did with variety okay so first got to hit him with that [ __ ] context context okay

    (35:28) so Blues Clues you don't know was an interactive children's TV show it was created by Tracy paig Johnson Todd Kesler and Angela santomero and it aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2006 and it was part of the Nick Jr programming which was Nickelodeon's shows that specifically catered to preschool kids the show ran for 10 years but our beloved Steve left the show in 2002 after six years and was replaced by this guy Joe played by Donovan Patton I'm sure he was great okay but today is about Steve what um I'm sure he

    (36:16) was fine there were some undertones there okay this guy Joe okay just kidding Joe I'm sure you were great okay so for those of you who have not seen this masterpiece the show is a mostly animated show with the exception of our main character Steve who's played by the actor Steve Burns and in every episode Steve is trying to figure something out and his dog blue iconic blue helps him by leaving her paw prints on three objects around the house so Steve walks through this house collecting Clues and he invites the viewers the four-year-olds essentially

    (37:06) to participate and help him solve the clues so he'll talk directly to the camera and he'll ask questions and he'll kind of just wait until you're supposedly done responding to him and the Inception of the show was during a time in American television where there was this huge emphasis on educational programming for kids it was very intentional to teach kids through the format of TV versus just purely entertaining them and to be honest I am very out of touch with how children's TV is today I I feel like it's a lot more

    (37:51) iPad based I'm very much not familiar with the types of shows that kids are watching oh there's some gems out there sure I'm sure but I am an expert on my own childhood yes as you should be I definitely remember how almost every show that we watched had some sort of moral or some sort of lesson that they were really driving home and Blues Clues was no exception so this was a show specifically catered to preschoolers and it was intentionally designed to be very simple and repetitive andow and so you have these very rudimentary

    (38:32) cartoons which were of course blue and then other kind of ordinary household items salt pepper paprika their baby mailbox you know side table and all of these characters were very simple shapes very little animation and the creators of the show just really nail this formula of how do we keep kids' attention so the only real person on the show was Steve and it was the utmost important part of this show that they cast the right actor to lead it and the showrunners were actually having a really hard time finding someone to do

    (39:20) this they held over a thousand auditions and interestingly they were really gunning for a woman to star in the show they were like they wanted yeah they wanted a female person to walk the kids through the show but in walks Steve Burns and the funny thing is is that in this interview that Steve Burns did with variety he talks about how he only auditioned for the show because he thought it was voiceover work oh and that was kind of what he was doing at the time and so he walks in and he's straight up like skater like long hair

    (40:02) like very casual like opposite image of what you think is someone who's trying to get the lead role on a kid show but he [ __ ] Nails the audition and during the final callbacks they actually did a screen test for kids where they had all these actors you know kind of run through the pilot and all these producers were like dude these kids are paying the most attention to him interesting he just had this natural pull like kids just wanted to watch him yeah yeah and of course I mean there's no scientific reason that I can just put

    (40:46) in this paper and explain why that was but when I thought about why like if I'm trying to remember like what it was about him when I was four years old that made me like watching him on my screen I think it's because the way that he played this character felt very authentic to just who he was and it was like he wasn't he wasn't purposely putting on this act yes because he was talking to kids where he was you know intentionally dumbing things down or patronizing his audience cuz I think you know when you're talking to a kid it's so easy to

    (41:29) be like hey like what are you doing you know just very exaggerated yeah and he was just kind of like you know more chill about it and so maybe in my four-year-old mind I was like oh yeah this is an adult that's not talking to me like I'm a [ __ ] baby you know yeah so anyway the show aired in 1996 when I was three mhm and I distinctly remember coming home from kindergarten and just like chilling in my living room Grandma's watching me just watching the show MH and I'm sure every kid in the 9s has a very similar memory I'm assuming

    (42:10) you watched this show okay yeah what huh you wait until this point to ask me have you seen Blue Clues right like who hasn't who hasn't mhm it's just a memory that we all just collectively have we all watched the show mhm but there did come a point where surprise we all got older and you know our school days got longer and this show just wasn't on our rotation anymore because again catered to four-year-olds and I was just like so grown yeah like I was like um okay TRL we start getting into MTV okay so I can't say that I was still

    (42:56) actively watching ing the show 6 years later when Steve appeared in his last episode in 2002 but essentially in this episode Steve lets the audience know that he is heading off to college I mean he was really 29 at the time but it was just you know an easy way to explain his departure of the show so he hands off the show to his brother Joe shout out Joe he did a great job and honestly that was the last that we heard from Steve Burns for a while yeah he continued to do nameless voiceover work and you know smaller acting gigs

    (43:39) but he told variety that this was a very intentional choice for him to stray away from the spotlight as small as it was and his reasons for deciding to leave the show were totally justified I mean he just didn't see himself being the star of a kid show for the rest of his life and whenever he's asked about it in all of these interviews he always jokes about it he's like I refuse to Bald on a TV show I was balding fast and I just did not want to do that on TV and I feel like I have to mention this as a small anecdote he [ __ ] off so bad

    (44:16) that people thought he [ __ ] died 100% you remember this we all did we were like he there was a car crash yes yes so there were all these really horrific rumors about him dying and like really sad like car Crasher OD yes I think cancer I think I had heard yeah just a bunch of these crazy crazy rumors and he was so confused like he like went on the Rosie O'Donnell show he was like no no I'm here and he was like okay you know what if I can't beat these rumors I'm just going to start my own rumors and at least make it

    (44:52) fun like tell them I died while watching I don't know oh my God just this guy so yeah after he left the show he went away for a little while and all these kids who spent so many afternoons watching him they all grew up but I think with all things that gave us joy in our childhoods we all collectively carry with us this soft spot for Steve this lone adult in all of our TV watching who treated us like an equal who looked directly into our souls and relied on us for help he made us feel smart and he made us feel

    (45:50) included and when our parents were busy at work or our siblings were off doing their own thing Steve is there to be our friend and you don't forget that kind of friend so in 2021 on the 25th anniversary of the show's release Nick Jr publishes a Tweet back when Twitter was still Twitter and the Tweet read so about that time Steve went to college dot dot dot # blues clu2 and there was a video that was attached to the Tweet so I'm going to play that video for you do you remember this vaguely okay I will play it for

    (46:43) you funny thing that's not even the main part of my story are you serious yeah what the [ __ ] okay so of course we will share the link to that video Nick Jr posted on the 25th anniversary of Blues Clues but just to describe what was in that video we have Steve and he's back in the blue clu's house and he's wearing his iconic striped green long sleeve and he's looking directly at the camera again talking to you and the video is about 2 and a half minutes long and in the beginning he kind of apologizes for abruptly leaving all

    (47:36) those years ago and he talks about how all this time has passed and how much we've all grown and experienced and learned since then and he ends the video with saying I guess I just wanted to say say that after all these years I never forgot you and I'm super glad we're still friends and as if this man hasn't done enough to make our childhood so full of color he continues to show up in our adulthood too because in that same [ __ ] year he joins Tik Tok and he sporadically posts on there I want to say like maybe in 3 years he's

    (48:36) posted I don't know 20 times or something but last month one of his videos went viral 36 million views let me just play it for you okay okay so in this Tik Tok again has the camera close to his face and he's looking directly at it and he just goes hello so what's going on how are you and then he just sits there looking at the camera listening to our response the same exact way he did all those years ago again it's so simple and he doesn't give us advice I mean he can't because it's a pre-recorded video he isn't trying to solve the

    (49:37) problem for us or offer his own opinion he just gives us that space so you're [  ] sitting there watching this long lost dear dear friend from your childhood checking in on you and then you decide to open up the [  ] comment [Laughter] section comments comments comment and you realize that thousands and thousands and thousands of people are telling Steve how they are oh no I finally got an apartment Steve I'm no longer homeless now my sons watch the blues clu movies every day and I tell them about how I was a big fan of yours at their

    (50:30) age hi Steve I'm still alive I stayed tomorrow marks a year my big sister has been gone and I'm just trying to be okay I'm trying my best with my fitness journey I'm down 10 lbs Steve I work out and lift my weights and eat my veggies I had a baby Steve finally after 4 years of trying we did it and she's [Music] beautiful can we just sit here for an hour while you go through every comment please oh my God my tissue is like ratty mine like I just keep rearranging it trying to find a dry side you know so yeah I think it was like 200,000

    (51:27) comments on this Tik Tok and you realize the impact that Steve had not only on your life but on our entire generation he made all of us feel important he gave all of us that safe space and to this day he still honoring the magnitude of that role he played in all of our childhoods like when you're a child your heart is so open to anyone who shows us just an ounce of kindness and it's not only that it's open but it's that we treasure it forever we carry it with us forever MH and I guess I'm just so happy that it

    (52:27) was Steve he is someone who is so reverently embedded in all of our childhood memories who made it so full of color and music and fun and after all these years has never forgotten us the way that we have never forgotten him love you Steve love you Steve oh my God rewatching his videos when he played the 25th anniversary one I remembered why I was so drawn to him and it was just you really felt like he was listening and it's exactly as you said there wasn't an overe exaggeration it was just like he listens to me he

    (53:20) respects what I have to say you know when we were watching the Tik Tok it crossed my mind when I was crying I almost laughed because I was like can you imagine if I posted a Tik Tok like that I was just like how are you doing MH no one else El could do that no one else could do that it's so special and like he doesn't have to do that but it's a responsibility that he bears and bears lovingly yes yes exactly God exactly it's like he knows it's like he knows that these kids that loved him they're all leading their own

    (54:08) lives and sometimes those lives are really hard and he just wants to be like hey I'm still here if you want me I can still be your friend like what the [ __ ] like it's weird because when he's says that he loves us and that he's our friend I don't doubt it like I really feel like he does that's so special I think it's just like when you're a kid you're so impressionable it's such a fragile and precious thing to have the love and the devotion of a child and I guess I'm just so I think it's so scary nowadays we don't really know all these celebrities

    (54:54) and all these figures that we admire something comes up and your whole opinion has to change about this person but it's like no this is someone who is just resolutely stayed constant yeah in all of these years so yeah uh [  ] me up Steve at the beginning of this and I was like [  ] me up Steve I didn't mean yeah but he did yeah yeah so uh thank you Steve thanks Steve lots of parallels love a good comment section MH wow well I think we did it did we do it again I think we did it again you told the story right I told the story I'm

    (55:42) pretty sure I told a story too and then you told one after yeah so that's two stories two stories that's it right that's a podcast episode yeah yeah I think so well that's all we [  ] got that's all we [  ] got thanks everyone for tuning in thanks for journeying with us this was a we were both like oh it's light it's a sweet one it's sweet my God yeah thanks for listening as always like I know I have to plug the socials and stuff but just like really like thank you for listening yeah yeah it's truly such a joy and like said we

    (56:27) love a [ __ ] comment section so give us all the comments all the reviews yes all the ratings yeah yeah five stars only yeah I should clarify all the five star ratings all the five star ratings no but yeah reach out to us send us your soab story send us your cry recommendations follow us on all socials beer crying.

    (56:50) podcast email us hello beby crying podcast.com and that's all I got that's all I [ __ ] got too sick I'm going to go away for a little while yeah you're going to go away for a little while we will and then we'll be back yes we will but until then BRB crying [Music]

Until next time…brb crying :’)

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