Let's check back in with Steve Burns during a harrowing time for many people who grew up watching Nickelodeon programming.
The former host of Nick Jr. preschooler series Blue's Clues has shared his thoughts on Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, weeks after one of his empathetic "checking in" videos went viral following its posting days after the release of the docuseries. The project details allegations of past inappropriate behavior by others on the sets of several other shows that aired on parent channel Nickelodeon.
"I don't have any particular insight into any of that," Burns told Today in comments posted April 7. "I'm coming to it much the same as anyone else, with horror and heartbreak. It's just terrible to watch it unfold. I don't know what else to say, other than that it's heartbreaking."
The 50-year-old expressed empathy for those reliving traumatic memories that have resurfaced with Quiet on Set. "It's got to be so unfathomably painful," he said. "The fact that this is now what everyone's talking about at the watercooler, it just breaks my heart."
The TV personality, who hosted Blue's Clues between 1996 and 2002, has occasionally shared check-in videos on TikTok, in which he asks viewers how they are doing and appears silent. After he posted one March 20, three days after Quiet on Set was released, many fans mentioned the docuseries in the comments.
One person wrote, "After the nickelodeon documentary Steve all I need is my blues clues to save whatever is left of this childhood I once had...."
Another user commented, "Thank you for being one of the GOOD parts of Nickelodeon, Steve."
In his interview with Today, Burns distanced himself from the main cable network. "Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon [programming] were so different," he said. "We're in New York, they're in L.A. There's no overlap whatsoever between any of those shows and what we were doing."
In Quiet on Set, several former Nickelodeon actors and writers detail allegations of inappropriate behavior, including by former channel producer Dan Schneider, who created shows such as Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show before leaving the company in 2018. Following the release of the docuseries, he released a YouTube video in which he addressed several of the accusations.
"I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology," he said. "I could be cocky and definitely overambitious and sometimes just straight up rude and obnoxious and I am so sorry that I ever was."
In addition, a Nickelodeon spokesperson told NBC News last month, "Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct."
(E!, Today and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Read on for more revelations from Quiet on Set: