Steve Burns is best known as the original host of the long-running children's television show "Blue's Clues."

Burns was born on October 9, 1973, in Boyertown, Pa. He studied theater on a scholarship at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., but he dropped out his sophomore year and moved to New York City to become a professional actor. He quickly found voice-over work in commercials and television shows, including "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law & Order."

Burns auditioned for "Blue's Clues" in 1995 thinking it was another voice-over job. Nickelodeon had other plans in mind for Burns. Each episode of "Blue's Clues" featured a mystery that Burns and his animated dog Blue had to solve. The detective team would receive three clues over during the episode. While solving the riddle, Burns and Blue stopped to address the home audience, encouraging preschoolers and other young children to solve each puzzle with them.

In addition to hosting "Blue's Clues," Burns was very involved in the series' production. He remained on "Blue's Clues" for more than 100 episodes until 2002, when he left to pursue a music career. Donovan Patton began hosting the show when Burns left.

Despite persistent rumors that started popping up as early as 1998, Burns did not die of a heroin overdose. Instead, he is still focusing on his music.

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Here is a look at what's new this week in family entertainment as adapted from reviews and ratings by Common Sense Media. Click on the links to read the reviews in full.

In Theaters Now: Disney's A Christmas Carol
A perfectly cast Jim Carrey stars as Ebeneezer Scrooge in "Disney's A Christmas Carol." This classic tale about the importance of doing right by others is a 3-D fright fest with intense special effects and some terrifying imagery. For children brave enough to take it, the film is an excellent remake of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas tale. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

DVD: Aliens in the Attic
Kids will recognize some of their favorite Disney and Nickelodeon stars in the silly adventure comedy "Aliens in the Attic." In the film, a family vacation is upended by the discovery of some extra-terrestrials set on world domination. While the kids battle the bad guys, there are a few comically scary scenes, lots of immature name-calling and some pretty heavy flirting. Rated PG, OK for Kids 8+

TV: Fanboy and Chum Chum
Two thrill-seeking friends imagine themselves superheros in "Fanboy and Chum Chum." While there is little educational value in this film, there is also little to worry parents. The main characters are goofy, the action scenes are comical and the language doesn't get any worse than the occasional "butt." Rated TV-Y, OK for Kids 7+

Nickelodeon and Mattel have released an image of their all-new older Dora. She won't be replacing the original "Dora the Explorer," but what will this new "tween" Dora be called? Dora the Mall Shopper? Dora the Texter?

By releasing the image, the two companies seem to be trying to soothe the minds of troubled parents. It's as if they're saying, "We know you were upset by that weirdly inappropriate silhouette. But look! It's not like she's a Bratz doll or something. She's wearing leggings! And besides -- she's still Dora."

But she isn't, at least not exactly. She's older. And the one question that Mattel and Nickelodeon haven't answered is the one that we think is the most obvious.

Why?

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Chris Brown, who allegedly beat his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, has decided to withdraw his name from the list of nominees for Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards. Here is what Brown's rep told TMZ on Wednesday:

"Chris very much appreciates the support of his fans and the honor they have paid him in the way of nominations for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated. While Chris would like to speak to his fans directly about this and other issues, pending legal proceedings preclude his doing so at this time. Once the matter before him has been resolved, he intends to do so."

What isn't in that statement is an apology, or any acknowledgement that what he allegedly did was wrong. Not wrong like Alex Rodriguez taking steroids, or Miley Cyrus taking semi-suggestive snapshots with a cell phone. Wrong like hitting a woman until she bleeds and has a black eye.

Nickelodeon, for their part, had taken the non-stance that it was "the kids" that nominated Brown for an award, and if he won, well, hey, "the kids" voted for him. TMZ referred to this strategy as "If Chris Brown Wins, Blame Kids." Which is probably accurate. But this is more important than the Kids' Choice Awards.

When something terrible occurs, it's up to parents to talk to their own children and explain what happened. But kids, of course, have a history of ignoring their parents when it comes to music. Every kid thinks the music their parents listen to is lame, whether that music is Perry Como or Slayer. And going as far back as Elvis, kids tend to tune it out when mom and dad start with the "that music you like is no good!" routine. But Chris Brown isn't shaking his pelvis suggestively on the Ed Sullivan Show. He -- allegedly -- battered his girlfriend, who has now taken him back.

The fact that Brown doesn't appear to be atoning for his actions, combined with Rihanna getting back together with him and not pressing charges, puts parents in a position where they have to contradict the actions of a superstar. I can imagine some of Brown's fans thinking, well, what did he do that was so wrong? She's not pressing charges. Why should we care if she doesn't? This has the potential to be a great teaching moment, but as long as Brown shows no remorse at all, many kids will simply see him as just another musician that mom and dad don't understand.

CNN's Jane Velez-Mitchell says that this incident has a "dangerous message," and she's right. The message for boys is that it's OK to hit your girlfriend, and for girls, that you shouldn't break up with someone just because they gave you a black eye. That's a lot more serious than some dopey awards show.

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Dora the Explorer is a spunky, kind-hearted, bilingual kid who spends all of her time outdoors having adventures with her dearly loved friends. Until she grows up, that is. Nickelodeon and Mattel announced their new Dora Explorer Girls line yesterday, marketed to kids 5 and way over. That's right...Dora is now a a tween.

The new Dora, who will be revealed in the fall, lives in the big city and goes to middle school. She still solves mysteries but she's abandoned outdoor adventure for shopping, jewelry and fashion. She's also computer savvy; her new fans -- other tween girls -- will be able to plug into virtual Dora playtime on a new site.

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Dora the Explorer may be one of Nickelodeon's most popular characters, but she's no Hannah Montana. Some of us would say that's a good thing, since she is designed to appeal to much younger audience. But, according to a source, the powers that be over at Nickelodeon want to give the bilingual cutie a makeover in an attempt to draw in the older kids.

First up for the Dora transformation is a new, feminine look. Maybe put her in a skirt and fix her hair up a little? Add some bows to the backpack and color the map pink? Next, get the girl some human friends. The source says they are considering adding a group of "Explorer Girls" to the animated cast. If these Explorer Girls follow the typical kid's show formula, you can expect a smart one, a pretty one and maybe a prissy one who doesn't like to get dirty.

If all that goes well, Dora may soon find herself featured on the big screen. Nickelodeon isn't commenting, but the source says they are considering a full-length feature film featuring Dora as an older kid. "Dora is as popular as she's ever been, and now has a second generation of viewers that we would love to serve," the company said.

I sure hope they don't ruin Dora. Sure, my 7-year-old has zero interest in that "baby show" now, but she loved it when she was younger. As do lots of little kids today. Does everything have to be about appealing to the tween audience these days?

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When my daughter had a chance to bring her favorite book to preschool, she didn't hesitate. She grabbed Olivia by Ian Falconer from the hundreds of other books on her shelf. There's something about Olivia that kids really relate to, whether she's scaring away her little brother, getting put in time out, carrying around her beleaguered cat, or changing her clothes for the millionth time.

In the early part of next year, kids will be able to see their favorite character come to life on the popular children's channel Nickelodean, in 26 new animated episodes. The animation, done by Brown Bag Films, is done in eye-popping 3D CGI -- a lively and colorful way to showcase this pig with flair. There's little doubt that the series is going to be a huge hit with the under-6 set.

According to his website, Falconer says that the inspiration for Olivia came from his experiences with his own niece (also named Olivia). Perhaps that's why his beloved character feels so real, to parents and kids alike.

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When I was a kid, the word 'tween' hadn't been invented yet. This was in the the 1970's when we were swooning over the likes of Donny Osmond, Leif Garrett and that guy from Eight is Enough. If you wanted to know every little thing about your favorite heartthrob, you were required to save up your allowance and buy a copy of Tiger Beat Magazine. And the details you found there were pretty tame. Favorite colors, foods, etc.

These days, tween and teen stars are everywhere and thanks to the Internet, we are privy to all their business. This can make for some embarrassing moments for a young star, but it can also make them very famous very quickly.

If you have a teen or tween, you are probably familiar with all the faces on this list of top twenty teen an tween stars of 2007. It is no surprise to find Miley Cyrus in the top spot as she continues her quest for world domination. One of my favorite young stars on this list is Raven Symone of That's So Raven. She's a talented comic actress and although she has been in the business since she was a tot on The Cosby Show, she has yet to star in a scandal of her own making. I love her.

So, these are the stars our kids have been loving all year. But the business of entertaining kids is a fickle one and I won't be surprised to see at least a few of them drop off the list by next year. But not to worry, there is a whole new crop of teen and tween stars waiting to take their place in the hearts of our children.

Who will be the next big thing?

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To bring awareness to Anti Bullying Week in he UK, Nickelodeon is bringing back their popular anti-bullying campaign, See Something, Say Something. Judging by the reception the campaign received last year, kids are hungry for information on how to deal with this issue.

"See Something, Say Something is a very important campaign for Nickelodeon - and one we're extremely proud to be returning for a second year with the Anti-Bullying Alliance and now ChildLine too," said Nickelodeon UK managing director Howard Litton. "In 2006 millions of kids tuned in and logged on to See Something, Say Something to learn more about preventing bullying, giving kids the confidence and information to help make a huge and positive difference against bullying. In 2006 over 74% of calls to ChildLine were about bullying, that shocking statistic underlines the importance of our anti-bullying campaign."

The campaign features 27 short films where UK kids talk about their experiences with bullying. I think this campaign is great but can't help but wonder why they don't do this in the U.S. And while we are at it, why don't we try to head off the bullying with a Teach Your Kids to be Decent Human Beings Week?

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I wrote a few days ago about the Jonas Brothers and their new show on Disney. That show sounds exactly like the kind we are trying to avoid in my house, so I am going pretend I never even heard about it.

Over at Children's Media Consultant, executive editor Ashley has not only heard about the Jonas Brothers' new show, but a whole bunch more that you and I haven't. As a professional in the world of children's television, she has a unique insight into where kids' entertainment has been and where it is going. Where is it going? Her site has a list of new shows in development that the networks hope your children will be watching soon. These are a few that caught my eye. Check out her site for more.

For the preschool set, PBS Kids is working on What's the Big Idea, a digital puppetry series produced by The Jim Henson Company that aims to promote science readiness by building on a young child's natural curiosity. In the show, a character named Josh seeks to explain such mysteries as where the garbage goes and how a drinking straw works. Can't argue with a show that teaches kids something, right?

Queen Bees is the working title for a new reality show on The N. The eight-episode series pits teenage girls against each other in outrageous challenges to determine just which one really is the leader of the hive. This sounds absolutely horrid to me, which probably means the kids will love it.

Nickelodeon's Making Fiends might potentially be something we could watch, but judging by the illustrations, the flat animation isn't going to catch the eye of your average 7-year-old. The show features classmates Charlotte and Vendetta, two girls with nothing in common. Sweet, puppy-loving, hug-giving Charlotte wants very much to be friends with a horrible child named Vendetta. Could be a lesson in there somewhere.

Since the networks develop lots of shows at the same time, some of these may not ever make it to your living room. But check out the list and see if any sound like something you would want your kids to watch.

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If your kids are glued to Nickelodeon tomorrow afternoon and the television suddenly goes dark, don't panic. You didn't forget to pay your cable bill, the kid's network is actually purposefully suspending programming for three hours. As part of their fourth annual worldwide day of play, the television goes off and hopefully the kids get outside for some exercise and fresh air.

Try to keep them out there until at least 6pm EDT/PDT, when Nickelodeon will air the Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge, where they spotlight the exercise activities of some of the 750,000 kids who made a promise to do their part to fight childhood obesity.

Together with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Nickelodeon has been documenting kids' efforts to get healthy and one boy in particular has made some great strides. Through the program, 13-year-old Kenderick, a self-described "couch potato who played video games and didn't go outside much", has dropped 40 pounds and learned to swim and ride a bike.

He didn't just learn to swim and ride, he shaped up well enough to take part in a triathlon, where he swam 100 yards, biked four miles and ran another mile. I am not sure I am up for that myself.

Kenderick hopes his accomplishments will inspire other kids, but he's not done yet. "I still want to lose weight but I want to work on my muscles now," he said. "I want to get ripped now."

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Yep, that's right--tips for children who aren't even in kindergarten. Turns out, as we all suspected anyway, that kids are learning about the basics of money earlier and earlier. According to this great article by my personal financial guru Liz Pulliam Weston, who writes for MSN Money, by the time children hit middle school they are resistant to learning "the truth" about and are less able to shed the ideology of consumerism. And by the time they hit high school trying to teach them anything is nearly impossible.

Liz breaks down her money learning methodology into three components--spending, saving and sharing--all concepts she had tried to teach her own daughter in an attempt to avoid having her daughter grow up to be financially un-savvy. Her daughter caught on quickly to the concept of spending, but saving was confusing--why not spend it now? Why wait until later? Just wait until Liz tries to explain credit scores!

The concept of sharing money was also a tough one. Seems like even little children don't wish to part with their pennies!

Liz also tried to explain that once money is spent, it's gone--for good. (Which is why it's important to save, and somewhere that pays good interest!) I remember when I was a kid and my mom would get out her checkbook to pay for groceries. I thought the government issued the checkbooks and that you just wrote the check for the amount and didn't worry about it--things cost what they cost and once the checkbook was empty the government would simply send you another one. If only things were that easy!

We all know too well that children are just smaller versions of ourselves, and that we've been fighting the consumerism monster for far too long. Just take a look at children's programming on television. Practically every five minutes I'd see at least three commercials for sugary cereal or crappy toys. They should rename the Nickelodeon channel the Nickel channel.

Obviously somewhere down the line I got the right information about spending vs. saving money, and why it's good to do a little of the former and a lot of the latter. But it took most of my adult life.

So take the time to read this article and make sure you're teaching your little one the basic facts about spending, saving and sharing. Otherwise, they're just going to learn it somewhere else, from a less reputable source!

Picture of mad money by Tracy O.

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Wondering which celebrities your kids think are the coolest?  Well, Nickelodeon TV has announced the winners of the 2006 Kid's Choice Awards, held on April 1st, in 2006 in Los Angeles, California.  Here are some of the notables:

• Favourite Movie Actor:  Will Smith
• Favourite TV Actor:  Drake Bell
• Favourite Movie Actress:  Lindsay Lohan
• Favourite TV Actress:  Jamie Lynn Spears
• Favourite Male Singer:  Jesse McCartney
• Favourite Female Singer:  Kelly Clarkson
• Favourite Athlete: Lance Armstrong

Personally, I'm just proud of myself for recognizing a majority of the names on the list (not that I've seen or heard most of the movies, television shows or songs that these celebrities are affiliated with).  We don't have cable in our home (we're not big television watchers), but I guess I'm not as tuned out of pop culture as I thought I was!

My seven-year-old daughter, oh she buys into the machine sometimes and the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards had her all wrapped up. The show aired Saturday night but we didn't catch it until Sunday night when it re-aired because I'm willing to indulge my kids sometimes but bedtime is generally non-negotiable.

I was surprised by how the show held her attention all the way through the end. I was also surprised at how terrifying media is on little minds. When Jamie Lynn Spears won an award for 'Favorite TV Actress', Madison cheered loudly. When I asked who Jamie Lynn Spears was, she had no clue.

Lindsay Lohan was Favorite Movie Actress winner (her presence on had no effect on my daughter, I assume this is a good thing but I don't know) and Green Day won Favorite Music Group and Favorite Song. You can see the rest of the winners at Nickelodeon's website.

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When I saw the first advertisement for Nick Jr.'s latest animated television show targeted at preschoolers, I thought it must be a joke. Wonderpets? With a photo-realistic guinea pig, Linny, who likes to wear a cape and a baseball cap when he saves the day with his friends, Ming-ming the duck and Tuck the turtle, it seems more like the stuff of late-night drunken brainstorming than actual television. Linny, Tuck, and Ming-ming, too sing everything they do (evidently, "operetta is an art form particularly suited to children," according to the New York Times' article about the show).

But, then, in a world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Booh-bah, well, anything's possible and it's probably targeted at your three-year-old.

The thing is, Everett and Truman, ages 3.5 and 11 months, respectively, love Wonder Pets. So does Jack, three-year-old son of Weblogs, Inc. lifers Niki and Brian Alvey. The music - each show's score is an original, and played by a real orchestra - is catchy and non-annoying. I love that the show manages to combine the furry-and-feathery cuteness of household pets with the noble, good vs. bad nature of superheroes. It's like Superman without the violence and evil.

The New York Times has some great detail about the creator, Josh Selig (credits include Piper O'Possum, Oobi, and Little Bill); the style of the show (it's "photo-puppetry animation"); and its message ("through teamwork, you can achieve amazing things"). As always, my question: are your kids watching it? And more importantly, do you like it?