Page "Blue's Clues" Paragraph 12

Burns ' departure caused a resurface of the rumors that had circulated about him since 1998.

As he said, " The rumor mill surrounding me has always been really strange.

" These " specious claims " alleged variously that he died from a heroin overdose, ran off to college, was run over by an automobile, and was replaced, like Paul McCartney of The Beatles, by a look-alike.

Some viewers claimed that " clues " regarding Burns ' demise were placed within the show.

Burns made an appearance on The Rosie O ' Donnell Show to dispute these rumors, and appeared with co-creator Angela Santomero on Today to help parents assuage the fears of children who might have heard the rumors.

The show's producers took the rumors as an indication of their success: "... When people start making up and circulating rumors about the star of a show, you know you have become a cultural phenomenon ".