Angela Santomero

Angela C. Santomero (born April 26, 1968) is an American television executive producer and co-creator of the long-running Nickelodeon children's television program Blue's Clues, spin-off Blue's Room, revival Blue's Clues & You!, as well as the Playhouse Disney, Family, C.O.R.E. Toons, and Treehouse TV show Yo Playtime Playtime! and PBS children's shows Super Why!, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

Santomero grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey, where she attended Harrington Park Public School before attending and graduating from Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan in 1986. She received her bachelor's degree from Catholic University, which later presented her with their Young Alumni Merit Award. She earned a master's degree in child development and psychology, with a specialty in instructional technology and media, from Columbia University. During graduate school, she was influenced by the research of Daniel R. Anderson, who studied the effects of television violence on children and later served as a researcher and consultant for Blue's Clues, and "became fascinated with the idea that if television could have a powerfully negative effect on kids, it could have an equally powerful positive effect on them..." She was also influenced by Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and the researchers of Sesame Street.

Santomero worked as a researcher for Nickelodeon in the early 1990s when the network was looking to create a new television show for preschoolers. In 1994, Santomero, along with director Todd Kessler and animator Traci Paige Johnson (a group that Nickelodeon executive Brown Johnson called a "green creative team"), created the "landmark" series  Blue's Clues. According to writer Diane Tracy, Santomero, Kessler, and Johnson did not possess the traditional backgrounds of most producers of children's programs, but "did possess an amazing combination of talents, backgrounds, and personal attributes". Santomero served as executive producer and head writer and designed the show's research and curriculum. She produced and developed other  Blue's Clues projects, such as the full-length movie Blue's Big Musical Movie, educational CDs and books based on the show, and two Blue's Clues theatrical productions, which toured across the U.S. She was also the founder of a company called Out of the Blue Enterprises which later was renamed to 9 Story USA. In 2007, Santomero created the PBS program Super Why; she also served as executive producer and head writer. She also created the Playhouse Disney, Family, C.O.R.E. Toons, and Treehouse TV 's Yo Playtime Playtime!