Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
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MEMORIES:
Nuke67 remembers...Mr.Rogers along with Sesame Street I watched back in the late 60's early 70's, one of my earliest memories when ... More »
Posted on 08/10/08
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Cast:
Lady Aberlin...Betty Aberlin
Mr. McFeely...David Newell
Chef Brockett...Don Brockett
Joe Negri...Himself
Miss Paulifficate...Audrey Roth
Mayor Maggie...Maggie Stewart
Bob Dog...Robert Trow
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From 1968 to 2000, Fred McFeely Rogers invited viewers to spend some quality time in his little yellow television house. Soft-spoken, but with strength of purpose and complete sincerity, Mister Rogers offered a simple but powerful message: “I like you just the way you are.”
Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister who regarded the TV show as his mission field. He brought to this task a keen understanding of developmental psychology, a love of puppets, and a bachelor’s degree in musical composition.
Each visit with Mister Rogers begins with his theme song, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” sung while he hangs up his jacket, puts on a zippered sweater and changes from dress shoes to a pair of sneakers.
An episode might include a visit to Chef Brocket’s Bakery or Handyman Negri’s Fix-it Shop. Often, the energetic postman Mister McFeely brings a package with a cry of “Speedy Delivery.” This might be a film to watch on “Picture-Picture,” a film viewer in a picture frame. (These films are often factory footage of how common items are made.)
Every visit includes a trip to the “Neighborhood of Make Believe,” reached by following a whistling toy trolley through a tunnel. This colorful place is ruled over by the benevolent King Friday the Thirteenth and Queen Sara Saturday. Human characters, such as Betty “Lady” Aberlin, interact with the puppet likes of X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, and Lady Elaine Fairchild, proprietor of the Museum-Go-Round.
In between these segments, Mister Rogers gives gentle talks about important things that might concern a child, always ending with a pertinent song. The subject may be self esteem (“You are Special”), anger (“What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel?”), growing up (“Everything Grows Together”), or childhood fears (“You Can Never Go Down The Drain”). Even sensitive subjects like divorce or the death of a pet are given careful attention.
Each visit ends with the same words; “You always make each day a special day, by just your being you.”
This simple formula was followed faithfully for thirty-two years. New episodes were taped every year and cycled in with existing episodes until Rogers’ retirement in 2000. Fred Rogers passed away in 2003, but the shows he left behind are still running, an electronic oasis of calm and reassurance.
By all accounts, the real Fred Rogers was very much the same person seen on the show, warm hearted, sincere and modest. In 1969, he appeared before a United States Senate sub-committee to vouch for the funding of Public Television. The chairman, Senator John Pastore, was notoriously gruff and impatient, yet Mister Rogers, in only a few minutes time, got past his defenses, prompting him to report Rogers had given him “goosebumps,” and helping secure 20 million dollars in funding for Public TV. This same disarming manner also caused the usually cynical Joan Rivers to melt when Rogers joined her on The Tonight Show.
Fred Rogers’ songs, in combination with the arrangements of music director John Costa, gave the show an unmistakable stamp, sweetness with a touch of jazzy sophistication. Rogers also composed short, and often surreal, operas to be performed by the denizens of the Neighborhood of Make Believe. These fanciful episodes are particularly prized by many now adult fans.
