Brett Ferino
08-28-2001, 12:26 PM
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The neighborhood will never be the same. After more than 30 years of greeting youngsters each day on television with his trademark ``Hi, neighbor,'' Fred Rogers is putting away his cardigan and sneakers for good.
His television show, ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,'' will continue to appear on Public Broadcasting System for years to come in reruns, but the last original episodes of the show will air this week on PBS, ending on Friday.
True to his upbeat form, there will be no teary farewell when the last new episode airs, and, in fact, the show's producers hope to transition back to reruns with little or no disruption for the 3- to 6-year-olds who think of Mister Rogers as family.
Speaking by telephone from his vacation home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Rogers, 73, told Reuters the message of his show has remained constant throughout its 34 years on television.
``The general message of the neighborhood is that the truth is best,'' Rogers said. ``If we can share ourselves with our kids in ways that aren't frightening to them, that's the greatest gift we can give anyone -- the gift of an honest self.''
Rogers may come across as something of a hick, with his old fashioned sweaters, slow speech and silly songs, but that's exactly what has appealed to generations of youngsters over the years, said David Hiltbrand, a TV Guide consulting editor.
``He was always able to connect with the kids on a very elemental level,'' Hiltbrand said. ``His message over the years was very consistent: I really care about you. You're special. It was particularly important for kids who weren't getting that message anywhere else except for that one hour a day.''
NEIGHBORHOOD OF MAKE BELIEVE
Trained and ordained as a minister, Rogers, a native of western Pennsylvania, got his start on TV with ``The Children's Corner,'' on WQED, the first community-owned television station in the United States, which he helped found in Pittsburgh in 1954.
It was on that show that Rogers introduced and provided the voice for many of the puppets -- Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday XIII and Lady Elaine Fairchilde -- that would later populate his Neighborhood of Make-Believe on his own show.
``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' debuted in 1968 and was broadcast by PBS stations nationwide. It was twinned a year later with ``Sesame Street,'' forming a block of programming that is still broadcast each day for youngsters in many markets.
A critical aspect of ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' was the show's separation between the real world -- Rogers and his real-life friends -- and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, filled with puppets and some real-life people, Rogers said.
``Very young children need to know what's real and what's pretend,'' Rogers said. ``For instance, I remember one time seeing a cartoon in which a diver went to the bottom of a lake and pulled out a plug, and all the water went down the drain at the bottom of that lake, and it finally sucked down the boats that were in the lake, it sucked down the trees that were on the banks and then it started sucking down the houses.''
For young children who feared being sucked down the drain each time they took a bath, Rogers said, such a cartoon could be quite frightening.
Rogers addressed that fear with his song ``You Can Never Go Down the Drain.'' That and other songs, known for their simple messages, are one of Rogers' trademarks and have become standards for the legions of young fans who grew up with them.
Over the years, Rogers has tackled a range of other issues, including death, divorce and child care. In keeping with his personal love of music -- he writes his own songs -- his guests have included such names as Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis.
TV LEGACY
Rogers leaves behind a legacy of having inspired gentle children's programs such as ``Blue's Clues'' and ``Barney,'' the purple dinosaur, Hiltbrand said.
``There's a whole bunch of shows which have been influenced and which now copy the Mister Rogers style -- that slow-moving gentle approach where they don't try to overpower kids,'' he said. ``So much of TV for kids now is frenetic, a sugar rush, whereas Mister Rogers created an alternate universe to that.''
As for Rogers himself, he has not ruled out an occasional ''Neighborhood'' special in the future, but said he is currently working on a number of other projects targeted at youngsters.
One of those is a story that will appear on PBS's Web site. Set to debut next month, it will feature Rogers' voice in an interactive tale based in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
His television show, ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,'' will continue to appear on Public Broadcasting System for years to come in reruns, but the last original episodes of the show will air this week on PBS, ending on Friday.
True to his upbeat form, there will be no teary farewell when the last new episode airs, and, in fact, the show's producers hope to transition back to reruns with little or no disruption for the 3- to 6-year-olds who think of Mister Rogers as family.
Speaking by telephone from his vacation home in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Rogers, 73, told Reuters the message of his show has remained constant throughout its 34 years on television.
``The general message of the neighborhood is that the truth is best,'' Rogers said. ``If we can share ourselves with our kids in ways that aren't frightening to them, that's the greatest gift we can give anyone -- the gift of an honest self.''
Rogers may come across as something of a hick, with his old fashioned sweaters, slow speech and silly songs, but that's exactly what has appealed to generations of youngsters over the years, said David Hiltbrand, a TV Guide consulting editor.
``He was always able to connect with the kids on a very elemental level,'' Hiltbrand said. ``His message over the years was very consistent: I really care about you. You're special. It was particularly important for kids who weren't getting that message anywhere else except for that one hour a day.''
NEIGHBORHOOD OF MAKE BELIEVE
Trained and ordained as a minister, Rogers, a native of western Pennsylvania, got his start on TV with ``The Children's Corner,'' on WQED, the first community-owned television station in the United States, which he helped found in Pittsburgh in 1954.
It was on that show that Rogers introduced and provided the voice for many of the puppets -- Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday XIII and Lady Elaine Fairchilde -- that would later populate his Neighborhood of Make-Believe on his own show.
``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' debuted in 1968 and was broadcast by PBS stations nationwide. It was twinned a year later with ``Sesame Street,'' forming a block of programming that is still broadcast each day for youngsters in many markets.
A critical aspect of ``Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' was the show's separation between the real world -- Rogers and his real-life friends -- and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, filled with puppets and some real-life people, Rogers said.
``Very young children need to know what's real and what's pretend,'' Rogers said. ``For instance, I remember one time seeing a cartoon in which a diver went to the bottom of a lake and pulled out a plug, and all the water went down the drain at the bottom of that lake, and it finally sucked down the boats that were in the lake, it sucked down the trees that were on the banks and then it started sucking down the houses.''
For young children who feared being sucked down the drain each time they took a bath, Rogers said, such a cartoon could be quite frightening.
Rogers addressed that fear with his song ``You Can Never Go Down the Drain.'' That and other songs, known for their simple messages, are one of Rogers' trademarks and have become standards for the legions of young fans who grew up with them.
Over the years, Rogers has tackled a range of other issues, including death, divorce and child care. In keeping with his personal love of music -- he writes his own songs -- his guests have included such names as Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis.
TV LEGACY
Rogers leaves behind a legacy of having inspired gentle children's programs such as ``Blue's Clues'' and ``Barney,'' the purple dinosaur, Hiltbrand said.
``There's a whole bunch of shows which have been influenced and which now copy the Mister Rogers style -- that slow-moving gentle approach where they don't try to overpower kids,'' he said. ``So much of TV for kids now is frenetic, a sugar rush, whereas Mister Rogers created an alternate universe to that.''
As for Rogers himself, he has not ruled out an occasional ''Neighborhood'' special in the future, but said he is currently working on a number of other projects targeted at youngsters.
One of those is a story that will appear on PBS's Web site. Set to debut next month, it will feature Rogers' voice in an interactive tale based in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.