Remember the soothing, assured way that Mister Rogers opened the door of his home, swapped his suit coat for a cardigan knitted by his mother and pulled on his keds? And then, the opening song:
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
It’s a neighborly day in this beautywood,
A neighborly day for a beauty,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.
So let’s make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we’re together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Won’t you please,
Won’t you please,
Please won’t you be my neighbor?
A lot of kids’ programming might have more bombast now, but it’s worthwhile to point out that, when Fred Rogers’ show debuted in 1968, America was reeling from the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal was only four years away from shocking the nation.
So Mister Rogers’ focus on empathy, on a measured calm, and his invitation to hop on a trolley and travel to the Neighborhood of Make Believe now seem like measured forms of quiet resistance. He taught children the value of conflict resolution – and he encouraged them to explore the vast reached of their imaginations.
A recent Slate article sums up his influence: “While this slow, square children’s series might not have the same buzz as Master of None or the ripped-from-the-headlines relevance of The Handmaid’s Tale, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is urgent television. If, for any particular reason, you’d be interested in watching a show about a man who accepts, embraces, and empathizes with his neighbors, effectively controls his emotions, lives a life imbued with imagination and radical kindness, and teaches us that “feelings are mentionable and manageable,” then I have a trolley you should catch.”
And the timing is perfect. You can now catch that proverbial trolley and tune in to Twitch to watch all 886 episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for free now through the end of the month. The marathon features the most comprehensive collection of episodes available, including many that only aired once and are unavailable elsewhere online. As an added bonus, Twitch is raising money for PBS – and you can help them reach their goal of $25,000 by donating to TPT.
On days when the news cycle takes a dark turn, Mister Rogers is still there for all of us. In an interview, he once shared his mother’s words of wisdom: When you see catastrophe in a movie or on TV, always look for the helpers. They may be on the sidelines, but they’re helping to make things a little better.
© Twin Cities Public Television - 2017. All rights reserved.
Comments
Read Next
