Eight years ago this Sunday, the child in us died, and we were all forced to grow up a little bit.
That child was Fred Rogers — psychologist, musician, minister, TV star. For 33 years, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was the show that everyone in America watched when they were little.
Rogers understood children like nobody else. He talked directly to the camera, imagining an individual and rather shy child at the other end. He spoke like a child — slowly and in simple words. He also knew what children value most: to be listened to. Children were persons to him.
The name of the show said a lot. “Friends” were mentioned, but “neighbors” were almost more important. You don’t have to be friends with everybody around you, he seemed to say, but it’s important to be a good neighbor.
The show cleverly connected the real world of adults with the fantasy world of children. Each of the nearly 900 episodes began with Rogers arriving home, singing “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” as he hung up his suit coat and put on a sweater and tennis shoes.
Before long, it was time to visit “the Neighborhood of Make-Believe“. This was a magical kingdom ruled by the capricious and senile King Friday XIII and inhabited by various puppets (and a few humans) with distinct personalities and points of view. Rogers wrote the whole script and did most of the puppet voices, including enough running gags, hidden puns and life lessons to make the show interesting to adults as well. The stories contained morals that Rogers then discussed when the scene dissolved.
In other segments with on-location interviews, Rogers showed that the real world is just as interesting as make-believe. He had experts explain how guitars are made, what happens to garbage after it’s thrown away, what dinosaur bones represent, and hundreds of other things. At times, he even dealt with very difficult subjects like divorce.
Rogers felt it was utterly important for children to understand their feelings and express them. His biggest gift to six-year-old viewers was their own self-confidence. “You are special,” he told them. “You are the only one like you.” He also said, over and over, “I like you just the way you are.” And we liked him just the way he was.
Rogers died on February 27, 2003, aged 74. A small shrine in the arrivals area of the Pittsburgh airport keeps his memory alive.
In 2008, CNN gave 15 reasons why Mister Rogers was the best neighbor ever. We agree with all of them.
