The Best Neighbor

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I just wanted to post this story because Mr. Rogers is one of my all time favorite people.

Here are 15 things everyone should know about Fred Rogers:

 1. Even Koko the Gorilla loved him. Most people have heard of Koko, the Stanford-educated gorilla who could speak about 1000 words in American Sign Language, and understand about 2000 in English.

What most people don't know, however, is that Koko was an avid Mister Rogers' Neighborhood fan. As Esquire reported, when Fred Rogers took a trip out to meet Koko for his show, not only did she immediately wrap her arms around him and embrace him, she did what she'd always seen him do onscreen: she proceeded to take his shoes off!

2. He made thieves think twice. According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town.

Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, "If we'd known it was yours, we never would have taken it." Mental Floss: Memorable commencement speakers

3. He watched his figure to the pound. In covering Rogers' daily routine (waking up at 5 a.m.; praying for a few hours for all of his friends and family; studying; writing, making calls and reaching out to every fan who took the time to write him; going for a morning swim; getting on a scale; then really starting his day), writer Tom Junod explained that Mr. Rogers weighed in at exactly 143 pounds every day for the last 30 years of his life.

He didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't eat the flesh of any animals, and was extremely disciplined in his daily routine. And while I'm not sure if any of that was because he'd mostly grown up a chubby, single child, Junod points out that Rogers found beauty in the number 143.

 According to the piece, Rogers came "to see that number as a gift... because, as he says, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three."

4. He saved both public television and the VCR. Strange but true. When the government wanted to cut public television funds in 1969, the relatively unknown Mister Rogers went to Washington.

Almost straight out of a Frank Capra film, his 5-6 minute testimony on how TV had the potential to give kids hope and create more productive citizens was so simple but passionate that even the most gruff politicians were charmed. While the budget should have been cut, the funding instead jumped from $9 to $22 million.

Rogers also spoke to Congress, and swayed senators into voting to allow VCR's to record television shows from the home. It was a cantankerous debate at the time, but his argument was that recording a program like his allowed working parents to sit down with their children and watch shows as a family. Mental Floss: Forgotten kids shows sure to give you nightmares

5. He might have been the most tolerant American ever. Mister Rogers seems to have been almost exactly the same off-screen as he was onscreen. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, and a man of tremendous faith, Mister Rogers preached tolerance first.

Whenever he was asked to castigate non-Christians or gays for their differing beliefs, he would instead face them and say, with sincerity, "God loves you just the way you are." Often this provoked ire from fundamentalists.

6. He was genuinely curious about others. Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he'd often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn't concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others.

And it wasn't just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec's house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host).

On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver's home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

7. He was color-blind. Literally. He couldn't see the color blue. Of course, he was also figuratively color-blind, as you probably guessed. As were his parents, who took in a black foster child when Rogers was growing up. Mental Floss: Praise for the blind genius who invented cruise control

8. He could make a subway car full of strangers sing. Once while rushing to a New York meeting, there were no cabs available, so Rogers and one of his colleagues hopped on the subway. Esquire reported that the car was filled with people, and they assumed they wouldn't be noticed.

But when the crowd spotted Rogers, they all simultaneously burst into song, chanting "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." The result made Rogers smile wide.

9. He got into TV because he hated TV. The first time he turned one on, he saw people angrily throwing pies in each other's faces. He immediately vowed to use the medium for better than that. Over the years he covered topics as varied as why kids shouldn't be scared of a haircut, or the bathroom drain (because you won't fit!), to divorce and war.

10. He was an Ivy League dropout. Rogers moved from Dartmouth to Rollins College to pursue his studies in music.

11. He composed all the songs on the show, and over 200 tunes.

12. He was a perfectionist, and disliked ad libbing. He felt he owed it to children to make sure every word on his show was thought out.

13. Michael Keaton got his start on the show as an assistant. He helped puppeteer and operate the trolley.

14. Several characters on the show are named for his family. Queen Sara is named after Rogers' wife, and the postman Mr. McFeely is named for his maternal grandfather who always talked to him like an adult, and reminded young Fred that he made every day special just by being himself. Sound familiar? It was the same way Mister Rogers closed every show.

15. The sweaters. Every one of the cardigans he wore on the show had been hand-knit by his mother.

[Lisa]

I loved that show as a child and my kids watched alot of reruns when they were little. Thank you for posting that, it was very heartwarming

[Axl4Prez2004]

I heard somewhere Fred Rogers was an assassin in the military...and part of the reason he always wore long sleeves was to hide the tatoos.

Yes, it sounds outrageous, and might just be an urban legend...just wondering if anybody has any solid evidence on this idea. 

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I heard somewhere Fred Rogers was an assassin in the military...and part of the reason he always wore long sleeves was to hide the tatoos.

Yes, it sounds outrageous, and might just be an urban legend...just wondering if anybody has any solid evidence on this idea. 

It's completely false! 

But that would be so badass. 

[Lisa]

he'd be the REAL Chuck Norris

[Chief]

that was pretty cool.. thanks man. i used to watch that show!

[fuckin crazy]

I wear my cardigan with pride. Is that dude still alive?

[jazjme]

Think he passed on last yr or within the last 2-3. I get my 3 yr old nephew to watch, as hes obsessed with trains.lol

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I wear my cardigan with pride. Is that dude still alive?

He died on February 27, 2003.

That's the last time The Chair cried.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

This really upsets me.

PBS to cut Mister Rogers' Neighborhood!

by Jennifer Jordan Aug 8th 2008 9:01AM

Yes, yes, you read that right. Sad but true, the Public Broadcasting Service, better known as PBS, has decided to cut Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. If ever there were such a thing as true classic television, that has since gained cult status among us adults, it would be Mister Rogers' and that crazy red cardigan of his. He will be sorely missed by a large portion of Americans, even if out of nostalgia.

Mister Rogers is basically an institution. Like Sesame Street, the show was some of the best of what educational television has ever offered. He was a nice man that got children to actually trust men, and he always took the time to change his shoes. Comfort was big with this man, and so it is with many of us today. According to Brian Linder, the head of the savemisterrogers.com, who is spearheading a campaign to get PBS to think twice about relegating the show to member stations, the show continues to provide " a special nurturing voice in the lives of children." Yes--that's what I was trying to say! Linder believes Fred Rogers, bedecked in his red sweater (and, uhm, comfortable shoes), taught not only the young boy a thing or two, but also his parents.

Frankly, I think it's pure blasphemy to remove Mister Rogers from programming. Can someone please tell me another show that is possibly good enough to take its place? That's what I thought: SILENCE FROM THE INTERNET. So what is to be done? Well, join the campaign to save our favorite cardigan wearing nice guy. Do your part to let PBS know how you feel by visiting the website. For my part, I'm imagining Mister Rogers the movie. Clearly we need one. If something as vapid as the Smurfs can get a run on the silver screen, then by golly Mister Rogers has a posthumous Oscar headed his way. Question is, who would play him? Possibly Will Ferrell? Will is sort of a softy and a sweetheart, so maybe he's our man. Or, maybe Luke Wilson. That might not work though, as Wilson is sort of too hot to be Mister Rogers. Thoughts???


Oh, here is the link.  There is a nice little interactive feature on the bottom.

http://www.parentdish.com/2008/08/08/pbs-to-cut-mister-rogers-neighborhood/?icid=100214839x1207538586x1200390796

[Jim Bob]

mr Rogers was good people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcvRMHz4mb4