There are an awful lot of shows with the message "look at me look at me look at me" and with the purpose of making money.
Amongst all of programming, there are very few shows with a Real Message, serving a Real Purpose. But Mister Roger's Neighborhood is definitely one.
The purpose and message of the show was to be an integral part of the upbringing of people. The FACT that so many teenagers and adults were so drawn to it shows how basic and necessary it was.
Add to that the fact that the target audience includes each and every small child that comes along, and the show would, and did, continually regenerate itself and abide with us.
The show kept it real. It was a "television visit" with a normal, nice grownup, who called the viewer a "television neighbor" or "television friend". When the time came for some puppets and make believe, Rogers would refer to it as "make believe". Sometimes he would show the puppets without the hands in them, and explain and show how the real people would work the puppets and make the voices.
Even with the puppets and make believe and costumes and purple pandas, Fred managed to keep it more real and more grounded than you'd guess -- the themes were such that, when you saw what he was getting at, you wouldn't -think- "hey that's interesting!" ... instead, you would -feel- the recognition down in your stomach.
On one show a goat was stealing, stealing food. Later, Mr. Rogers asked the viewer "Did you ever think about doing something bad, something that would hurt the ones you love? That is a lonely feeling, isn't it?" And by asking the audience to search for that, deep inside, he made the connection. Not a 'suspension of disbelief'. Instead, an examination of what's real.
Mr. Rogers ALWAYS kept it real.
Amongst all of programming, there are very few shows with a Real Message, serving a Real Purpose. But Mister Roger's Neighborhood is definitely one.
The purpose and message of the show was to be an integral part of the upbringing of people. The FACT that so many teenagers and adults were so drawn to it shows how basic and necessary it was.
Add to that the fact that the target audience includes each and every small child that comes along, and the show would, and did, continually regenerate itself and abide with us.
The show kept it real. It was a "television visit" with a normal, nice grownup, who called the viewer a "television neighbor" or "television friend". When the time came for some puppets and make believe, Rogers would refer to it as "make believe". Sometimes he would show the puppets without the hands in them, and explain and show how the real people would work the puppets and make the voices.
Even with the puppets and make believe and costumes and purple pandas, Fred managed to keep it more real and more grounded than you'd guess -- the themes were such that, when you saw what he was getting at, you wouldn't -think- "hey that's interesting!" ... instead, you would -feel- the recognition down in your stomach.
On one show a goat was stealing, stealing food. Later, Mr. Rogers asked the viewer "Did you ever think about doing something bad, something that would hurt the ones you love? That is a lonely feeling, isn't it?" And by asking the audience to search for that, deep inside, he made the connection. Not a 'suspension of disbelief'. Instead, an examination of what's real.
Mr. Rogers ALWAYS kept it real.