Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is among the most famous, enduring, and fondly-remembered children's television shows. Host Fred Rogers used his gentle charm and mannerisms to communicate with his audience of children. Topics centered on nearly every conceivable matter of concern to children, ranging from everyday fears related to going to sleep, getting immunizations and disappointment about not getting one's way to losing a loved one to death and physical handicaps. One of his strong beliefs was to not talk down to, patronize, or belittle his child audience when dealing with material.

Rogers used simple songs and, on nearly every show, segments from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe to make his point. The fantasy neighborhood was inhabited by puppet characters including King Friday XIII, Lady Elaine Fairchild, and Daniel Striped Tiger. (Rogers also supplied the voices of many of the puppet characters.)

The program was taped at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh; first-run shows were produced from 1968 to 1976, at which time production was suspended until August 20, 1979. New programs were taped through 2001 for broadcast alongside the original 460 episodes, the most notable coming in 1991 with Rogers' shows focusing on calming children's fears during the Persian Gulf War.