To be fair, the ankle bones started to come off with the sneakers.

The article is inaccurate. From a press release dated 8/1/08:

PBS will continue to distribute repeats of MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD to all member stations. PBS stations have the option of broadcasting the series everyday or once a week as best suited for their local community interests.

Kevin Morrison, COO of Family Communications, added, "We've been working with PBS on the details of the distribution of MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD in 2008-09 and are pleased that stations can choose to continue to show the series each day or once a week.

If you want to see MRN every day instead of once a week, petition your local PBS station.

I heard NBC is taking off the Bob Hope show, too.

He only faked his own death so he could return to his life as a black ops sniper.

Mugato: He only faked his own death so he could return to his life as a black ops sniper.

I thought he was the original crack dealer.

If I find Fox News is behind this, Bill O'Reilly is going to need a falafel.

SilentStrider: Bill O'Reilly is going to need a falafel

coffee, keyboard, you know the drill ;)

Mr. Rogers isn't dead, he lives on in the hearts and minds of children everywhere, and he is frantically trying to eat his way out.

unholymartiangod: Mr. Rogers isn't dead, he lives on in the hearts and minds of children everywhere, and he is frantically trying to eat his way out.

Vitamin Water, keyboard, same as WhyteRaven74.

No shiat. When I watched his special after he passed away I cried. He made me want to become a writer. Now I'm a reporter. Thank you Mr. Rogers for showing me how things worked.

/Still remember how Crayons are made.

Somehow this headline elicited a "What the fark?" from me, but the whole bus decapitation thing didn't. What does this say about me?

unholymartiangod: Mr. Rogers isn't dead, he lives on in the hearts and minds of children everywhere, and he is frantically trying to eat his way out.

Oh shiat, rofl'd.

Goodnight, funnyman

Replacing it with Mr. Robinson's neighborhood by chance?

fark YOU PBS!

best of mr. rogers:
Link (new window)

Obligatory video of Mr. Rogers owning the Senate subcomittee in six minutes. (new window)

It is impossible to find anything bad with this man. A modern hero.

The champion stood.
The rest saw their better.
Mr. Rogers in a blood stained sweater.

That's a damned shame - I once wrote him a letter and he sent back a hand written response and at the end welcomed me to the neighborhood. I recall his death actually hit me pretty hard.

Egg-a-muffin?

Send an email to your local PBS station that says if they don't run MRN every day you will never donate another penny.

/Can you say "follow the money?"
//I knew you could

Now this is a cause I can get behind.

That show was certainly the most important bit of television I ever watched as a child in terms of contributing to who I became.

The story of his death is one of the few news stories I actually have clippings of... and one of my few regrets is that I didn't try harder to meet him when I lived in Pittsburgh.

Don't nobody better say nothin' bad 'bout FRED ROGERS!!

Seriously? Guy was a class act. His show may be a little out of touch now (most of the field trips are anachronistic, wonderful for us kids of the 70s and 80s, but completely incomprehensible to today's 6 year olds)... but the message of peace, self-worth, and being kind to your neighbor lives forever.

Evil Fred Rogers Lives! (new window)

Wolfmanjames: The champion stood.
The rest saw their better.
Mr. Rogers in a blood stained sweater.

Well played. I haven't thought about the Ultimate Showdown in a long time.

MrSeabass: Obligatory video of Mr. Rogers owning the Senate subcomittee in six minutes. (new window)

Starts off slow, but the ending is pure Mr. Rogers style win.

MrSeabass: Obligatory video of Mr. Rogers owning the Senate subcomittee in six minutes. (new window)

It is impossible to find anything bad with this man. A modern hero.

I completely agree. Thanks for the video link.

Mr. Rogers was a Green Beret.

Lemme know when they release the uber DVD pack of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

Depending on the price, that might be the only DVD set I'm willing to buy for the rest of my life.

WhyteRaven74: coffee, keyboard, you know the drill ;)

your check is in the mail. ;)

My two-year old loves Mr. Rogers. She figured out how to turn on the television and then switch it over the PBS exactly at 7:30 every morning to watch it. She'd hit the channel button until she saw him. How she knew he was on at that exact time is beyond us.

The guy was on top of things. He advocated VCRs in the early days so people could tape his show and watch it with their kids. He testified before Congress to get massive funding increases for public television and even took his show to the Soviet Union during the late 1980s.

PBS airs very little quality kids content kids nowadays and even the heralded Sesame Street is little more than the Elmo Hour today. Fred Rogers reminds us that everything doesn't have to be all fast moving - action packed excitement 24/7. Sitting with my daughter while she has her Cheerios and juice while watching the trolley zip along the tracks is something that makes being a dad worthwhile.

Aeonite: Mr. Rogers was a Green Beret.

This same rumor has often been applied to boyish country singer-songwriter John Denver (among others), and it's just as false when told of Fred Rogers. Not only did Fred Rogers never serve in the military, there are no gaps in his career when he could conceivably have served in the military - he went straight into college after high school, he moved directly into TV work after graduating college, and his breaks from television work were devoted to attending the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963) and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development. Moreover, Fred Rogers was born in 1928 and was therefore too old to have enlisted in the armed services by the time of America's military involvement in Vietnam.

What I don't get about kids' shows and cartoons is why they would ever make more than four (maybe five) seasons. After that time, all the kids who watched that show will have grown out of whatever show it is, and the kids who've just become old enough to watch won't remember the reruns. They can just keep it on a perfect re-run cycle in order and save money on production.

Am I crazy, or does the "Mister Rogers' Goodbye on YouTube" leads to some music video?

/Maybe my tubes are tied...

I always liked the show growing up but the puppet part of the show always freaked me out.

wwtsomifitsd: best of mr. rogers:
Link (new window)

damn, that's beautiful.

how have I never been exposed to that before?

thanks, made my evening.

As far as "real life" kiddie television went I was more of a Roundhouse Rodney and Duane Ellot/Floppy fan but I'm glad I got to see the Land of Make Believe set at the studio before they shipped it off to be mulched or whatever the do with that sort of thing.

They only show a couple seasons worth. I wanna see Mr Rogers from the 70s! But they'll never play those :(

OK, they can take it off the weekday schedule, as long as they issue new parents with a full box set.

Actually, I wouldn't mind one of those myself. I don't recall this, but my parents tell me that when Mr. Rogers was over, I would sob like the little kid that I was. In a lot of ways, he and his show were more important to me than many of the real adults in my life. I watched a lot of Mr. Rogers when I was in middle school just because he was so comforting. You couldn't have a crappy day and come home and watch Mr. Rogers and feel like a bad person. It's OK to be who you are, no matter who that is- you're growing, you're learning, you're special.

I was in college without a television when he died, and I made my parents tape the special. But I still haven't watched it because I know I'm going to cry through it. Somewhere, I used to have Mr. McFeely's autograph, but I think I've lost it now.

crieger: My two-year old loves Mr. Rogers. She figured out how to turn on the television and then switch it over the PBS exactly at 7:30 every morning to watch it. She'd hit the channel button until she saw him. How she knew he was on at that exact time is beyond us.

The guy was on top of things. He advocated VCRs in the early days so people could tape his show and watch it with their kids. He testified before Congress to get massive funding increases for public television and even took his show to the Soviet Union during the late 1980s.

PBS airs very little quality kids content kids nowadays and even the heralded Sesame Street is little more than the Elmo Hour today. Fred Rogers reminds us that everything doesn't have to be all fast moving - action packed excitement 24/7. Sitting with my daughter while she has her Cheerios and juice while watching the trolley zip along the tracks is something that makes being a dad worthwhile.

I would absolutely totally disagree with this statement. WordGirl is one of the most well-written kids shows out there. Arthur is still an excellent program. Design Squad is a cool program for slightly older kids. Fetch with Ruff Ruffman is a worth successor to Zoom. There is also From the Top which features outstanding performances of classical music and jazz by young performers. Dragonfly TV is a terrific science program out of Minneapolis Public Television.

I think the rumor was that he was a Special Ops sniper in Korea, which is entirely plausible given his age, and because his alleged missions were very clandestine, the military had intentionally kept his military service a secret, therefore no records.

MrSeabass: Obligatory video of Mr. Rogers owning the Senate subcomittee in six minutes. (new window)

It is impossible to find anything bad with this man. A modern hero.

That was totally awesome! And it raised my opinion of Senate committees -- he actually listened, and, never having heard of Mr. Rogers before, ordered a tape so he could see the show. Would that the current crop were so interested in what they do....

One less show teaching kids that they're a precious little snowflake? Sesame Street was better, anyway.

/Puts on his asbestos boxers

i try to get my 7 year old to watch mr rogers but its too boring for him compared to all the other shows for kids today.

/miss old school saturday mornings

Close2TheEdge: I would absolutely totally disagree with this statement. WordGirl is one of the most well-written kids shows out there. Arthur is still an excellent program. Design Squad is a cool program for slightly older kids. Fetch with Ruff Ruffman is a worth successor to Zoom. There is also From the Top which features outstanding performances of classical music and jazz by young performers. Dragonfly TV is a terrific science program out of Minneapolis Public Television.

Do they still show Cyberchase? My kid loved that when he was 6. A great math/logic program.

Pooter, i did the same thing. wrote him a note thanking him for doing the show, both for my enjoyment as a child, as well as my daughter's enjoyment at that time (this was a good 10-12 years ago). I received a packet of pictures, and info, and yes, i was utterly delighted to also have a handwritten letter thanking me for letting him know what he meant to us. he was/is a very genuine soul.

Spaghettiows: and because his alleged missions were very clandestine, the military had intentionally kept his military service a secret, therefore no records.

which is stupid...there's ALWAYS records.

Sorry for what'll probably be a double post, but brap caught my attention.

Floppy! You're from Iowa! (Local show, never broadcast nationally, wasn't even broadcast much outside the WHO viewing area either.) I met Duane Ellett and Floppy in 1986 when I was about two and a half, it's something I remember vividly to this day. I told him the Pencil joke.

I'm still waitin' for Howdy Doody to come back.

Now y'all best get off my lawn.

wargarbl: i try to get my 7 year old to watch mr rogers but its too boring for him compared to all the other shows for kids today.

/miss old school saturday mornings

Mr. Rogers is a bit young for a 7-year-old I'd think.

I remember watching his show every day when I was a little boy. Agreed that Mr. Rogers Neighborhood is one of the few really good kids' shows on TV today.

Thing is, Mr. Rogers knew how to really get kids to learn. Speak SLOWLY and CAREFULLY and keep everything else relatively calm. No super-bright colors, no flashing lights, loads of sound effects, no screaming at the top of your lungs or ladling on faux-enthusiasm--kids can see through that crap just as easily as adults can.

heater: Egg-a-muffin?

"I can say lots of words: wimpy, wambly, wombly..."