Just as children have grown up with Sesame Street for years, they have
grown up with Mister Rogers as well. Just about everybody I know can
sing at least part of his theme song. Very little has changed about the
show in all the time it's been on. The show still begins with "It's a
beautiful day in the neighborhood" and concludes with "you'll have
things you'll want to talk about; I will too". Mister Rogers still takes
off his shoes and sweater when he comes in and puts them on again when
he leaves. He still makes a daily trip to Make-Believe Land. He still
feeds his fish, which I would surmise are probably a dozen generations
removed from the first fish Fred fed on the air. There is still an
educational movie every show -- played on movie reels!
No,
nothing much changes in Mister Roger's Neighborhood, and it's a nice
safe haven for kids to retreat to. It's as good as it ever was. Mister
Rogers does tend to be a bit...condescending, perhaps? Certainly with no
disrespect intended to the children, of course, but older kids may find
his tone to be a bit too much after a while. How many times can you
hear that you're special in one show? Still, it's something kids need to
hear, and if Mister Rogers is still willing to do the show after all
these years, I say more power to him.
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