Fred Rogers: and Other Conversations by Fred Rogers

Author:Fred Rogers [Rogers, Fred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2021-02-09T00:00:00+00:00

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD: MISTER ROGERS WILL MAKE LAST EPISODES OF SHOW IN DECEMBER

INTERVIEW BY ROB OWEN

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

NOVEMBER 12, 2000

The beautiful days in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood will continue, but next month on the show’s simple set, Fred Rogers will hang up his famous cardigan sweater for the last time.

Taping of the final five installments of the thirty-two-year-old series will wrap in December. When this last week of episodes airs in August 2001, Rogers and his Family Communications Inc. will have completed thirty-three seasons and almost one thousand episodes of what is the longest-running children’s program airing nationally.

During an interview Thursday in his cozy, den-like office at WQED in Oakland, Rogers said the timing was right. Next year when production concludes, Pittsburgh’s favorite Neighbor will celebrate his fiftieth year in television.

“It was a fairly simple, straightforward decision,” he said. “Of course, I prayed about it.”

He compared this decision to when he left a job at NBC in New York to come to Pittsburgh in 1953. His friends thought he was crazy. WQED wasn’t even on the air yet. Then, as now, he had a feeling that it was what he should do.

“I don’t like to be spooky about stuff, but I do think that sometimes you feel inspired to make certain decisions,” Rogers said. “I’ve never tried to make a decision that had to do with selfishness. I think we certainly have done the kind of work I have wanted to do for children and one of the avenues has been the Neighborhood. That will always be a part of who I am, and I trust it will always be a part of those who have grown up with it and will continue to.”

Just don’t use the “R” word.

“Retire? No, I’m not retiring,” Rogers said. “There are so many things Family Communications is involved with.”

Rogers has no intention of slowing down. His latest book was published just this month. The Giving Box ($12.95, Running Press) encourages families to talk about giving and receiving. More books are in the offing. Rogers said Running Press offered three pages of suggestions for future projects.

“When I started, television was the new medium…well, there are some new media now and they’re taking more and more of my time.”

Rogers is a big proponent of cyberspace. His website, www.misterrogers.org, was recently updated with the addition of a new section for parents and behind-the-scenes photos from the Neighborhood.

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