Original Air Date: April 14, 1972
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONSONGS:
- Won't You Be My Neighbor?
- Wishes Don't Make Things Come True
- It's Such a Good Feeling
- The Weekend Song
Mister Rogers arrives with the sign from outside the Brown's marionette shop and has plans to make a similar sign for Francois Clemmons' singing studio. In the kitchen, he puts the finishing touches on the new sign which includes picutres of a mouth, a musical note, and a person's silouhette.
Mister Rogers spends a few moments talking about the parts of a mouth before watching a short film about different types of mouths.
Back in the kitchen, Mister Rogers touches on the topic of lip-reading as he finishes the sign for Francois Clemmons. Mrs. McFeely stops by for a brief visit to show Mister Rogers the canary she is watching for a friend.
In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, everyone is anxiously awaiting Lady Elaine's return from space. Lady Elaine communicates via radio that she has made "the most amazing find in all the Neighborhood of Make-Believe history." After some speculation, Henrietta Pussycat wonders aloud if Lady Elaine might have found a husband.
The rumor quickly spreads to the castle where King Friday and Queen Sara recall their own wedding. Lady Aberlin makes her best attempt to quiet the rumor but is outspoken by everyone's excitement.
Back at the house, Mister Rogers talks about rumors and how everybody likes to make things up once in a while. After singing
Wishes Don't Make Things Come True, the day is concluded as Mister Rogers surprises Francois Clemmons with the new sign.
CREDITS
With Fred Rogers
Neighbors: Betty Aberlin, W.P. Barker, Francois Clemmons, Betsy Nadas
Film: Joe Seamans
Music Director: John Costa
Directed by Bob Walsh
Psychological Consultants: Margaret B. McFarland Ph.D., Albert V. Corrado M.D.
Associate Producers: Diana Dean, David Newell
Assistant Producer: Betsy Nadas
Production Assistants: Laura Perkins, Susan Perkins
Art Director: Jack Guest
Assistant Art Director: David Smith
Lighting Director: Frank Warninsky
Floor Manager: Nick Tallo
Technical Supervisors: Tom Knight, Ken Anderson
Video Tape Editor: Chet Bednar
Cameramen: Bob Vaughn, David Anthony, Dick LaSota
Video: Don Williamson
Audio: Chuck Sradomski
Produced by Family Communications, Inc. in association with WQED, Pittsburgh
The people who gave the money to make this television visit are the people of The Sears Roebuck Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
© 1972 Family Communications, Inc.
9 comments:
Wow! Fred's artistic talent sure seems a lot better in this episode than in any of the later ones ;)
How I loved the Brown Marionette Theatre. It seems like I remember going for weeks where every episode had to do with them. I don't know for a fact that I even watched Mr. Rogers every day or not, so I could just be remembering incorrectly.
The photos on their own, make my eyes moist. Imagine if I could view the show how much I'd be tearing up. When my older kids were small, many of these dark-haired Mister Rogers episodes still aired and I enjoyed them but had I known, they'd never air again, I'd have watched more intently and savored every moment. Betty Aberlin looks quite the beauty from the single screen capture. Such a wealth of material exists, gathering dust that I wish were at my disposal while my daughter is still young enough to benefit as FR intended.
I love the Sport Jacket that he wore on this program and in 1425 and on 1269 I would like to see if I could find one just like it thanks Tim for the Blogs your neighbor
Lawrence
Of course Mr. Rogers was a great show from start to finish...but it seems like the storylines in the Make-Believe are more bold and flashy in the older episodes. The whole Planet Purple theme was really fun and creative, but it seems like the later episodes from the 1990's onward were more tame. Did Mr. Rogers get more conservative in his later years? Maybe it's just the difference between me watching the show as a child and then as a teenager. During the "Divorce" week, Lady Elaine starts a rumor that the king and queen are getting a divorce. When she sees the "planecar" saleslady she says, "Who's that? Is that the girlfriend?" It seems like Mr. Rogers didn't take as many risks like that with some of the later shows. Maybe the newer and older shows are each good in their own way and were geared for different audiences in different times.
Eric -- It's strange. As often as it seems that the Brown's Marionette Theatre comes up, I hardly remember that aspect of the show at all from my childhood.
Vickie -- As great as the more modern episodes are, I love these classics the most. I, too, regret not saving them when I had the chance.
Lawrence -- A sweet jacket indeed.
Drew -- The more I go back and watch these episodes again, now as an adult, I find it interesting to hear some of the more subtle dialogue among the NOM characters. Lady Elaine especially. Sometimes she could be just downright nasty.
I believe at the beginning, the show might have been more stream of consciosness in a sense. Not that there wasn't a script, or agenda, but some of the stuff on there was just too crazy to explain other than "let's be silly". I mean, Lady Elaine using a leaf mat to go to outer space? A cow who wants to be a potato bug? A Lizard Princess, who can turn into either and is also a witch? There wasn't the effort to make every week "about something" that developed later, and while I'm sure Fred was very thoughtful about what he said and how he said it, he was certainly indulging his playful side in some of the material he wrote. I think as the years went by he became more focused on tackling certain issues, like a teacher honed in on a goal, and perhaps there was less time for just playing.
And part of me thinks I also enjoy the older episodes better because in a thousand tiny ways they do remind me of when I was younger. The darker hair on Fred, the brighter colors on everything- it all is subliminally reminiscent of my childhood and warm and familiar. Thank goodness that aside from painting the walls that one time, they never really updated any of the sets too drastically!
Oh how I wish I'd could hear Lady Elaine's "Is that the girlfriend?" comment! What a HOOT! SO funny!!
When I was a young mom watching with my babies from '79 throughout the 80s, I thought LE was so mean-spirited and purposely created to be ulgy, but now looking back, I see Fred was just showing souped up personality traits. She was an important inclusion in the NOMB displaying extreme impulsiveness,certainly ego-centrism, selfishness, loneliness and hypersensitivity and how feeling this way can cause one to lash out... Not entirely different from King Friday!
I also wondered if Fred's sister ever felt a bit insulted or sad that he named the most unfriendly and unattractive character on his show, Elaine.
I hadn't noticed the "girlfriend" comment myself so I had to go back and check. Sure enough, there it is in episode 1479.
It's interesting that Fred never tackled the more specific issues of step families.
Vickie- I've heard an interview where he does mention that he and others teased his sister with the notion that Lady E might be named for her, but he never mentioned her reaction. Frankly, I wonder if he had any idea what kind of character she'd evolve into when he first created her.
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