Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Here it comes, folks! The new show from the Fred Rogers Company!

I could not be happier to see these details made public as my excitement for this show's debut continues to grow!



First, here is an article with some general details about the program:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A Neighborhood is Being Constructed...

And here is a link to an interview with FRC's Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Morrison:

Community Voices: More Details on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Take a few minutes to read through these articles and then jump over to the message board to share your thoughts. I'm curious to hear what others think!

Podcast #6

For anyone who grew up in the late 70s and into the 80s, I'm sure you are more than familiar with the concept of the mix tape. In Episode #6 of the Neighborhood Archive Podcast, Scott joins me via Skype as we discuss the songs we would choose if given the task of making a Mister Rogers mix tape for a friend to communicate to them the significance of Fred Rogers music.

Take a listen and feel free to head over to the Message Board and discuss our choices or any others you would include on a tape of your own.

As always, you can click on the image above to download this episode through iTunes or you can listen to this episode here in your web browser.

Sluggish summer scramble.

• Episode 1649 - Imaginary Friends
• Episode 1650 - Imaginary Friends
• Episode 1656 - Up & Down
• Episode 1657 - Up & Down

A Slow End to the Summer

Heading back to work in a week or so for another year in public education, I've been taking these last few (hot!) weeks of my summer break easy and posting a little less than usual. In all honesty, I'm not taking it easy but rather scrambling to get done all of the things I've been putting off all summer! Once I'm back at work in a week and sleeping in is no longer an option, I'm sure I'll end up back on my normal schedule of early morning hours on the computer and more frequent updates to the site.

In the meantime, I'm still working my way through the modern episodes and have a few other interesting things coming up on the Neighborhood Archive. One of those things is a new podcast that should be up sometime this weekend. Scott will be my guest as we'll be talking about our personal choice of songs that would be included on the ultimate Mister Rogers mixtape (for those of you who are too young to know what a mixtape is, we may also refer to it as a mix CD for your benefit). Should be fun!

Hope you're all enjoying the warm summer weather!

KETC & Vacation Nap Time

Taking a week away from regular posts with family visiting from out of town and a short mini-vacation to St. Louis, I wanted to take a few minutes to express my appreciation for KETC -- the Public Television station out of St. Louis.

While my family and I enjoyed some of the fun sites to see in St. Louis, returning to the hotel room for afternoon nap time was a necessity. Yesterday, on the last day of our trip, we returned to our room with lunch just before 12:30. As we switched on the television, this daddy was surprised to hear some familiar words:

"The people who gave the money to make Mister Rogers' Neighborhood are the people of this and other public television stations and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation."

Needless to say we enjoyed our lunch while watching Episode 1578.

Thank you, KETC, for keeping Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in your schedule -- and not in the wee hours of the morning, but in the heart of the afternoon.

Podcast #5

Have you noticed a change in Prince Tuesday's voice throughout his many appearances on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood? Listen to Episode #5 of the Neighborhood Archive Podcast to find out why. Once you're done, feel free to head over the Message Board with any comments about the evolution of Prince Tuesday's voice.

As always, you can click on the image above to download this episode through iTunes or you can listen to this episode here in your web browser.

A few classics, Imaginary Friends

• Episode 1645 - Art
• Episode 1328 [1974]
• Episode 1330 [1974]
• Episode 1646 - Imaginary Friends
• Episode 1647 - Imaginary Friends
• Episode 1648 - Imaginary Friends

A Few Classics

Following the completion of the Art series, I thought I'd cover a few classics from 1974. I enjoy the "modern" episodes from 1979 and beyond, but the classics, to me, are even more enjoyable. I still have copies of several more classic episodes that I have yet to cover on the Archive site -- hopefully I'll get to those sooner than later. My primary goal right is to complete the post '79 episodes -- but I'm sure I'll throw in a few classics here and there.

There was mention quite some time back that more episodes were to become available on Amazon. Considering all of the modern episodes are already available, this can only mean that there are more of these classics on the way for everyone to enjoy. Not timeline at this point, though, for when those new episodes might be available for purchase.

Message Board Discussion

This have been slow on the message board this week. I'd like to remind everyone that you are more than welcome to discuss these episodes and any others on the message board, just as was done previously through the blog comments. It doesn't take any longer through the message board as before the episode summaries were read on the site and you had to return to the blog to make a comment. The only difference now is that you would go to the message board instead of the blog. Either way, I'd like to encourage discussion on the episodes as my comments on the Archive site are certainly not all-encompassing!

It's a Bill Bill good day...

Art, Ding-Dong, and Silence of the Lambs

• Promo Pics
• Episode 1642 - Art
• Episode 1643 - Art
• Episode 1644 - Art
• Guideposts Article [1980]

Guideposts Article

Thanks to Scott, a regular visitor to the Neighborhood Archive and future podcast guest, I was able to add an article from a 1980 issue of Guideposts magazine. It's a very touching piece written by Fred Rogers about his own grandfather -- the man responsible for instilling many of the ideas in Fred that would later become part of the Neighborhood program.

Read the article in the Press section of the Neighborhood Archive.

Roles Outside the Neighborhood

You may know that Betty Aberlin has appeared in a few motion pictures such as Dogma and Jersey Girl, however, were you aware that Chuck Aber has seen his own share of time on the big screen?

Among a few others, I had forgotten that Charles R. Aber of Westwood can be seen in The Silence Of The Lambs playing FBI Special Agent Terry.





Any other Neighborhood regulars that you've spotted on the big screen or elsewhere on television? Head over the message board and share any that you know of and to contribute to many other ongoing discussions.