Hi, neighbors! I'm new to the forum, though I've "listened in" from time to time. I'd heard of this episode, but its only broadcast was well before my time. I'm curious whether any further information is available/has come to light. since this thread started...?
Tim, given that you have most of the other "Talks to Parents" specials now logged in the episode guide, is there any particular reason you haven't been able to view this one?
It appears to be archived on video at the University of Pittsburgh library, if you it look up on their catalogue or on WorldCat. Interestingly, Michael D. Long summarizes and writes about the special in some detail in his book "Peaceful Neighbor", which I read recently. Based on what he has written, Long must have viewed the episode--probably at Pitt. Still, there are lots of small details I'd be curious to know... for instance, if the anthropomorphic trees were actual characters or puppets, who portrayed/voiced them?
The Pitt catalogue entry lists the only neighbors as Betty Aberlin and Maurice Woods. You can find scattered information on the web about a black American actor from NY named Maurice Woods, who passed away at a young age in 1983 (two years after the MRN special). None of sources, including an NY Times obit from '83, mention MRN, but as it's an obscure special that almost no one remembers, so that's hardly conclusive. Going back to Michael D. Long's summary, he mentions a one-time character named Edward, a black newscaster who helps Lady Elaine report on the tree murder. In fact, Long describes the Edward character carrying the dead tree, just as the OP describes Handyman Negri doing, while none of the sources have any mention of Joe Negri being in this episode.
I don't wish to impeach the OP's memory, but it would be incredibly easy, having seen the special only once as a young child, to forget about a random, one-off character as one's memory tries to fill in the blanks decades later. So my current "theory" is that the late Maurice Woods plays Edward while Joe Negri is likely not included in the special at all, with OP's memory banks quite understandably associating the Edward part with the much more familiar Handyman.
That said, I hope more info about the special becomes available. Ideally, all of these programs should be available for families to view. However, based on the descriptions, part of me is glad the "Violence in the News" special NOMB segments have not leaked online. The intent was parent-child viewing, and it does not sound like something one would necessarily want very young kids to stumble across out of context or without appropriate guidance.