Fred’s taping schedule?

[picturepicture89]

Doubt anyone will see this but what was his taping schedule like? I read that they had to do the Make Believe segments separately because the studio space couldn’t fit the house and the NoMB set. How did they typically shoot one episode? Were all the MB segments for the week taped at once?

I have often seen episodes that aired in the fall/winter but when they go on location, it’s clearly still spring/summer. The episode with Lady Elaine playing in the park looked like it was taped in early summer, even though the episode itself aired in late July. The one where Fred goes shopping aired in early 1984 but it looked like it was clearly September/October when he was outside the store.

Also, there’s the famous photo of him taking off his shoes wearing the red cardigan during a rehearsal, that was taken in late June 1989, a few weeks after I was born. Which episode was this?

[MrRogers143]

The only thing I could tell was during his archive interview, he said they had the Neighborhood of Make Believe set up during the weekend so he could show his grandchildren, but he said they weren't taping then. Maybe he did the make believe segments first, then any scenes of him visiting somewhere or the audio for Picture Picture, and finally was the house shots.

[picturepicture89]

That’s sweet that he showed his grandchildren the set of the Neighborhood of Make Believe on weekends. I wonder if he put on little puppet plays for them, even at home. Where was this interview?

[Jazzman67]

The general taping schedule according to Mr. Rogers in a letter to me was that the Neighborhood of Make-believe was shot first and then the house segments were shot.  That's how the schedule was done in the studio. The location shots are regarded pre-production shots, so those were done a few months ahead of the production done in the studio.

[picturepicture89]

So probably in the summer they did all the on-location shoots at one time just to get them done?

I find it interesting how Fred goes to people's houses in the exact same neighborhood but in reality they could live across the country. lol. When he visited the author of the Spot books, it was right around the corner but the author actually lived in California.

Also, in episode 1510 when he visited Bob Trow's workshop, it was obviously just a set and not his actual shop. I was surprised because Fred usually visits the real place.

[MIKEBENNIDICT]

In a 1969 episode shows Fred and his sons going fishing.

Since back then new episodes began airing in Feb. that would mean they probably began taping late in the previous year when naturally the weather would be cold and snowy.


So in the case the fishing film would of been shot in the summer of 68.

[Jazzman67]

The location shots were moist likely not done during the summer. Fred spent most of the summers writing the scripts fpr the shows. Pre-production is always location shooting and then it's production time in the studio, followed by the editiing during post production. I would estimate each production period to be about 2-3 months. The actual studio time was one week for the Neighborhood of Make-Beileve and one week for the house segments. Remember that studio time is expensive and it's PBS.

[MIKEBENNIDICT]

Most but that doesn't mean he might of not had some of that time off.

I read in a 1992 Life Magazine article where he spent the previous summer with Joanne at the Crocked House in Nantucket Mass. for their 40th wedding anniversary.

[Chad123]

I do know that the first episode was taped on September 21, 1967, and that the final episode was taped on December 1, 2000.