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Episode 0025 (EEN)

Network: Eastern Education Network
Air Date: December 23, 1966

Christmas is near and Mister Rogers arrives carrying a stocking cap filled with small presents and a note. The note instructs him to open the presents in a certain order, eating the first and saving what is left of it. In the kitchen, he opens the first gift -- an apple -- and eats it as he opens the other two -- a small pot and a container of soil. Following the instructions provided by Emily Bronte Stegosaurus, Mister Rogers plants the seeds from the apple in the pot.

Mister Rogers shows a stuffed dinosaur toy -- a gift he plans to give to Emily. Picture Picture shows some images of a fully grown apple tree.

In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, the Trolley is decorated for Christmas as Tadpole Frogg listens to Donna Miller sing I Know It's Time For Christmas. She shares that her gift to others this Christmas is the gift of song and encourages Tad to give others good wishes.

Daniel Striped Tiger gives Miss Miller his best apple core as she moves along to the tree. X the Owl has his stocking hung outside his door in hopes that someone will bring him an orange for Christmas. X shares a special Christmas poem with Miss Miller and she responds by singing Every Minute of Today.

Edgar Cooke greets Miss Miller in the castle garden and suggests that King Friday XIII is upset because he was not prepared to exchange gifts. King Friday listens as Miss Miller sings I Know It's Time For Christmas and reciprocates with his autograph on a card. Daniel arrives with apples to share with his friends.

Inside the castle, King Friday talks with Mr. Gardner about the "Christmas King" which is the focus of the Christmas season. He acknowledges that the story of the Christmas King can be somewhat confusing and offers a very general description of how "this king came to bow to everyone who lives on Earth...and to give away everything that was his." Mr. Gardner encourages King Friday to be generous during this giving time of year and introduces Dr. Robert Izod and the St. Edmund's Glee Club which sings When From the East the Wise Men Came. Each of the boys introduces himself individually to King Friday before singing I Know It's Time For Christmas.

Back at the house, Mister Rogers shows a nativity set and tells the story of Jesus' birth.


Notes

I Know It's Time For Christmas plays in background as Mister Rogers looks at the presents in his hat. As he plants the apple seeds, You're Growing plays in the background. Deck the Halls plays at various times throughout the episode including the final seconds of the closing credits.

A portion of the Make-Believe segment in this episode was originally part of an episode of MisteRogers from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (originally aired 12/23/1963). This is evident by the "OU" spelling on the "Neighbourhood Trolley."

X's poem for Donna Miller:

Donna Miller is a diller
And we like her fine
Donna Diller is a miller
And that ends this rhyme
(Which I'm giving her for Christmas)

St. Edmund's Academy is a private primary and middle school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh where the Rogers family resided.

One member of the boys' choir is Fred and Joanne Rogers' son, James.


Appearing In This Episode


Guests

  • Jim Gardner
  • Dr. Robert Izod

Songs


Images

                    


Episode Credits

Pianist: Johnny Costa
Set Design: Joan Thomas
Lighting: Dick Weiss
Technical Supervisor: Steve Zorbas
Produced By: Fred Rogers of the Arsenal Child Study Center and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Directed By: David Fu-Ying Chen

A WQED Production
Portions of the preceding program were produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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