Episode 1596
Topic: Secrets
Air Date: November 21, 1988
Previous Episode: 1595 - Kindness and Unkindness
Next Episode: 1597 - Secrets
Purchase/Stream: Amazon
Mister Rogers arrives with a set of boxes that fits inside each other. He stacks them before Mr. McFeely arrives for a visit to the Scanlons' unique home. Riding their bicycles to the Scanlons' home, Mister Rogers and Mr. McFeely are curious when they find that the house is built into the side of a hill. After a tour of the house, Mister Rogers returns to his house where he takes the smallest of the four boxes to the sandbox out back where he uses it to build his own underground house.
In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Mr. McFeely has a very heavy delivery of sand with an illegible address. Queen Sara informs him that it belongs to no one at the castle and that she must get back to work because her “artificial flower club is giving a benefit for endangered species.”
At the tree, X wonders if the box’s recipient is a secret and says that the sand is not his (he gets his sand from the Sandman). Henrietta reveals a secret talent by showing Mr. McFeely a castle she has made from sand and glue. Moving on to the factory, Mr. McFeely learns from Corney that Mayor Maggie may have ordered some sand for a secret project in Westwood.
In Westwood, Neighbor Aber is finishing up the surprise project as Mrs. Frogg comes and guesses the secret. Mr. McFeely and Corney arrive to find out that the sand is indeed for Westwood’s new sandbox. Mayor Maggie brings a phone call to Neighbor Aber from Lady Elaine. On his way to the Museum-Go-Round, he meets Lady Aberlin and Edgar Cooke making some sand soufflé -- although Edgar makes sure to point out that he never uses sand in his real soufflé. Neighbor Aber heads to the museum only to find a sign that says “If you have a secret to tell come inside.” Lady Aberlin mentions that she has a secret.
Back at the sandbox, Mister Rogers shows a toy chicken inside an egg: “It’s like a secret where baby things come from.” He explains that chickens are born in eggs, “but human beings, that’s what you and I are, we human beings grew inside our birth mother until we were big enough to come out into the world and let people know what we needed.”
Notes
Mister Rogers has a bit of difficulty zipping his sweater as his tie gets in the way.
Normally, the transition between shots is seamless, but in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Mr. McFeely's grip on the box of sand seems to magically change several times.
This episode provides a rare modern look at Mrs. Frogg.
Appearing In This Episode
- Cornflake S. Pecially
- Edgar Cooke
- Henrietta Pussycat
- Lady Aberlin
- Mayor Maggie
- Mister Rogers
- Mr. McFeely
- Mrs. Frogg
- Neighbor Aber
- Queen Sara Saturday
- X the Owl
Guests
- Judy Scanlon
- Paul Scanlon
Songs
Images
Episode Credits
With Fred Rogers
Neighbors: Chuck Aber, Betty Aberlin, David Newell, Judy & Paul Scanlon, Hedda Sharapan, Maggie Stewart
Executive Producer: Fred Rogers
Producer: Margaret A. Whitmer
Director: Paul Lally
Associate Producer: Adrienne J. Wehr
Music Director: John Costa
Produced in association with WQED, Pittsburgh
A production of Family Communications
© 1988 Family Communications, Inc.