Rogers Forged a True Neighborhood with Cast

Publication: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Author: George Aspiotes
Date: February 28, 2003

ROGERS FORGED A TRUE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH CAST
By George Aspiotes

For more than 30 years, Fred Rogers, everyone’s favorite neighbor, touched the lives of children and adults alike for a half-hour each day.

During that time, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the longest running program on public television, made Rogers a national celebrity.

The show would earn Rogers two Peabody Awards, four Emmys and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It would spur a library of books written by Rogers for families, educational toys and even parodies on “The Tonight Show” and “Saturday Night Live.”

“I think that the first time we realized that we had arrived was when Johnny Carson did a parody of our show (in the early 1970s),” said family friend David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on the show...

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