A very special someone celebrates a birthday today. The honorable King Friday XIII, ruler of Calendarland in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, is the birthday boy not only today, but every Friday the 13th! King Friday paid us a visit during our 1999 interview with Mr. Rogers and we learned how the King got his name:
Watch Fred Rogers’ full Archive interview for more in-depth looks at some of your favorite childhood puppets.
Tags: "Mister Rogers Neighborhood", Fred Rogers, King Friday the 13th, King Friday XIII, puppets
ailee43 on July 12nd, 2018 at 15:56 UTC »
King Friday also exists in Daniel Tiger, with his two sons, Prince Tuesday and Prince Wednesday being Daniels friends.
jraygun13 on July 12nd, 2018 at 14:34 UTC »
Mr. Rogers was a cool dude! After reading his wiki, here are some interesting facts I didn't know about him:
he was red-green color blind
his middle name was McFeely
He became a vegetarian in his mid–40s, stating "I don't want to eat anything that has a mother."
He wore his famous sneakers after he found they were quieter on set than his work shoes
all of the sweaters he wore on the show were knitted by his mother
He acted exactly the same way on camera as he did off camera, saying "One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self. I also believe that kids can spot a phony a mile away."
He composed almost all of the music on the show
The only time he ever appeared on TV as anyone besides Mr Rogers was when he played a preacher on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.
He was the "victim" on an episode of Candid Camera where the hotel he was staying in tried to sell him a room that had no TV. Rogers realized what was going on, so he told them he was fine with a room with no TV.
When VCRs came out, the television industry fiercely opposed them because they didn't want people to be able to watch programs later on. Rogers came out in support of people being able to tape television, and his testimony was cited by the Supreme Court in a similar suit against Betamax. He said: "Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the Neighborhood at hours when some children cannot use it... I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the Neighborhood off-the-air, and I'm speaking for the Neighborhood because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important."
What a guy. I wish we had a Mr Rogers in the world today, we could sure use more people like him.
-SaC on July 12nd, 2018 at 12:36 UTC »
God, I thought for a brief moment this was talking about the movie.
Next week: Mr Rogers introduces: The Exorcist - or why you should eat your nice pea soup.