I hated Mr. Rogers

Well whoop dee doo!

Can YOU say "troll?"

Sure. I knew you could!

He always gave me the creeps but my little sis loved him. I would leave the room when he came on.

I was always bored during his scenes. I liked the trolley and Miss Kitty.

I never knew any kids that liked him, but i am glad there were some kids comforted by his non threatening presence. I liked "The Electric Company" MUCH Better.

I always thought he was a deeply closeted man. A little too gentle and feminine to be totally straight.

He was SUPER religious, however, and given that he worked so heavily with kids during a time when gays were so casually equated with pedophiles, it's not surprising he remained one.

I was never a super fan. I grew up watching 80s cartoons.

But looking back, I always respected him for not throwing gay people under the bus when so many religious groups pressured him to do so.

He always maintained the message of loving yourself and that you are fine just the way you are.

If more devout Christians were as Christ-like, the world would be a better place.

I like the way you say that.

[quote]I liked the trolley and Miss Kitty.

Did public transportation come to Dodge City or did someone open a whorehouse in the Neighborhood of Make Believe?

Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church protested Mr. Rogers funeral back in 2003. For the kind of things OP is complaining about. Oh, and for failing to be judgmental about the gays.

Nice going, Shirley (I may call you Shirley?)

What was the cat called then r8? I thought she was Miss Kitty. She said meow meow in every sentence.

Meow meow like you meow you.

Henrietta Pussycat lived next door to X the Owl, meow meow meow.

Miss Kitty was the saloonkeeper and implied house madame on Gunsmoke.

I loved Mr. Rogers. I grew up in a dysfunctional household and what he said each week meant a lot to me as a kid. it was the "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." of my generation. I saw this posted on reddit's r/raisedbynarcissists recently, and it spoke to me:

[quote]Mr. Rogers was my favorite show when I was a little kid in the early '80s. It aired right after Sesame Street each day on PBS channel 12, and while Sesame Street was a lot of fun—I particularly liked Oscar and Big Bird—Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was different. I wouldn't have been able to identify it at the time, but watching it made me feel safe and loved and important, and I didn't feel those things very often. I was raised by two alcoholic parents, one of whom is a mean-spirited, narcissistic survivor of his own childhood abuse and the other of whom is a chronic enabler and peacekeeper. Both of them took a lot of delight, throughout my life, in downplaying my accomplishments and mocking my feelings. When my parents were telling me that it was stupid to feel sad or selfish to feel hurt or mean to feel angry, Mr. Rogers was telling me that everyone feels that way sometimes, and everyone is okay. When my parents were withholding praise and leveling unreasonable criticism, Mr. Rogers was telling me that doing my best was good enough. When my parents were telling me that I wasn't pretty enough, or that my jokes weren't funny, or that I wasn't as smart as I thought I was—or when they were pushing away my hugs and staring at me blankly when I told them I loved them—Mr. Rogers was telling me that who I was was exactly right and he loved me for it, even my bad jokes and annoying hair.

[quote]And my parents tried really, really hard to teach me not to trust him. The way they made fun of him is really burned into my memory. I mean, yes, the man wore silly sweaters and his land of make-believe was only make-believe, and it was childish make-believe at that. He was unusually earnest and sincere. There is a type of person that finds those things ripe for mockery, and I know that both of my parents are that type of person, my father by nature and my mother by way of wanting to curry favor with my father.

[quote]It's been a long time since I reconciled their alcoholism, their neglect, their arbitrary meanness, and their overwhelming urge to tear down instead of build up, but I'm having trouble reconciling this. I don't understand why any parent would be so irritable, so angry, to watch a man on television tell their child that she is valuable. I don't understand this extra layer of senselessness in their behavior. They couldn't have chosen a better TV babysitter for half an hour every weekday afternoon. Letting me watch that show is one of the things they did right; it's a happy memory from a really confusing childhood. But they resent him so much for it. I don't understand it. I don't understand how anyone can harbor hatred for that man. It feels almost like a bigger betrayal than anything else, that I managed to come from people so irrational and mean that they'd carry a grudge against Fred Rogers because he made me feel like maybe I wasn't worthless.

[bold]My parents hate Mr. Rogers[/bold]

No haven't the remotest idea what this statement says about you, but we do.

I'm a domestic abuse survivor, but too old to have gotten into Mr. Rogers very much R12. But I found a similar safety in the characters of the long running Wallace and Ladmo show on Phoenix TV. This was an unusual sketch oriented kids show which included a lot of contemporary adult humor. It also featured real empathetic adults who helped me stay grounded in reality.

I was only young enough for his show in the early 70s, but preferred everything else aimed at kids at the time. Wasn't into him at all, but he did seem like a good egg anyway.

I am too old to have really watched Mr. Rogers but my younger siblings did. He seemed ok to me and I know he was adored the world over and a very religious man as well. He has won awards for his show and his continued concern for the welfare of children.

He lived on Nantucket Island.

ThIs thread gives me a good feeling

I love him. He had a voice and manner that instantly relaxes me, like the painter Bob Ross.

I adore Fred. I didn't know he was religious. He is exactially how a religious person should be and rarely are.

Miss Kitty had HIV.

Henrietta Pussycat had FIV.

Miss Kitty was a madam and her "saloon" was actually a whorehouse. Of course in those days they couldn't actually come right out and say that or god forbid show that on television, so you had to read between the lines.

Watching his show was the first time I remember ever wanting wooden hangers.

I hated him for changing his shoes on every program. He just wasn't cute enough for me to want to see that.

He was so benevolent. I remember feeling calm when I watched the show. Daniel Tiger was my favorite. They have a cartoon about him now and I admit that I tried to watch it recently but wasn't feeling it.

He was the real deal, frequently did far more than necessary to help others in need, especially children. He was honest, kind, and sincere

When I was a kid in the early 70s, loved the land of make-believe and taking the train ride to see the puppets.

As an adult and mom to baby- and suffering from loneliness and a crappy relationship and post-partum depression in the early 90s- I would watch him to cheer up and feel comforted. Really.

I loved Mr. Rogers and his soft, comforting gentle manner. But the puppets creeped me out. I was more into Mr. Moose & Mr. Bunny Rabbit on CAPTAIN KANGAROO.

...and Kukla, Fran & Ollie. It was only much later when I realized how deliciously camp they were.

I didn't love the show, but felt bad about it. He seemed nice. As a seven year old, I was actually concerned about him. He seemed so gentle. I wasn't sure how he was going to make it in the world I was already beginning to understand!

R5, kindly be aware that capitalizing "i" when referring to yourself with the first-person pronoun is not optional.

In other words, so nice you didn't need Mr. Rogers, but you DO need remedial first-grade English.

I used to love watching Mister Rogers' show after school. I loved the alternate reality world with that train leading there and all those weird puppet characters with strange voices. I never thought he was a weirdo or anything like that. I looked at him as a kind of teacher. I liked how he showed kids how to do stuff in the house, how to keep busy and help parents. I thought his changing his shoes was a bit odd, though, but that's a good thing to learn as the dirt on the soles of street shoes dirties your wall-to-wall carpets with grime. It was, basically, a puppet show for children, but on a public network so it had to teach learning tools.

But to today's gutter-minds Rogers is perceived as some sort of creepy old pervert. Which, of course, is a PERCEPTION by sick, ugly minds possessed by the Devil.

R31, I wrote (my only) fan letter to Mr. Rogers asking why he didn't visit the land of make believe and he wrote me back (typewriter; ballpoint sig) trying to explain why, but I still found it confusing.

I will defend Mr. Rogers: His show was for children, not for adults. Unlike Sesame Street or Elec Co, there was nothing planted there to engage adults. He always looked at the camera (kids) when he talked. He slowed down the pace appropriately for them. By doing so, he showed respect and gave time to children. My mother let me watch him on the color tv in her bedroom (and of course did not watch him w/me or she'd go insane). it was a special one-on-one time w/someone who showed he cared about me.

Years later, when my mom was in grad school, she asked me to time the segments on Sesame St and Mr. Rogers. The average segment on SS was 30 sec (some segments 15 secs) and Mr. Rogers it was minutes. For children expected to go into 1st grade and have longer periods of attention requirements, he was the better bet. The adults on SS often did not look at the camera.

I was the first generation of SS/MR/EC. Of the 3, there is no comparison which show was exclusively focused on children.

PS: Michael Keaton served as a stagehand on his show and has great -- and highly laudatory -- comments about working with him. He was the real deal off camera too.

I love this video. It probably freaked a LOT of white parents out.

My folks knew him from Nantucket, where he spent the summer. He related how when someone said that he was "stupid" for working with under-funded PBS, he replied, "They pay me enough, and I LIKE what I do!" Agreed that the cries of "Creepy! Pedo!" are a result of today's overjoyed culture.

Daniel Tiger I barely noticed. Lady Elaine Fairchild was where it was at for me! Although, I wouldn't have minded being King Friday XIII's consort. X the Owl would've made a great pal.

Lady Elaine was scary to me as a kid.

I was the right age to watch Mr. Rogers but I just did not like him. Part of it was because I matured a little too quickly -- my parents were seriously fucked up and by the time I was three I was navigating their irrational mood swings and doing all the chores (they bought me a three-legged stool for me to stand on so I could reach the kitchen sink, the washer and dryer, etc.)

As an adult, I recognize I was already so bitter and jaded when I was a kid I thought Rogers was selling everyone a bill of goods. "No, it's NOT okay to just be yourself and just do your best, and I have the literal scars and bruises to prove it," was my reaction.

In retrospect I wish I could have gotten something out of his show. It would have helped.

[quote]I hated Mr. Rogers

Hi OP!

[quote]Lady Elaine was scary to me as a kid.

Me too! I liked the rest of the show, but when Lady Elaine was on I would hide behind the a chair until her scene was over. I hated that fucking puppet.

Fred Rogers taught us a great lesson with Lady Elaine; there's a cunt in every neighborhood.

Betty Aberlin, who was Mr. Rogers young co-star, gave a good interview a while back. She said Fred Rogers was much funnier in person than you might expect. She preferred the earlier years because the show was then geared toward entertainment, and everyone on the set had a riotous good time, laughing all the while.

In later years, once Rogers discovered that he could do a lot of good work for children in difficult situations, that was all he wanted to do. She said it was still gratifying to work with him, and to help him help children in need. But at the same time, once the show took a more serious turn, a lot of the fun went out of making it.

She added that her favorite episodes were the "operas" as she got to play the female lead in every one of them.

Anyone else see a bit of a similarity between Lady Elaine Fairchild and Elaine Stritch?

R41, Lady Elaine Fairchild had a better singing voice than the unladylike Elaine Stritch.

Were those children on his program ever seen alive again?

My friend's dad was a close friend of Mr. Rogers. He would often go without his wife to visit Mr. Rogers at his Nantucket beach house. I know my friend's dad was bi, and I always got the impression that he and Mr. Rogers were friends with benefits.

I worked on a book with him. He was so kind, gentle, gracious and lovely. A truly lovely human being.

His manner of speaking seemed a little weird and awkward. there were other kids tv hosts from that era on local tv who were a bit less strange.

I always like him, though Mr. Dressup was more fun.

Meow meow meow r3

Meow meow meow meow cunt

There was another Mr. Rogers thread on here and a poster knew several gay men who were friends with benefits in NY.

David Byrne looks like Mr Rogers. Mr Rogers is also cooler than David Byrne.

I found the post from the other thread:

[quote]Rogers had a large contingent of gay friends - most not NYC types, who he would put up in his apartment and have fun with. Any explicitly gay activity was kept behind one bedroom door with one designated close friend under the guise of not-enough-room-so-we-share. He treated it as his being "out with the boys." He didn't go to bars.

[quote]I was friends with one of his bf's and knew one other less closely. I knew two other of his group, but of all of them only one is still alive, and he's had a stroke. They all loved the man - and respected his life and his family and his job. The 'hung" comment came from the one guy he was close to - a reference to it was made in an interview where the interviewer went swimming at a club pool while interviewing Rogers and Rogers nonchalantly changed in front of him.

[quote]Speaking of the wife, Fred would talk with her every evening when he was in New York, and often would put his friend on the line. He never behaved as if he was hiding anything. It was all a matter of discretion. This fellow met the two boys and the wife and even had dinner with Fred and Sara was nice, sweet, plump woman who adored her husband. And she loved chocolates.

So did Fred like the big fat chubby and spunk or did he like the fish as well?

Thanks r51. That kind of makes me like him more. It doesn't sound like he was miserably hiding in the closet, but had a nice life.

You're so lucky, R45.

I believe Mr Rogers was a wonderful a man in real life as he was on tv.

Many of you appear to be in need a good Rodgering.

There haven't been any stories of the Jimmy Saville variety coming out and by all accounts, he was a genuinely good man. How on earth could anyone use "hate" when it comes to him? OK, so you didn't like his show, but "hate" for someone/something so innocuous.

Like R6 said, we need more people like him on earth, not fewer.

Those who say he was religious might not be aware that the man was an ordained Presbyterian minister. I think that most people do not know that because of the man himself, as he never was one to draw attention to himself.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, I attended the Presbyterian where Fred was a member. He never took on airs, nor acted as if he was a celebrity. After a covered dish social one evening, Fred helped me gather up tablecloths, fold & stack tables, and collect empty cups and plates. His humility was not an act; he was just genuinely a really nice guy.

R56 Stop trolling he used to diddle young boys. He was a perv. Even Michael Jackson and Woody Allen are considered nice by their cult.

R58, don't you dare attempt to destroy yet another childhood memory for me. Don't you dare! DL thrives on destroying the happy memories of our past. You won't do it this time. I will not let you denigrate this good man!

You're a pathetic piece of shit, R58, and that's not even remotely funny.

If you want to start a "silly" "harmless" rumor about someone famous being a kiddy-diddler, why not choose someone who's already an asshole, like Dumbya or Cheney or Madonna?

I never liked Mr. Rogers, he always seemed vaguely creepy and he talked down to kids. The latter may be because I didn't get a chance to watch regularly until I was starting grade school, my family didn't have a TV until then.

I preferred "Bullwinkle", with its puns and parodies and genuinely funny humor. Mr. Rogers never had a sense of humor!

I just want to know why that crazy old alcoholic bitch (even as a kid I knew the bulbous nose, rosacea, and burst capillaries were supposed traits of drunks) lived in a fuckng TILT-A-WHIRL! I guess she was hardcore enough she could even hold her liquor in that contraption.

Those creepy puppets scared the SHIT out of me!

Meow-meow, fuck you, R63, meow-meow.

Barnaby did it better, and he had the invisible parrot too!

[quote]he talked down to kids.

No, he didn't. He spoke directly and honestly to children in a way that very few TV personalities ever could or did. His imitators often adopt a patronizing tone but he never did.

me too.

Korn made a song about Mr. Rogers. The lead singer said watching Mr. Rogers made him too kind and trusting as a child and he got molested by a neighbor because Mr. Rogers taught him to be too trusting of people.

Mr. Rogers is too much of an empath and empaths attract sociopaths. He is a bad example to children. His "everybody is special" bullshit is kind of what started the narcissism of today. Excessive empathy enables sociopathy. Mr Rogers was wrong most people aren't special.

Christopher Guest: "Can you say 'Egg McMuffin'?"

Bill Murray: "Egga-Muffin. Yeah."

i think he was one of the finest men to ever walk on the face of the earth. im reminded of a true story about fred. one day he went to work, in his newer car, im thinking it was a buick or oldsmobile, anyway, it was stolen, and takenback to the chop shop. where the car is dismantled and sold off piece by piece. when the thieves realized it was Fred Rogers car, (his paperwork in the glove box) they took it back to the same spot, all clean and shined with a note sayingthey were sorry, had they known it was his car, they neverwould have taken it. And he meant the world to them growing up.

Fred Rogers was a true gentleman who was a class act. He was never rude or vulgar or hurtful to others. A kind spirit.

Who cares if he lead a double life of homosexual sin, piss-drenched at the Eagle Bar now and then.

We all gots to live

I have a relative who works for PBS. I met him at a social event PBS had in my city. He seemed a genuinely pleasant, laid back gentleman and did not ping. Remember he was an actor playing a role; the soft spoken gentleness was used to calm children and keep them calm.

Yes, many people, especially in show biz, are gay. No, not all of them are, even those who are not traditionally masculine.

As a small child, he creeped me the fuck out. And he seemed as simple-minded as a bag of dirt. I'd watch anything or nothing rather than watch his show.

That whispery, girly, "child-like innocence" act wore as well on him as it did on that other freak, Michael Jackson. Even as a young child, I recall thinking that his act was surely a disguise for something.

I've never understood why kindness, perhaps the greatest virtue, is equated with this whispery, sexless, infantile, and way creepy creature.

Oh I loved Fred! That's what you had to do, back then, if you grew up gay in a religious middle-class conformist society. He made something good of his life, despite the challenges. He was also a pretty good pianist. Lovely guy I'd have been proud to know.

You think he was creepy? How about the mannequin they have on billboards in Pittsburgh at the moment???

Yes, I said I always found him creepy, but perhaps you have to start watching his show at a very young age to become a fan.

As I said my dysfunctional family didn't get a TV until I was 5 or 6, by which time I was already reading children's books (I learned to read early) and watching the national news every night as well as children's programming. By the time I was able to watch his show, I knew damn well that both the world 'the land of make believe' could be a bit more interesting than his boring little puppet neighborhood.

And his demeanor always creeped me out, as R73 describes. He just didn't have normal human reactions.

He was known to have a large cock.

I really don't get the hate trolls who constantly spread their hate at DL.

How ignorant do you have to be to use the time and energy to "hate" someone on TV? Are you just too stupid to switch channels? Did someone hold a gun to your head to force you to watch Mr. Rogers?

Trailer for the documentary 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' which has reportedly been generating some buzz at the festival circuit.

Opens in select theaters June 8th.

You’re a cunt, OP.

r73, I completely agree.

I was never a fan as a kid, but I recently watched some interviews online and he has such a calming and gentle way about him. It was very relaxing and washed away the ugliness of the day.

As a kid I'd turn his show off. He really creeped me out. The weird voice. He DID make me think of a creepy guy with that voice. That voice that belongs to an adult that is trying to lead a kid. Those puppets looked like hell! The puppet voices he did were chilling.

Mr. Rogers is definitely needed in Trumps America today.

I really miss him and what he stoop for. Funny thing about it is. What Mr.Rogers was all about would be considered "PC" today.

^^^^ I meant stood for.

Any vision of life that portrays something so sanitised in its positivity and tries to block out what is genuine is very creepy indeed. But then, America is a nation that is gorged on illusions.

oh jesus - the Haughty European has arrived

His widow was scheduled to appear on Jimmy Fallon tonight to discuss the new documentary.

Hating Fred Rogers is probably a litmus test for sociopathy.

He was pure Pittsburgh, just like Myron Cope only a little bit more...well...you know..... Gene Kelly was from Pittsburgh too but he went Hollywood long ago...

only fags watched him

R78, it's the right-wing propaganda trolls. They hate Mr. R because he was kind and inclusive and tolerant of others, a really good guy. They hate that, and they hate him. I immediately dismiss anyone who hates Mr. Rogers as so beneath contempt that they might as well not exist.

I never hated him, but he bored me and the puppet voices creeped me out. As an adult, I appreciate his efforts to meet small children at their level, but I still can't watch those puppets.

He did tell the gay men on his staff that they couldn't be out and appear on the show. Different times. That's the only negative thing I've ever heard about him.

I'm ancient and the wrong demographic for this discussion....but I never could stand Mr. Rogers--totally creeped me out. If someone came up to me and said in that voice "Won't you be my friend?" I'd run screaming....But I loved Captain Kangaroo. For one thing, you could always tell the adults who made it were having fun (as with Bullwinkle). And I loved Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose.

Captain Kangaroo and Mr Rogers look about as butch as Rip Taylor.

"After all, Fred Rogers knowingly hired gays to appear on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, even counting two of them, John Reardon and Francois Clemmons, among his closest personal friends. Rogers also attended a Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh that remains well known for welcoming the LGBT community and supporting its full inclusion at all denominational levels."

94 He never told gay staff to hide it. Just want that to be known

[quote]Hating Fred Rogers is probably a litmus test for sociopathy.

Some of you posters are insane.

Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was never a popular kid's show like, say, Captain Kangaroo or Sesame Street. It had kind of become a joke when I was growing up. His shtick was incredibly dated/"square" by 1970s and 1980s standards (this was the era of Sesame Street, Electric Company and 321 Contact). and I think most kids when I was growing up just watched the show to pass the time in between the shows they really wanted to watch or to make fun of how corny it was and how creepy Mr. Rogers sounded.

Of course, now that I'm an adult, my perspective has totally changed and I completely respect Mr. Rogers and what he was about. But people blowing a gasket because some people professed not to like him are certifiable.

Even my 4 year old self knew he was fucking boring beyond belief and fake as all hell. I liked the train going over the bridge but that seemed to be seldom on so I never watched Mr. Rogers. Captain Kangaroo was only slightly better.

[quote]Rogers--totally creeped me out. If someone came up to me and said in that voice "Won't you be my friend?" I'd run screaming....But I loved Captain Kangaroo.

Captain Kangaroo creeped me out more than Rogers, although his puppets were creepiest of all. I only watched Captain Kangaroo to see my first love, Mr. Green Jeans.

I associate Fred Rogers with a repressed and sanitised idea of America that concealed the truth.