My Deep Dark Secret about Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

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I have a deep dark secret that I have harbored for years. Last night, I finally came clean to my family. As we were sitting in the family watching a show, I admitted my deep dark secret about Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Maybe after you hear my secret, you will wonder about the beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Children’s Programming that I Watched As A Kid

First, before I tell you about my secret, let me tell you about some of the other shows that I watched as a child. Sesame Street was fine, but by the time the first episode aired, I was already in Kindergarten. I also really enjoyed watching Romper Room.

For those of you who have never heard of Romper Room, it was a great kids show that was sort of a preschool at home. The “teacher” would open the show with the Pledge of Allegiance, and then lead the kids in games, songs, story-telling, exercises, and activities. A snack was served and you hoped your mom would serve you a snack too.

At the end, the “teacher” would look through a magic mirror and recite, “Romper, stomper, bomber boo. Tell me, Tell me, tell me do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, did all my friends have fun at play?” Then the “teacher” would say the names of people out in TV land that she saw. And you would hope that your name was called! Those days when she said, “Patty.” I knew she was talking to me. Romper Room lasted from 1953-1994.

In addition, to Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo was watched on a regular basis. It was fun and silly and the Captain was fantastic. Some of my favorite characters included Mr. Green Jeans and Mr. Moose. The Captain Kangaroo show lasted from 1955-1984. Another show I enjoyed watching was H.R. Pufnstuf.

Shows My Children Watched including Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

As an adult watching with my own kids there were many more children’s shows that I watched such as the classic Blues Clues, Eureka’s Castle, Banana’s in Pajamas, Reading Rainbow, Shari Lewis and Lambchop, and Sharon Lois & Bram.

So What is My Deep Dark Secret about Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood?

First, let me state that I am a big proponent of using shows that teach. I actively use movies and shows to teach my children at home. However, I do draw the line at some shows. There obviously are shows that are not suitable for children. Additionally, there are shows that your particular child will not like. Finally, there are shows that are just not that good.

The not good shows – I put that beautiful neighborhood in that category. When I finally opened up and shared last night how I truly felt about Mr. Rogers and his Neighborhood, I expected my family to be shocked. I have never publicly spoken these words before. But I finally mustered up the courage to speak and I am glad that I did.

The truth is that I never liked Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. While I enjoyed the opening song, and the closing song, most of the episodes I found boring and dull. Last night, after sharing my feelings with my family, we watched a few episodes on Amazon Prime. We watched the first syndicated episode which aired February 19, 1968, and was in black-and-white.

My Challenge to You: Go Watch Episodes of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

In that first episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, he visits a lady who collects lampshades. She put them on her head, and I had an immediate flashback to some of the moments that I got in trouble as a kid. On incident involved putting lampshades on my head. Thanks, Mr. Rogers!

We also watched a color episode. In that episode, Mr. Rogers spent a large portion of the show talking about calligraphy. He showed us his writing, with really bad camera angles, and we also go to see a video of an adult calligraphy class that he was taking.

This is equivalent to watching paint dry. There is no possible way any kids wanted to watch Mr. Rogers talk about calligraphy. If you have Amazon Prime, you too can be tortured watching this episode. Furthermore, watching a grown man take off his shoes was also a source of irritation for me. I did, however, enjoy seeing which sweater he was going to wear that day.

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Why I lost all Remote Privileges watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

I wanted to watch more episodes to determine if Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was really as bad as I remember, but my family threatened physical violence. I continued to try to watch and had all remote privileges stripped from my life for probably the next ten years. I know the next time I ask to use the remote, they will bring up the Mr. Rogers’ incident of 2019.

You can watch select episodes for free at the official Mr. Rogers’ site. They have 5 episodes that they change every first and third Monday.

What Are Your Thoughts About Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood?

After admitting my secret and finding that the other people in my household felt the same way, I am wondering if anyone really liked Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood or if he was so successful because he had funding from companies that felt he was a safe person to talk to kids.

While I have nothing personally against Mr. Rogers, and he seemed to be a lovely person, I just didn’t like the show. I especially hated puppets. Now before you go hating on me, I will say that I love the new Daniel Tiger show, but the other puppets to me were just creepy.

Additionally, the opera episodes were like fingernails across a blackboard. I secretly watched an episode featuring an “opera” without my family. (If you see them, make sure not to tell my additional secret. I may lose more remote privileges).

I do plan to see the new show starring Tom Hanks because I would love to learn more about the man who was Mr. Rogers. However, liking a person and liking a show they are in are separate events in my mind.

So now you know my secret. I would love to know if you were a Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood fan or not. What was your favorite part of the show? Whether you liked or hated Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood please comment below and let’s start a healthy debate.