PBS is marking the occasion with a fantastic series of videos. Neighborhood highlights, related Fred Rogers videos, and even some funny MRN outtakes can be viewed on their video portal. Take a look.

On Saturday, we’ll also get a special treat in the form of an online and broadcast fan favorite episode chosen by fans who voted recently at PBSKids.org. Additionally, PBS Kids is inviting Neighborhood appreciators to submit their Mister Rogers photos to a Mister Rogers Flickr pool. Some great stuff there.

The station is having an open house during which set pieces from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe will be on display one last time. Here’s more:

On Nov. 7 and 8, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., WQED will invite the public in to see the reassembled set from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe at the WQED studios in Oakland.

Those who attend will see: King Friday XIII’s Castle; “X” the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat’s Tree; Curator Lady Elaine Fairchilde’s Museum Go-Round; Cornflake S. Pecially’s “Rockit” Factory; Grandpere’s Eiffel Tower; Dr. Duckbill, Elsie Jean and Ana Platypus’ Mound; and a small replica of Daniel Tiger’s Clock. (The original clock currently resides at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media.)

Tours will last about 10 minutes and will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be no tickets.

Mr. McFeely (David Newell) from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” will be on hand for autographs and pictures with the exception of a one-hour lunch break at noon both days. Free parking will be available at Central Catholic High School, 4720 Fifth Ave. Details on how to access parking, directions and more of what to expect can be found on a page of the WQED Web site at http://www.wqed.org/neighborhood-of-make-believe.

The parklet will include an upgrade of an existing bridge pier, the Rogers statue and landscaping, and offer vistas of Downtown, Point State Park and views of The Point and the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. From the park, patrons will enjoy views of downtown Pittsburgh, Point State Park and the three rivers.

The sculpture was commissioned by Pittsburgh philanthropist Cordelia Scaife May.

Park planners say Tribute to Children will receive full, lifetime maintenance from the Colcom Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based group environmental group.

Designed and built by Pittsburgh design firm Astorino, the monument will include the Rogers likeness sitting on a stairway in front of a large arch that patrons will be able to walk through.

Read more at the Post-Gazette.

The streaming of episodes will begin later this fall. It’s important to note, however, that only the 26 “favorites” episodes selected for this season’s Saturday-only broadcast of the series will be available. Of course, we hope the online offering will be expanded in the future to make the weekly themes of the Neighborhood more coherent. But this is a good start. Big thanks to PBS and FCI for making this happen!

PBS KIDS® AND FAMILY COMMUNICATIONS, INC. LAUNCH NEW MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD WEB SITE ON PBSKIDS.ORG

New Site Honors Children’s Icon Through New Games and Features Including Photo Sharing Section and Online Video Clips

PBS KIDS Highlights Top 26 Favorite Episodes On-Air Saturday Mornings This Fall and Plans for Multi-Platform Distribution of MISTER ROGERS’ content

(Arlington, VA/Pittsburgh, PA, August 31, 2009) – A new neighborhood awaits preschoolers and fans of all ages at PBSKIDS.org/rogers with the redesigned MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD Web site, full of new activities, video clips and memorabilia.  In addition, 26 favorite episodes will be part of the national PBS KIDS Saturday morning broadcast lineup beginning September 12 (check local listings) and will be available to stream online later this fall at PBSKIDS.org/rogers for fans to enjoy whenever they want. MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD also recently launched a new game on the PBS KIDS PLAY! subscription service (PBSKIDSPLAY.org) featuring Daniel Striped Tiger and will premiere a mobile application later this fall.

“Fred Rogers paved the way for children’s media more than 40 years ago, and we are proud to continue to work with Family Communications to ensure his legacy evolves alongside new developments in media and technology,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Director, PBS KIDS Interactive.  “PBSKIDS.org continues to increase in traffic, with an average of 9 million unique visitors a month. It’s clear that kids love our games, and that parents and educators view our content online as a trusted and fun learning experience.”

“At Family Communications, we continue to hear from adults about what MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD has meant in their lives,” said Kevin Morrison, Chief Operating Officer, Family Communications, Inc. “The core values of the series — kindness, civility, reassurance and inspiration — have helped many strive towards being the best they can be. We are excited to continue to infuse Fred Rogers’ values in new platforms with new generations of children.”

The new Web site features an expanded video inventory from MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD, including virtual field trips with Mister Rogers to visit a penguin exhibit, a dinosaur museum exhibit, an art museum, a pediatrician’s office and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, along with the ever-popular factory visits.  The site also encourages parent-child interaction with Parent Tips on every screen to help adults understand what their children are working on through their Web experience.

• In the all-new Neighborhood of Make-Believe area, children can explore two new environments — inside Lady Elaine’s Museum-Go-Round and Daniel Striped Tiger’s clock.
• In the Museum-Go-Round – never depicted before on TV or the Web – children can create artwork of their own, make a kaleidoscope, or just delight in the simple joy of discovery as they make things spin and go up and down.
• Inside Daniel’s clock, Daniel Tiger is getting ready for bed, offering an open-ended activity which gives children an opportunity to reflect on their own feelings about bedtime and separation from the ones they love.  As they turn out Daniel’s lights or get him his blankie or teddy bear, they can listen to a Mister Rogers bedtime song or hear Mister Rogers tell a bedtime story.

And for fans of all ages, the all-new “Neighbors of All Ages” section invites kids and adults to share their memories of growing up with the Neighborhood and provides tools through photo sharing site Flickr to post photos and letters.

Working in creative collaboration with PBS KIDS and Family Communications, Inc., the award-winning, Boston-based educational media developer FableVision produced the new site. FableVision President Gary Goldberger notes, “FableVision feels honored to extend Fred Rogers’ mission to a new generation of parents and children. This new media-rich site supports and guides children as they navigate their way through life.”

Parents and teachers can also continue to access content and resources that support essential childhood themes in MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD through PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org) and PBS Teachers (PBSTEACHERS.org).  PBS Parents offers articles, activities, tools, recipes and printables that parents and caregivers can use to extend the learning at home.  PBS Teachers provides classroom resources from the series that educators can download and use to support education in community engagement, the arts, mental and emotional health and many more topics.

In addition to the Web re-launch, PBS KIDS and Family Communications selected the top 26 favorite MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD episodes to air on PBS KIDS Saturday mornings this fall.  These episodes will also be featured on PBSKIDS.org in the coming months. The 26 iconic episodes feature classic moments including:

• Appearances by Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Dance Theater of Harlem and performers of STOMP;
• Visits with author-illustrator Eric Carle (best known for The Hungry Caterpillar) and beloved folksinger Ella Jenkins;
• Favorite visits to factories showing how people make everyday things like crayons,  construction paper, erasers, flashlights, macaroni, and zippers;
• Field trips to a recycling center and the zoo, as well as a ride on a school bus and a visit to the pediatrician’s office;
• Two operas, “Windstorm in Bubbleland” and “Spoon Mountain”;
• Songs, Make-Believe stories, and conversations about kindness, anger, frustration, making mistakes and even the most difficult feelings surrounding divorce.

MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD can also be experienced at PBS KIDS PLAY! (PBSKIDSPLAY.org), an award-winning subscription service that includes curriculum-based games featuring characters from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. A new Mister Rogers game, Daniel’s Musical Band, launched on PBS KIDS PLAY! in August. The first MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD mobile application, My Journal, will also debut this fall. The application will encourage children to identify and talk about their feelings about their every day experiences like school, playtime and friends. Both the new game and the application feature an animated version of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe character Daniel Striped Tiger.

Ben is a young, successful media executive who has absolutely no business being as kind-hearted as he is… Maybe it’s because he was pulled into the orbit of Fred Rogers at an early age. You see, Mister Rogers was Ben’s literal neighbor — his family’s summer home is near that of the Rogers. And during one fateful conversation on Ben’s 30th birthday, his life was changed. Fred Rogers’ assertion that things “deep and simple” are so much more valuable than those that are “shallow and complex” struck a chord. Ben set out on a search for the meaning in Fred’s words, and he’s documented this journey in a very special film called “Mister Rogers & Me.”

Now, Ben’s asking for a little help from his “friends” to raise funds needed to finish the project. You can find out more about the documentary, watch the trailer, and contribute — even a mere $5 donation will help — at the “Mister Rogers & Me” page on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com. There are some nifty incentives for contributing, and we hope you’ll consider dropping an Abe (or more!) Ben’s way.

- Brian

Our neighbors at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have more:

PBS has told member stations that “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” will only be available to air one episode weekly beginning in the fall. This past season, stations that wanted to air the “Neighborhood” daily had that option. Not anymore.

“PBS is operating under very tight budget constraints and it already has a full program lineup to support Monday through Friday,” said Kevin Morrison, chief operating officer for Rogers’ Oakland-based Family Communications Inc. “If it was offering ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ on a daily basis it would only be as an option to the existing full lineup of programs, and that option is an expensive option for them and the financial situation prevents them from making that an option.”

While we can certainly empathize with PBS’ financial situation, surely, someone there must realize that nothing on their current schedule comes even remotely close to MRN in terms of affective development. But then they have to compete with popular cable programs like Yo Gabba Gabba — a creatively brilliant (if nonsensical) show, but one that is essentially crack for the toddler attention span.

Where does that leave today’s parents who are hoping to continue to expose their children to the Neighborhood? Without much hope, we’re afraid. In fact, the best option at this point is likely to encourage Family Communications to make MRN available on DVD in its entirety. We’re not aware of the production company’s current plans, but they’d surely be happy to do such a release — the issue would likely come down to finding a willing and able distributor. Surely there are enough potential buyers to make it worth any distributor’s while. Maybe we can convince them of this. Stay tuned…

A minor consolation: PBS has recently expanded the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood area of their website to include more videos from the classic program. Good stuff, but our children need more than just a collection of disparate interactive tidbits.

Visit Family Communications’ website for more.

It’s an online archive-in-progress of all things Neighborhood-related. Primarily, you’ll find episode summaries with screencaps and occasional commentary. It really is a fantastic site that we are hoping to watch grow.

You can purchase Speedy Delivery online for $19.95 + $3.00 shipping and handling. Click here for more details and to place your order.

We have seen the film and can vouch for its specialness.  Thanks to our friend and neighbor Paul Germain, the producer/director of Speedy Delivery, for making this labor of love a reality.

It’s being reported that PBS’s license to air reruns of the Neighborhood program expires this August. Given the already reduced visibility on the network, one wonders what their level of interest would be in renewing those rights. And even if they do renew them, what will the future of the Neighborhood look like on PBS?

The Post-Gazette spoke with PBS president Paula Kerger who says that they intend to keep the program around. “My assumption is we’re going to keep ‘Mister Rogers’ available,” Kerger said. Not exactly a troubling statement, but Ms. Kerger does not seem to be bubbling over with enthusiasm either.

Of course we hope that an agreement can be reached that will return reruns of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood to their prominent place on the daily schedule.