1st Edition

The World of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

By Mark Wolf Copyright 2017
    116 Pages
    by Routledge

    116 Pages
    by Routledge

    Unlike many children’s television shows, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood did more than simply entertain or occupy children’s attention. The show educated them in the affective domain, encouraging such things as appreciation for difference, collaboration, self-expression, and self-worth. It also introduced them to the areas of culture, art, and music through guests, trips, art objects and processes, and demonstrations, making it accessible and meaningful in a way that a child could understand. While the educational content of children’s television programming has improved greatly since the late 1960s, no other children’s program has ever attempted such a mix of high art, low art, folk art, industrial production, learning in the affective and social domains, and more, all with a whimsical sense of humor, insight, and a level of interconnected detail unmatched by any other children’s television program. This book illuminates and examines the world of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood through world design, narrative, genre, form, content, authorship, reception and more.

    Chapter 1. Welcome to the Neighborhood



    Early Children’s Television



    A Typical Day in the Neighborhood



    Visual Style and Performance Style



    Serious Play and Playful Seriousness





    Chapter 2. A History of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood



    Rogers’ Early Career



    From Misterogers to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood



    The Post-Hiatus Years





    Chapter 3. The Neighborhoods: Interconnected Spaces and Places



    The "Real" Neighborhoods: Pittsburgh and the Television Neighborhood



    The Neighborhood of Make-Believe and Surrounding Areas



    World-building and Intertextual References





    Chapter 4. The Neighbors: A Diverse Sociological and Ontological Spectrum



    Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and More



    A Diverse Ontological Spectrum



    A Neighbor Just Like You: Interpersonal Conflict and Resolution





    Chapter 5. "And I’ll Have More Ideas for You": Ideology and the Neighborhood



    Slowness, Silence, and Reflection



    Finding the Value in Others



    Freshness of Vision: Through the Eyes of a Child





    Chapter 6. Mister Rogers’ Legacy



    Projects Concurrent with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood



    After the Neighborhood





    List of Episodes





    Resources





    Notes



    Biography



    Mark J. P. Wolf is a Full Professor and Department Chair of the Communication Department at Concordia University, Wisconsin. His books include Abstracting Reality, The Medium of the Video Game, Virtual Morality, The Video Game Explosion, Myst and Riven: The World of the D'ni, Before the Crash, Encyclopedia of Video Games, Building Imaginary Worlds, The LEGO Studies Reader, and Video Games Around the World. With Bernard Perron, he is the co-editor of The Video Game Theory Reader 1 and 2, and the Landmark Video Game book series.