The Very First Time and Very Last Time Mister Rogers Sang ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor’ on His TV Show

Mister Rogers Neighborhood Collection quite nostalgically compiled the very first time the late, greatly missed Fred Rogers sang "Won't You Be My Neighbor" as the opening song for his new PBS children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1968 with the very last time he sang it before retiring in 2001. The resulting video is simultaneously incredibly heartwarming and incredibly heartbreaking.

First episode: February 19, 1968. Last episode: August 31, 2001.

In 1969, just a year after the premiere of his show on PBS, Fred Rogers testified in front of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications to share the importance of public television and its need for funding. Mr. Rogers made quite an impression on the very fiscally conservative Senator John Pastore (D) of Rhode Island.

via Geekologie

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