Editing Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (section)

==History==
[[File:Mister Rogers Trolley.jpg|right|thumb|Neighborhood Trolley from ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' set at WQED studios in Pittsburgh.]]
The series had its genesis in 1953, when Rogers and [[Josie Carey]] joined the newly formed [[Public broadcasting|public television]] station [[WQED (TV)|WQED]]. On April 5, 1954, WQED debuted ''The Children's Corner'', a program featuring Rogers as puppeteer and composer, with Carey as host and lyricist, in an unscripted weekday-afternoon [[live television]] program.<ref>{{Citation|publisher=The Fred Rogers Company|title=Daniel Tiger's Birthday|date=April 2, 2014|url=https://vimeo.com/90788269|access-date=April 16, 2018}}</ref> It was on this program where many of the puppets, characters and music used in the later series were developed, such as [[King Friday XIII]], Daniel Tiger, and X the Owl. It was also the time when Rogers began wearing his famous [[sneakers]], as he found them to be quieter than his work shoes while he was moving about behind the set. The show was briefly broadcast nationally on the [[NBC]] Television Network.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/148344910/|title=The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 15, 1956 · Page 110|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 16, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2004/05/29/Obituary-Josie-Carey-TV-pioneer-star-of-The-Children-s-Corner/stories/200405290156|title=Obituary: Josie Carey / TV pioneer, star of 'The Children's Corner'|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=April 16, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/portfolio_page/our-small-world/|title=Our Small World – Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning & Children's Media|work=Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning & Children's Media|access-date=April 16, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

===CBC television===
Rogers moved to [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], in 1961 to work on a new series based on ''The Children's Corner'', called ''Misterogers'', a 15-minute program on [[CBC Television]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fredrogers.org/fred-rogers/bio/|title=Fred Rogers Biography|website=www.fredrogers.org|access-date=September 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729173153/https://www.fredrogers.org/fred-rogers/bio/|archive-date=July 29, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Misterogers'' aired on CBC for about four years, and a number of the set pieces that he would take with him back to the United States, such as the trolley and castle, were created for the Canadian program by CBC designers and in collaboration with producer Bruce Attridge. Most importantly, Rogers appeared on camera in the new show rather than only appearing through puppets or characters. Fred Rainsberry, head of Children's Programming at CBC, persuaded Rogers to appear on camera in the new show (which he named after Rogers) after seeing him interact with children.<ref>{{YouTube|gyGuURc6_3M|Interview with Fred Rogers, part 4 of 9}}.</ref> [[Ernie Coombs]], one of the Americans whom Rogers brought with him to help develop the CBC show, would remain with CBC, on Rogers' recommendation, after Rogers returned to the United States. Coombs first appeared as Mr. Dressup in the CBC program ''[[Butternut Square]]'', conceived and produced by Attridge. Coombs then helped to develop what became ''[[Mr. Dressup]]'', which ran for nearly 30 years as an iconic presence on Canadian television, ending in 1996.<ref name=cbc>{{cite news|title=CBC: The original neighbourhood|url=http://www.cbc.ca/75/2011/07/cbc-the-original-neighbourhood.html|work=CBC 75th Anniversary Website|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=January 2, 2012}}</ref>

===Move to WQED===
In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights to his program from CBC and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on ''The Children's Corner''. He renamed the show ''Misterogers' Neighborhood'', which initially aired regionally in the northeastern United States through EEN, including educational stations in [[Boston]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[New York City]].<ref name=cbc /> The 100 episodes of the half-hour show incorporated the "[[Neighborhood of Make-Believe]]" segments from the CBC episodes with additional reality-based opening and closing material produced in Pittsburgh. The series was cancelled in 1967 due to lack of funding, but an outpouring of public response prompted a search for new funding.

In 1967, The [[Sears|Sears Roebuck Foundation]] provided funding for the program, which enabled it to be seen nationwide on [[National Educational Television]]; taping began on September 21, 1967<ref>{{cite news |title=QED's 'Misterogers' Given Sears' Grant |first=Win |last=Fanning |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=July 12, 1967 |page=33 |url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88349797/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Fred Rogers |website=Britannica Kids }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155564537999651&id=24044159650&fs=5}} {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> for the first national season. The first national broadcast of ''Misterogers' Neighborhood'' appeared on most NET stations on February 19, 1968. In 1970, when PBS replaced NET, it also inherited this program. Around the same time, the show had a slight title change, to the more-familiar ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

The show was broadcast from February 19, 1968 to February 20, 1976, and again from August 27, 1979 to August 31, 2001. The final episode was recorded on December 1, 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/09/01/for-mister-rogers-a-final-day-in-the-neighborhood/6c6b6bdd-82f6-4a7e-92c0-af5493837953/|title=For Mister Rogers, a Final Day in the Neighborhood|last=Montgomery|first=David|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 1, 2001|access-date=February 20, 2018}}</ref> The studio at WQED in Pittsburgh in which the series was recorded was later renamed "The Fred Rogers Studio".