Editing Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (section)

==Format==
[[File:Fred Rogers, late 1960s.jpg|thumb|upright|Rogers on the set in the late 1960s]]
[[File:François Clemmons and Fred Rogers Having Foot Bath.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Rogers and [[François Clemmons]] having a foot bath in 1969, breaking a well known [[Racial segregation in the United States|color barrier]]<ref name="biography.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.biography.com/news/mister-rogers-officer-clemmons-pool | work=Biography | title=Fred Rogers Took a Stand Against Racial Inequality When He Invited a Black Character to Join Him in a Pool | date=May 24, 2019}}</ref>]]
[[File:Fred Rogers Changing Shoes.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Rogers changing shoes]]
[[File:Fred and Joanne Rogers Sitting at Piano.jpg|thumb|alt=Rogers and wife Joanne Byrd sitting at a piano, 1975.|Rogers and wife Joanne Rogers, 1975]]
During each half-hour segment, Rogers spoke directly to the viewer about various topics, taking the viewer on tours of factories, demonstrating experiments, crafts, and music, and interacting with his friends. Rogers also made a point simply to behave naturally on camera rather than acting out a character, stating that "One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self. I also believe that kids can spot a phony a mile away".<ref name="Owen 2000" /> The half-hour episodes were punctuated by a puppet segment chronicling occurrences in the [[Neighborhood of Make-Believe]]. Another segment of the show consisted of Rogers going to different places around the neighborhood, where he interviewed people to talk about their work and other contributions that focused on the episode's theme, such as Brockett's Bakery, Bob Trow's Workshop, and Negri's Music Shop. In one episode, Rogers took the show behind-the-scenes on the set of ''[[The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]'', which aired on [[CBS]] from 1978 to 1982.

At the start of each episode, the show's logo appears as the camera pans slowly over a model of the neighborhood, as the camera goes from the neighborhood to inside the Rogers' television house. From 1979 to 1981, an alternate version of the opening sequence was used.{{which|date=July 2021}} Beginning in the early 1980s, the neighborhood model incorporated a small version of the "Neighborhood Trolley", as it crosses several streets from left to right on a model train track. This is the same model electric trolley that later in the program would transport viewers into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.<ref>{{YouTube|JMFDphMXTlQ|Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Full Intro with Video}}. Retrieved March 29, 2011.</ref> Usually, the camera goes from the neighborhood to out on the porch of the Rogers' television house, where the viewers see Fred Rogers coming for a visit before he enters the house. After the camera goes from the neighborhood to inside the Rogers' television house, Fred Rogers is seen coming home with his jacket on, singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor?". He goes into the closet, takes off his jacket, hangs it up, and grabs a [[cardigan (sweater)|cardigan]] zipper sweater to put on. After that, he takes his dress shoes off and grabs a pair of blue [[athletic shoe|sneakers]] to put on. One of Rogers' sweaters now hangs in the [[Smithsonian Institution]], a testament to the cultural influence of his simple daily ritual.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://go.si.edu/ct/Ud1111119PDS/Mr_Rogers |title=Mister Rogers' Sweater |access-date=May 31, 2007 |publisher=National Museum of American History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703001012/http://americanhistory.si.edu/news/factsheet.cfm?key=30&newskey=47 |archive-date=July 3, 2007|url-status=dead }}</ref>

At the end of each episode, Rogers sang "It's Such a Good Feeling" (a different song, "Tomorrow" was used from 1968 to 1972) when he took off his sneakers as he says "You're alive" in a higher-toned voice, and grabs his dress shoes to put back on, and then snaps his fingers two times. After that, Rogers goes into the closet, takes off his cardigan, hangs it up, and grabs his jacket to put back on. Before the closing credits, Rogers got ready to go out the door by reminding the viewers: "You always make each day a special day. You know how: By just your being you/yourself. There's only one person in the whole world that's like you, and that's you. And people can like you just/exactly the way you are. I'll be back next time. Bye-bye!". During the closing credits, which is complete with the show's logo and the episode number, the camera would perform a reversed version of the opening sequence's pan shot, while the "Neighborhood Trolley" crosses streets from right to left.

Starting in 1979, episodes were grouped into week-long series, with each series focused on a particular topic; each opening includes that week's subject, in the form of "Mister Rogers Talks About [subject]". Rogers' monologues throughout the week explore various facets of the topic, and the ongoing story from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe serves as illustration. 

Rogers covered a broad range of topics over the years, and the series did not shy away from issues that other children's programming avoided. In fact, Rogers endeared himself to many when, on March 23, 1970, he dealt with the death of one of his pet goldfish. The series also dealt with competition, divorce, and war. Rogers returned to the topic of anger regularly and focused on peaceful ways of dealing with angry feelings.

Beginning in the third season, Mister Rogers always made a clear distinction between the realistic world of his television neighborhood and the [[fantasy]] world of Make-Believe (prior to that, the line was blurred somewhat as he would often talk about it as if it were real and he had a direct line of contact with the characters in it). He often discussed what was going to happen in Make-Believe before the next fantasy segment was shown ("Let's pretend that Prince Tuesday has been having scary dreams..."), and sometimes acted out bits of Make-Believe with models on a table before the camera transitioned to the live-action puppet rendition. The miniature motorized [[tram|trolley]], which was known in character form as "Trolley", with its accompanying fast-paced piano theme music, and which was operated by Rogers with his left hand, working buttons and controls hidden on the side of the bench on which Rogers usually would sit, was the only element that appeared regularly in both the realistic world and Make-Believe: it was used to transport viewers from one realm to the other. Rogers, however, was mentioned from time to time in Make-Believe, particularly by Mr. McFeely, who appeared occasionally in the Make-Believe segments and seemed to form a link between the two worlds. The idea of the trolley came from Rogers. When he was young, many [[Pittsburgh Light Rail#Overview|trolleys]] operated in [[Pittsburgh]], and he liked riding on them.<ref name="Children's Museum of Pittsburgh: Welcome to Mister Rogers Neighborhood">{{cite web|url=http://www.pittsburghkids.org/Templates/CMP_ExhibitsDetail.aspx?CID=196&SECID=3&MENUID=96|title=Children's Museum of Pittsburgh: Welcome To Mister Rogers' Neighborhood|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103027/http://www.pittsburghkids.org/Templates/CMP_ExhibitsDetail.aspx?CID=196&SECID=3&MENUID=96|archive-date=July 19, 2011}}</ref> This reality/fantasy distinction put Rogers' series in sharp contrast with other children's series, such as ''[[Sesame Street]]'' and ''Captain Kangaroo'', which freely mixed realistic and fantastic elements.

Trolley was a character in its own right. Often, when it crossed into the Neighborhood of Make Believe, it would stop and have a "conversation" with King Friday XIII (by moving back and forth slightly and making bell noises to respond to Friday), then continue on. Trolley also truly showed the difference between the worlds during the week when the three youngest puppet characters (Daniel Striped Tiger, Prince Tuesday, and Ana Platypus) prepared for and went to school for the first time, as it played the [[school bus]]. When in Mister Rogers' house, it simply had two pieces of yellow construction paper shaped and drawn like the profile of a school bus stuck to its sides, but in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, it had a chassis on it that made it look like a school bus.

The series featured "Picture Picture", a [[Video projector|rear-projection]] motion picture and slide projector, whose screen was encased with a picture frame. In early episodes, Picture Picture would show various films or slides at Mister Rogers' command; after the material was presented, Mister Rogers would thank Picture Picture, to which it would return a "You're Welcome" on its screen. After 1970, Picture Picture no longer operated magically, becoming merely a projector; Mister Rogers would insert a film, slides or videotape through a slot on the side, then show the material using a wired remote control (slides were viewed on Picture Picture; films and video were faded in to the clip). When Picture Picture was not used, a different painting would be displayed on its screen. Often it would display the words "Hello" or "Hi" at the opening.

The series was also notable for its use of [[jazz]]-inspired music, mostly arranged and performed by [[Johnny Costa]], until Costa's death in 1996, when he was succeeded by Michael Moricz for the remainder of the series. The music was unique in its simplicity and flow that blended with the series' sketches and features. The music was usually played live during taping. Lyrics and melodies were written and sung by Rogers, who created more than 200 original songs.