What Mr. Rogers' "Neighborhood" Was Really Like
I got this wonderful little bit about what it was like to work on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as a response to this tweet from me:
I just fell in love with Mr. Rogers. https://t.co/GUhO9CYyke
— Amy Alkon (@amyalkon) March 31, 2017
Which was a response to this set of tweets:
@HonkyTonkJew Have a nice day! ๐ ๐ pic.twitter.com/Bth4og5Hyq
— Heather Champion (@winningatmylife) March 31, 2017
And regarding the show, Daniel Kellison interviews Michael Keaton for Grantland:
Daniel: You worked on Mister Rogers back in 1975, right? What was he like?Michael: Yeah. He was funny, just deceptively funny. So authentic, but also so unusual. I worked on the crew at the local PBS station in Pittsburgh. I was making like $2.25 an hour or something. When you work there, you kind of do everything. And when you did his show, you did everything from pull cable for the cameras, to running the trolley, to dressing up in the black-and-white panda suit for 25 bucks.2
Daniel: Really?
Michael: What people don't realize is what his crew looked like -- they almost all had hair down to their lower backs, one guy just dripped with patchouli and marijuana smoke, worse than Tom Petty. But everyone was really funny and would do these insane things -- and Fred just loved them. And they loved him back.
Daniel: So he'd never just lose his shit and scream at a gaffer for getting in the shot?
Michael: No! In fact, one time, my friend Nicky Tallo, who was this really funny, big Italian kid who was his floor manager -- and I don't think I'm telling tales out of school when I say generally Nick was feeling the effects of smoking dope the night before -- or maybe even that morning ...
Daniel: It was a different era ...
Michael: So one day, we were taping, and Fred comes in, and starts singing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day ... " puts the shoes down here, goes to hang up the sweater in the closet. And he's singing, and he opens the door -- and there's his floor manager, Nick, this big guy with his long goatee, pierced ears, hair all over the place, totally nude, just standing there naked in the closet. Well, Fred just fell down; it was the most hysterical thing you've ever seen. He was totally cool.
P.S. I used to see Michael Keaton and his dog (doggies?) at my fave cafe where I go to write (not the place mentioned) -- though I haven't been there much over the past two years, while this book I've been writing was trying to kill me.
Keaton seems like a really low-key, sweetheart of a guy. Zero moviestar attitude. In fact, he comes off as a quiet guy who looks just like Michael Keaton.
I haven't eaten croissants for years, but back when I did, that Amelia's place, on Main Street in Santa Monica, had amazing ones. The chocolate ones. If you're having your last meal before they execute you for saying something un-PC, these things are worth considering.
And finally, on another semi-related note (to what a nice guy Mr. Rogers was and the sort of stuff he talked about on the show), here's my TED talk: "The surprising self-interest in being kind to strangers."
via @cognitivicta
This reminds me of an excellent essay about Mr. Rogers from 2014. It's no wonder people found him unusual. Most folks just aren't used to that level of niceness.
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/interviews/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/
Jay Hall at April 1, 2017 5:29 AM
Twenty-five years ago, this was after Batman, I used to see Keaton buying croissants at the bakery that was here. He used to double-park*, and people would honk... He was a heathen savage, less man than beast.
Obviously, the secret to tremendous show-business success is complete carbohydrates.
Crid at April 1, 2017 5:44 AM
I meant to type complex carbohydrates, but by all means, go nuts and power through.
Crid at April 1, 2017 5:45 AM
Well, people change! Or somebody has a bad fucking day and acts like an asshole.
Amy Alkon at April 1, 2017 8:00 AM
Naw, it wasn't that big a deal... It was just neat to see that even if you were starring in most profitable action franchise in Hollywood, people were still going to honk at your ass if you double-parked your SUV in Brentwood.
Crid at April 1, 2017 1:27 PM
Fred Rogers was a big free-speech advocate. When batshit-crazy Tipper Gore and her Parents' Music Resource Council were running around Washington in the early '80s trying to convince people that the government should be allowed to censor music, Mr. Rogers went to Congress to testify against it.
Cousin Dave at April 3, 2017 6:49 AM
Fred Rogers was the best man at the 1958 wedding of his college friend Robert Newton Peck, author of "A Day No Pigs Would Die." (He's now 89.)
Some interesting (and clashing?) comments from Peck:
"Fred and I don't see eye-to-eye on anything. You name it, we differ on it. Yet we've always been able to disagree without becoming disagreeable. Pals forever. That is America."
"Never buy anything, including religion, from someone who telephones you. Whenever one of these pesky people call, politely ask him, or her, to hang on because there's someone knocking at your door. Five minutes later, hang up the phone."
"One tiny birth-control pill, properly used, accomplishes more to preserve our beautiful planet than ten social workers or twenty environmentalists."
"Authors, old buildings, and retired hookers have one thing in common. If they manage to stand up long enough, they become quaint."
"For some reason, even though I'm a jingo patriot, I just can't abide The Star Spangled Banner. 'Rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air" isn't what our Republic is all about. Besides, at ball games, hardly anyone sings it, and worse, we all stand there thoroughly bored, until it's over."
"The high point of my life would be for me to visit a high school and meet a principal who is not a former football coach."
"Teachers, please hug your kids. Some of them have never been lovingly touched. Only slapped. Miss Kelly hugged Soup and me. So hug even the pupil who is defiant. Why? It is the rule-breaker who will someday explore the stars."
"My favorite conversational ploy at a stand-up cocktail party is to corner a liberal and torture it."
"As world population rises, and it is doing just that at a frightening rate, ask yourself these pivotal questions: Is the air cleaner? Fresh water more pure? Oceans more free of contaminates? Land displaying less litter? Fewer traffic jams? Less road rage? Will there be fewer crimes? Will we hear less noise pollution? More habitat room for animals? Will there be fewer wars? The common solution is merely common sense. As we reduce the number of human beings, all of the above problems (plus numerous others, such as our future's twenty-digit telephone dialing) will gradually abate."
lenona at April 3, 2017 2:48 PM
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