It's a beautiful day to talk about Mister Rogers

Why everyone is so enamored again with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Fred Rogers.
(Image credit: H. Mark Weidman Photography / Alamy Stock Photo)

It's a beautiful day to talk about Mister Rogers. Fifteen years after the legendary host of children's TV passed away, the entertainment world is being swept up in Fred Rogers revivalism.

First, there's director Morgan Neville's upcoming documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, which is out in theaters on June 8 but has already been making the rounds at film festivals. People who've seen it feel obliged to warn those who haven't that there will be tears. Sniffles at first. Then swells. Then full, lurching sobs. It's not even that Neville is trying to keep audiences crying from start to finish. For that, blame the doc's subject, who's so preternaturally kind that his very presence reduces even the most hardened viewers to a puddle.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Noel Murray

Noel Murray is a freelance writer, living in Arkansas with his wife and two kids. He was one of the co-founders of the late, lamented movie/culture website The Dissolve, and his articles about film, TV, music, and comics currently appear regularly in The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, Vulture, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.