Classic Mister Rogers from the 60's and 70's now available for download and DVD

[Phillip]

I’ve always felt like the early success of Sesame Street went hand-in-hand with the early success of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Originally, in the late 60’s and early 70’s they were the only children’s programs on PBS (with The Electric Company to soon follow). Consequently, it’s fantastic that The Fred Rogers Company (formerly Family Communications) is releasing classic episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for download and on DVD.

Watch free previews of on-demand MRN episodes

Order beloved MRN episodes on DVD

It’s no doubt that Sesame Workshop is watching this situation closely. We can only hope that more classic Sesame Street episodes will be available for fans in the near future.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...on DVD!

Yes, there have already been some DVD releases of select episodes, but this is a pretty neat idea they have here.

Through Amazon.com's CreateSpace Manufacture-on-Demand deal, up to 100 episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood are available to get on DVD- 1 episode at a time. This sounds like a pretty good solution for a show that has literally thousands of episodes available. This way you can choose select favorite episodes to get on DVD- I'm thinking I wouldn't mind getting the first and last episodes, the September 11, 2001 special, and perhaps some select other classics I remember from the '80s and such. And definitely the episode where Big Bird visits!

This is a very cool neighborly thing for Amazon and The Fred Rogers Company to do! It also seems like a great idea for Sesame Workshop to take heed of. Why not try a similar approach for the thousands of Sesame Street episodes floating around out there? That would give fans a chance to select the episodes they want to own on DVD from the myriads of choices out there. (Though with Sesame Street, I think it might be nice to have the added option of choosing DVDs of select segments, songs, sketches and such.)

Anyway, just wanted to let all the Muppets fans out here know, most all of whom I'm sure are also fans of the classic Mister Rogers' Neighborhood! I love watching this show right alongside with Sesame Street. It's still the best ever. Mister Rogers is one of my Christian heroes who truly espoused St. Francis of Assisi's saying- "Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words." In fact, Tom Brokaw once said of him, "The real Mister Rogers never mentioned God on his show. He never had to."

That just speaks volumes because the ordained Presbyterian minister Mister Rogers definitely radiated God's love through his show which he viewed as his ministry and special calling.

If anyone is interested in reading more on him, I would recommend this incredible biography released a few years ago called "The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers".

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

This is a very cool neighborly thing for Amazon and The Fred Rogers Company to do! It also seems like a great idea for Sesame Workshop to take heed of. Why not try a similar approach for the thousands of Sesame Street episodes floating around out there? That would give fans a chance to select the episodes they want to own on DVD from the myriads of choices out there. (Though with Sesame Street, I think it might be nice to have the added option of choosing DVDs of select segments, songs, sketches and such.)

That's a terrible idea! Why? Because if they do that I'll probably go bankrupt, ha-ha-ha.

[Sarcasm of course, I would love for them to make a deal with Amazon to get MOD Sesame DVDs]

 

[Oscarfan]

And what's better is the Big Bird episode is among the ones getting released!

 

[mr3urious]

I hope the controversial "Conflict" episodes would be on there, too.

 

[Drtooth]

I hope they also plan on having the Wicked Witch of the West episode on there too. I always liked that one. Hope there are no rights complications.

 

[Phillip]

I hope they also plan on having the Wicked Witch of the West episode on there too. I always liked that one. Hope there are no rights complications.

Yes, the Margaret Hamilton episode was good and would be popular today since The Wizard of Oz is such an evergreen property. I haven't seen that for years.

I'd also love to see the episodes again where Lady Elaine turns the neighborhood upside down for the week. Does anyone remember those? I've also always like the episodes when Fred received the original make-believe models made by Bob Trow. The Mister Rogers Christmas special would also be at the top of my wishlist.

It's great to see the first week of shows from 1968 and some of the early operas now available on demand. The free previews are nice to watch for each episode espescially seeing how the show opens evolved over 30 years.

 

[minor muppetz]

I'd also love to see the episodes again where Lady Elaine turns the neighborhood upside down for the week. Does anyone remember those?

That sounds familiar to me, though I feel like such a thing only happened for a short scene.

I wonder, will this service only include one episode per DVD ordered, or if somebody were to order multiple episodes would they put all the episodes ordered (until they reach disc space lmit) on individual DVDs?

 

[minor muppetz]

Thinking about this has triggered a memory that I forgotten about: Were there VHS releases of the series in the 1980s/early-1990s? Because I feel like I've seen video copies of the show somewhere when I was a really young child.

 

[erniebert1234ss]

Even though I have been woefully remiss in coming here as of late, this is pretty spectacular news. Can't wait to see what they do next.

BJ