00:00And finally tonight, a farewell to our friend, Mr. Rogers, who died today of stomach cancer at age 74.
00:14It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Would you be mine?
00:22Generations of children have been welcomed into the neighborhood by the gentle, soft-spoken Fred Rogers.
00:28Would you be mine? Would you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?
00:34The ordained Presbyterian minister turned to television in 1954.
00:38He created a puppet show called The Children's Corner on local Pittsburgh television.
00:43My name is Mr. Rogers.
00:45Rogers went on camera in 1963, starring in his own 15-minute program airing on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
00:53In 1968, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood came to U.S. public television.
01:01It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood.
01:04The program lacked the flashy graphics and super-powered cartoon figures common to children's programming.
01:10Instead, Rogers talked to children in respectful, reassuring tones about tough subjects like death and divorce.
01:18I know a little girl and a little boy whose mother and father got a divorce, and those children cried and cried.
01:28But we feel on the neighborhood that whatever is mentionable is much more manageable.
01:34And so, for children to be able to see us dealing with such things as the death of a pet or the trauma of living through a divorce,
01:48these are all things that are allowed to be talked about and allowed to be felt.
01:57When you see scary television, you can turn it off.
02:02So, let's see what more they make of it now in the neighborhood of Maple Leaf.
02:07Okay, Charlie.
02:08Rogers composed some of his songs, worked the puppets, and did some of the voices himself.
02:13It's you, I like you.
02:16Always, he urged children to love themselves and others.
02:20Over the years, the program won four Emmys, two Peabody's, and last year, President Bush presented Rogers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
02:29the nation's highest civilian honor.
02:32Four years ago today, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
02:37In his acceptance speech, he talked about the meaning of his nearly five decades in television.
02:43Fame is a four-letter word.
02:48And like tape or Zoom or face or pain or life or love, what ultimately matters is what we do with it.
03:01I feel that those of us in television are chosen to be servants.
03:06It doesn't matter what our particular job, we are chosen to help meet the deeper needs of those who watch and listen, day and night.
03:19We all have only one life to live on Earth.
03:22And through television, we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative, imaginative ways.
03:37Rogers taped his last episode in December 2000, but the program will continue in reruns.
03:43Every show concludes on a positive note.
03:46Here's how today's ended.
03:48I really like being with you.
03:51You make my day such a special day.
03:54By just your being yourself.
03:57I'll be back next time.
03:59Bye-bye.
