Before Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood came Misterogers on CBC
CBC Archives | Posted: June 20, 2018 9:03 PM | Last Updated: June 27, 2018
Beloved PBS host first had a children's show on CBC-TV in the early 1960s
A neighbourhood trolley, a cast of puppets, and a gentle host named Fred Rogers to lead the day's activities. Sound familiar?
Before these elements were part of a long-running U.S. program on PBS called Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood, they were the hallmarks of Misterogers, which aired on CBC-TV from 1961 to 1964.
Rogers, an ordained minister and holder of a bachelor's degree in music, first created a children's show called Children's Corner that aired for seven years in his hometown of Pittsburgh. A CBC press release in 1961 notes that Rogers "makes no attempt to hide himself or his lip movements as he talks for puppets in the TV screen."
Rogers' first puppet was a tiger named Daniel who proved so popular that Rogers created more puppets for his fantasy neighbourhood, eventually reaching 10 puppets. (Daniel S. Tiger's appeal was especially enduring; in 2012 he became the star of an animated children's series created by Fred Rogers Productions on PBS, which also airs on CBC.)
Among the puppeteers on Misterogers was a fellow American named Ernie Coombs, who went on to immigrate to Canada and host his own children's shows on CBC: first Butternut Square and then the long-running Mr. Dressup.