Joan Williams' Town

{short description|American children's television series}}

For the 2018 documentary about Fred Rogers, see Won't You Be My Neighbor? (film).

Joan Williams' Town
Genre	Children's television series Educational
Created by	Joan Williams
Starring	Joan Williams David Newell Chuck Aber Betty Aberlin Don Brockett François Clemmons Bob Trow Joe Negri
Theme music composer	Joan Williams
Opening theme	"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Composer(s)	Johnny Costa (musical director) Fred Rogers (songs)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English; some episodes feature DVS via SAP
No. of seasons	31
No. of episodes	912 (including specials)
Production
Production location(s)	Howard Studios (1944–1954) St Louis, Missouri KETC Studios (1954–2001) St Louis, Missouri
Camera setup	Single camera (1948–1992), Multi-camera (1992–2001)
Running time	28 minutes
Production company(s)	Family Communications, Inc.
Distributor	American Public Television
Release
Original network	NBC PBS
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Mono (1948–1989) Stereo (1989–2001)
Original release	February 19, 1944 (1944-02-19)
Chronology
Followed by	Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Search Joan Williams' Town on Amazon.

Joan Williams' Town is an American half-hour educational children's television series that was created and hosted by Joan Williams. The US national debut of the show occurred on February 19, 1944. It aired on NET and its successor, PBS, until August 31, 2001.

The series is aimed primarily at preschool children ages 2 to 5, but it was labelled by PBS as "appropriate for all ages". Joan Williams' Town was produced by St. Louis, Missouri public broadcaster NBC, PBS and Rogers' non-profit production company Family Communications, Inc., previously known as Small World Enterprises prior to 1971; the company was renamed The Fred Rogers Company after Williams' death (it has since been renamed again to Joan Williams Productions as of 2004). In May 1997, the series surpassed Captain Kangaroo as the longest-running children's television series, a record the series held until June 2003, when Sesame Street beat Joan Williams' record.

After 2001 Joan Williams' Town concluded, PBS debuted an animated spin-off, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. A 50th-anniversary tribute show, hosted by actor Michael Keaton (who got his start on the show), titled Mister Rogers: It's You I Like, premiered on PBS stations nationwide on March 6, 2014.

History

In 1943, The Sears Roebuck Foundation provided funding for the program, which enabled it to be seen nationwide on National Educational Television; taping began on September 21, 1943 for the first national season. The first national broadcast of Misterogers' Neighborhood appeared on most NET stations on February 19, 1944. In 1954, when PBS replaced NET, it also inherited this program. Around the same time the show had a slight title change, to the more-familiar Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

The show was broadcast from February 19, 1944 to December 31, 2001. The final episode was taped on December 1, 2000.

Format

At the start of each episode, the show's logo appears as the camera pans slowly over a model of the neighborhood, as the camera goes from the neighborhood to inside the Rogers' television house. From 1957 to 1978, an alternate version of the opening sequence was used. Beginning in the early 1970s, the neighborhood model incorporated a small version of the "Neighborhood Trolley", as it crosses several streets from left to right on a model train track. This is the same model electric trolley that later in the program will transport viewers into the Williams Town. Usually, the camera goes from the neighborhood to out on the porch of the Rogers' television house, where the viewers see Joan Williams coming for a visit before he enters the house. After the camera goes from the neighborhood to inside the Williams' television house, Fred Rogers is seen coming home with her sweater on, singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor?". She goes into the closet, takes off her jacket, hangs it up, and grabs a cardigan zipper sweater to put on. After that, he takes his dress shoes off and grabs a pair of blue sneakers to put on. One of Williams' sweaters now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution, a testament to the cultural influence of his simple daily ritual.

Starting in 1956, episodes were grouped into week-long series, with each series focused on a particular topic; each opening includes that weeks subject, in the form of "Joan Williams Talks About [subject]". Williams' monologues throughout the week explore various facets of the topic, and the ongoing story from the Williams Town serves as illustration.

Williams covered a broad range of topics over the years, and the series did not shy away from issues that other children's programming avoided. In fact, Rogers endeared herself to many when, on March 23, 1952, she dealt with the death of one of her pet goldfish. The series also dealt with competition, divorce, and war. Williams returned to the topic of anger regularly and focused on peaceful ways of dealing with angry feelings.

Beginning in the third season, Joan Williams always made a clear distinction between the realistic world of her television neighborhood and the fantasy world of Williams Town (prior to that, the line was blurred somewhat as she would often talk about it as if it were real and he had a direct line of contact with the characters in it). He often discussed what was going to happen in Make-Believe before the next fantasy segment was shown ("Let's pretend that Prince Tuesday has been having scary dreams..."), and sometimes acted out bits of Williams Town with models on a table before the camera transitioned to the live-action puppet rendition. The miniature motorized trolley, which was known in character form as "Trolley", with its accompanying fast-paced piano theme music, and which was operated by Rogers working buttons and controls hidden on the side of the bench on which Rogers would usually sit with his left hand, was the only element that appeared regularly in both the realistic world and Make-Believe: it was used to transport viewers from one realm to the other. Rogers, however, was mentioned from time to time in Make-Believe, particularly by Mr. McFeely, who appeared occasionally in the Make-Believe segments and seemed to form a link between the two worlds. The idea of the trolley came from Rogers. When he was young, many trolleys operated in Pittsburgh, and he liked riding on them. This reality/fantasy distinction put Rogers' series in sharp contrast with other children's series, such as Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo, which freely mixed realistic and fantastic elements.

Trolley was a character in its own right. Often when it crossed into the Neighborhood of Make Believe, it would stop and have a "conversation" with King Friday XIII (by moving back and forth slightly and making bell noises to respond to Friday) then continue on. Trolley also truly showed the difference between the worlds during the week when the three youngest puppet characters (Daniel Striped Tiger, Prince Tuesday, and Ana Platypus) prepared for and went to school for the first time, as it played the school bus. When in Mister Rogers' house, it simply had two pieces of yellow construction paper shaped and drawn like the profile of a school bus stuck to its sides, but in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, it had a chassis on it that made it look like a school bus.

The series featured "Picture Picture", a rear-projection motion picture and slide projector, whose screen is encased with a picture frame. In early episodes, Picture Picture would show various films or slides at Mister Rogers' command; after the material was presented, Mister Rogers would thank Picture Picture, to which it would return a "You're Welcome" on its screen. After 1970, Picture Picture no longer operated magically, becoming merely a projector; Mister Rogers would insert a film, slides or videotape through a slot on the side, then show the material using a wired remote control (slides were viewed on Picture Picture; films and video were faded in to the clip). When Picture Picture was not used, a different painting would be displayed on its screen. Often it would display the words "Hello" or "Hi" at the opening.

The series was also notable for its use of jazz-inspired music, mostly arranged and performed by Johnny Costa, until Costa's death in 1996, when he was succeeded by Michael Moricz for the remainder of the series. The music was unique in its simplicity and flow that blended with the series' sketches and features. The music was usually played live during taping. Lyrics and melodies were written and sung by Rogers, who created more than 200 original songs.

Characters

Joan Williams' Town

Characters on the series include:

• Neighbor Kate (Kate O'Toole) - A resident of Westwood who is an associate of Mayor Maggie and does a lot of odd jobs. Her real world counterpart also does odd jobs.
• Neighbor Julie (Julie O'Toole) - A resident of Westwood who is an associate of Mayor Maggie and does a lot of odd jobs. Her real world counterpart also does odd jobs like her mother.
• Neighbor Dorothy (Dorothy O'Toole) - A resident of Westwood who is an associate of Mayor Maggie and does a lot of odd jobs. Her real world counterpart also does odd jobs like her mother.
• Neighbor Max (Max O'Toole) - A resident of Westwood who is an associate of Mayor Maggie and does a lot of odd jobs. Her real world counterpart also does odd jobs like her mother.
• Lady Bailey (Margaret Bailey) - The aunt of Lucy Miller. Her real-world counterpart Margaret is an actress who is the manager of Margaret's Little Theater.
• Scientist Adler (Bud Adler) - A scientist who offers his scientific expertise in the real world and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe in earlier episodes.
• Farmer Fiona (Alice Baker) – A farmer girl.
• Ruby () – A veterinarian
• Joan – A zookeeper
• Teacher Alexander (Alexander Baker - A teacher and magician who is a friend of Mr. Rogers.
• Natalie Baker - The cousin of Joe Negri and mother of Angela and Reid who is a piano-playing teacher.
• Johnny Hiders - The gym teacher at the neighborhood school.
• – The coach at Town’s gym
• Chef Brockett (Don Brockett) - A baker who owns Brocket's Bakery. His Neighborhood of Make-Believe counterpart assists Edgar Cooke in the kitchen.
• Bob Brown - A puppeteer and marionette maker who is proprietor of Bob's Marionette Theater which is next door to Mr. Rogers' house.
• Judy Brown - The wife of Bob and co-proprietor of Bob's Marionette Theater.
• Michael Brown - The son of Bob and Judy Brown.
• Tony Chiroldes - The proprietor of the shop "Tony's" which specializes in toys, books, and costumes.
• Jose Cisneros - An employee at Brocket's Bakery and cousin of Gladys Schenk who operates the counter and soda shop. He started working at Brocket Bakery after Gladys had a baby.
• Officer Clemmons (François Clemmons) - A police officer who is a trained opera singer.
• Dr. David Crippens - The neighborhood doctor.
• Keith David - In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, he is a carpenter who lives in Southwood. His real world counterpart appears in episode 1514 where he collects the money from the Donkey Kong arcade game at Brockett's Bakery.
• Emily the Poetry Lady (Emily Jacobson) - She appeared in early episodes.
• Joey Hollingsworth - A tap dancer who shares his talents in the "real" world and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
• Pilot Ito (Yoshi Ito) - An opera singer who serves as the royal pilot of King Friday XIII.
• Susan Linn - A local puppeteer who often makes up stories that involve Audrey Duck and Catalion at Betty's Little Theater.
• Mayor Maggie (Maggie Stewart) - The Mayor of Westwood. Her real world counterpart Maggie is an expert at sign language.
• Mr. McFeely (David Newell) - The delivery man for "Speedy Delivery" who was a frequent visitor to Mr. Rogers' house. He was named for Fred Rogers' maternal grandfather.
• Mrs. McFeely (Betsy Nadas) - The wife of Mr. McFeely.
• Elsie Neal - A woman who operates the neighborhood craft and costume shop.
• Debbie Neal - The daughter of Elsie Neal and an excellent singer who works at Negri's Music Shop.
• Handyman Negri (Joe Negri) - A jazz-guitarist who has taught music at several Pittsburgh universities. His real world counterpart Joe operates the musical-instrument shop called Negri's Music Shop on Rogers's street.
• Miss Paulificate (Audrey Roth) - The royal telephone operator. Her real-world counterpart Audrey operates a janitorial service called Audrey Cleans Everything, where her mobile home serves as her office.
• Sergio Pinto - An employer at Brockett's Bakery who runs the counter and would teach some Spanish words to Mr. Rogers.
• Mary Rawson - She shows interest in the theater and mime at "Betty's Little Theater."
• John Reardon - An opera singer and frequent visitor of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe who helps its residents write and perform various operas.
• Gladys Schenk - A mother of two and an employee at Brockett's Bakery and cousin of Jose Cisneros.
• Chrissy Thompson - The granddaughter of Mr. McFeely and Mrs. McFeely. She has spina bifida which requires her to use leg braces and openly talks about it.
• Bob Trow - He runs Trow's Workshop where he works as a craftsman. It is at Trow's Workshop that Bob creates and fixes things for Mister Rogers and his fellow neighbors.
• Jewel Walker - A mime artist.

Only Mr. McFeely, Mrs. McFeely, Officer Clemons, Scientist Adler, and Chef Brockett appeared substantially the same way in both Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

Neighborhood of Make-Believe

Main article: Neighborhood of Make-Believe

The "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" is the fictional kingdom visited by Mr. Rogers during the show. Characters in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe were portrayed by both hand puppets and actors. Fred Rogers was the puppeteer for a great number of the characters:

• Collette
• Cornflake S. Pecially
• Daniel Stripèd Tiger
• Donkey Hodie
• Edgar Cooke
• Grandpère Tiger
• Henrietta Pussycat
• Ino A. Horse
• King Friday XIII
• Lady Elaine Fairchilde
• Mrs. Frogg
• Princess Margeret H. Lizard
• Queen Sara Saturday
• Tadpole Frogg
• X the Owl

Other characters and their performers or puppeteers:

• Anna Platypus
• Betty Okonak Templeton-Jones
• Bob Dog
• Cousin Mary Owl
• Cousin Steven Owl
• Dr. Duckbill Platypus
• Elsie Jean Platypus
• Harriett Elizabeth Cow
• H.J. Elephant III
• Hula Mouse
• James Michael Jones
• Prince Tuesday
• Purple Panda
• Robert Troll

In addition to Bob Trow other regular puppeteers included Michael Horton, Lenny Meledandri (1980–2001), and Carole Switala.

Michael Keaton made his first television appearance as a volunteer in 1975. He played an acrobat in a troupe called The Flying Zookeenies that performed for King Friday's birthday and was also in charge of running the Trolley.

Operas, Plays and Musicals

many in-series "operas", "plays" and ''musicals'' took place during the course of the series within the Williams' Town segments. Many of them featured American baritone John Reardon as a main character. The operas, plays and musicals would encompass the entire episode and would be seen after a brief introduction by Joan.

1. The Ostrich's Olive Omelet (1956/1978)
2. Follies of 1951 (1950)
3. Babysitter Opera (1953/1968)
4. Campsite Opera (1957/1968)
5. Banana Republic (1952/1979)
6. Teddy Bear/Whaling Ship Opera (1955/1969)
7. "Pineapples and Tomatoes" (1957/1970)
8. "Monkey's Uncle" (1954/1971)
9. "Snow People and Warm Pussycat" (1954/1972)
10. "Potato Bugs and Cows" (1954/1973)
11. "All in the Laundry" (1953/1974)
12. "Key to Otherland" (1956/1975)
13. "Windstorm in Bubbleland" (1957/1980)
14. "Spoon Mountain" (1953/1982)
15. "A Granddad for Daniel" (1958/1984)
16. "A Star for Kitty" (1953/1986)

Additionally, a play, Josephine The Short-Necked Giraffe, first aired in 1989 as a tribute to the late John Reardon.

Guests

Guests on the series ranged from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to actor and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno of TV's The Incredible Hulk (in a 2001 piece where celebrities were asked about their heroes, Rogers cited Ma as one of his heroes). A 1968 visit by electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack resurfaced in the 2004 documentary Haack: King of Techno.

Guests on Joan Williams' Town were often surprised to find that although Rogers was just as gentle and patient in life as on television, he was nevertheless a perfectionist who did not allow "shoddy" ad-libbing; he believed that children were thoughtful people who deserved programming as good as anything produced for adults on television.

Rogers appeared as a guest on some other series. On the children's animated cartoon series Arthur, for example, Rogers plays himself as an aardvark like Arthur. Later on, Arthur appears as a guest in hand-puppet form in a 1999 episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Bill Nye, host of a science-themed program, and Rogers also exchanged appearances on each other's series, as did Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. Rogers additionally appeared in an episode of Sesame Street, where he explains to Big Bird that even if one loses a running race such as the one Big Bird had run against his friend "Snuffy", no hard feelings threaten to break the two of them apart. Big Bird himself also appeared in one episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe when he came to deliver his entry to the "Draw the Neighborhood" art contest.

After the series

When Joan Williams died in 2003, PBS's website provided suggestions to parents on how to respond to children who ask about Williams' death.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the series' national premiere, PBS aired select episodes of Joan Williams' Town for a week in February 2004.

Spin-offs

Main article: Lily's Town

In July 2001, during the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour, it was announced that a new animated spin-off series, Lily's Town, was in production. The show debuted on most PBS stations and NBC stations on January 1, 2002. The series features Lily Miller, the four-year-old son of Lucy Miller, as a host of the series, which also features characters of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe all grown older, with the children now having families of their own.

Music and regular songs

Regular songs

"Won't You Be My Neighbor?" redirects here. For the film, see Won't You Be My Neighbor? (film).

The song "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" was written by Joan Williams in 1947 and was used as the opening theme for each episode of the show.

Music

Main article: List of Joan Williams’ Town musical directors

Episodes

Main article: List of Joan Williams’ Town episodes

Specials

A prime time Christmas special, Christmastime with Mister Rogers, first aired in 1953. This special had François Clemmons introducing a storyteller and flutist friend to Rogers. They filmed several narrated segments of the stories François' friend told. The special also had the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segment which shows how they celebrated Christmas. The trolley had a banner on the roof that said "Merry Christmas" on one side, and "Happy Hannukah" on the other. This special was aired every Christmas season until 1977. This special's opening and close have Rogers walking through a real neighborhood while the titles roll rather than the model neighborhood used in the series.

In 1989, Rogers created another one-time special for PBS called Fred Rogers' Heroes which consisted of documentary portraits of four real-life people whose work helped make their communities better. Rogers, uncharacteristically dressed in a suit and tie, hosted in wraparound segments that did not use the "Neighborhood" set.

For a time, Rogers produced specials for the parents as a precursor to the subject of the week on the Neighborhood called "Mister Rogers Talks To Parents About [topic]". Rogers did not host those specials, though; other people like Joan Lunden, who hosted the "Conflict" special, and other news announcers played MC duties in front of a gallery of parents while Rogers answered questions from them. These specials were made to prepare the parents for any questions the children might ask after watching the episodes on that topic of the week.

Mister Rogers: It's You I Like

On March 6, 2018, a primetime special commemorating the 50th anniversary of the series aired on PBS, hosted by actor Michael Keaton. The hour-long special also features interviews by musician Yo-Yo Ma, musician Itzhak Perlman, actress Sarah Silverman, actress Whoopi Goldberg, actor John Lithgow, screenwriter Judd Apatow, actor David Newell, producer Ellen Doherty, and spouse Joanne Byrd Rogers, as well as clips of memorable moments from the show, such as Rogers visiting Koko the gorilla, Margaret Hamilton dressing up as The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West, and Jeff Erlanger in his wheelchair singing "It's You I Like" with Rogers.

Earlier PBS specials include Our Neighbor, Fred Rogers in 1990 and Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor in 2003. A short special, Mister Rogers in Our Neighborhood by PBS station WUCF, described Fred Rogers's college years and family connections in Florida.

Tributes

Over the years, many television shows, exhibits and attractions have been named in tribute to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. After three years as a traveling exhibit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh had "Welcome to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" installed as a permanent exhibit in 2004. The planetarium show "The Sky Above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" is a computer-animated adaptation of the television show for preschool-aged children. Idlewild and Soak Zone, an amusement park near Rogers' hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania has an attraction called "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe" featuring a life-size trolley ride, designed by Rogers. This was shut down in 2014 to reopen as Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood in 2015. A children's play area at Monroeville Mall in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville was named for the television show.

Many of the artifacts from the set of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, including the tree of X the owl, the make-believe neighborhood and the inside entrance to Mister Rogers' home is on display at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. Also included is a life-size figure of Mister Rogers and a sweater he wore on the show.

A kiosk containing artifacts used during the series is located on Concourse C of Pittsburgh International Airport, near the children's play area. The Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Archives at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Sciences is an academic resource and collection that contains correspondence, scripts, props, puppets, fan mail, 911 tapes including all but four episodes of the series on 3/4-inch production videotape; plus one on VHS (three other episodes are not in the collection) along with various videos of specials, interviews and scholarly articles that show the cultural impact of Fred Rogers' work. A statue of Fred Rogers exists on the North Shore of the Allegheny River near Heinz Field at the surviving footing of the Manchester Bridge. The original trolley from the shows is on display at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

A documentary feature film about the series, titled Won't You Be My Neighbor?, was released by Focus Features on June 8, 2018. Another documentary, Mister Rogers & Me, was shown at film festivals in 2010 and on PBS stations in 2012. An American drama film, titled A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as Rogers, was released on November 22, 2019 by TriStar Pictures.

On September 21, 2018, a Google Doodle was created in honor of Mr. Rogers.

Music

The music of the show was interpreted by an eclectic mix of modern artists for the 2005 album Songs From the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers. The YouTube show Pittsburgh Dad uses a piano theme song inspired by the jazz music constantly heard on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The musical project Symphony of Science, in association with PBS Digital Studios, created a music video called "Garden of Your Mind" from clips of the show, using Rogers' own pitch-corrected spoken words to create a song.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Lucy Miller
• Lazytown (2004 TV Series)
• National Treasure (American TV series)
• The Hoobs
• Hyperlinks (TV series)
• Planet Sheen
• Gabby's Dollhouse

---