FAQ

In December of 2015 a video was released online of Mister Rogers talking about violence and how some people who are mentally ill or angry sometimes hurt others and even addresses the murder of John Lennon, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan and even the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. He then talks with schoolchildren as to why people hurt others and gets their thoughts on it. He then ends the episode or at least ends the video with one of his most infamous quotes. "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Always look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

It is unknown as to the episode it came from. Yet due to the short time duration of the video and the disclaimer given at the beginning of the episode in which Mister Rogers states that "The program is not for children to watch alone." Which is unusual for a children's show. One source states that it was aired in the evening as part of PBS Special Programing due to the nature of the content. So it was unlikely that it was part of an official episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and aired in the evening and maybe even had advertising earlier in the day so parents and children would be ready as Rogers' disclaimer is rather short and does not give any realistic time for parents to join in the middle of the episode.

The only evidence we have is a Youtube Video with three minutes of the episode and the main points of the episode addressed. It's not known if more exists or how it aired. It's likely it was aired on PBS in the evening and was in response to the rise in Violence in the 1980's. While Rogers has already released an episode on violence after Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated and even did a full week of episodes on War and Bombs "Conflict." This was the first time he got real and addressed why people hurt each other. A profound message for everyone in every generation.

No one has answered this question yet.

Yes. The week in question is "Conflict" (1521-1525). Of the 305 episodes produced from 1979 to 2001, this is the only week to no longer air, nor is it available for purchase on DVD or digital download. It last aired during the week of April 1-5, 1996. No official explanation was given for why it stopped airing or why it isn't available for purchase, but it's likely due to its strong subject matter of war. In it, King Friday discovers a strange piece that Corny is making for Southwood, and soon comes to the conclusion that they're building bombs, and thus commissions that bombs be built for the Neighborhood of Make Believe, just in case. It turns out the whole thing was a grievous misunderstanding, as the pieces were going to build a bridge. It's undoubtedly the darkest story on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which could be the reason why it was pulled from circulation.

An interesting trivia fact is that the episodes were released a week before the infamous ABC movie "The Day After" was released. While proven a coincidence years later. It was often thought the episodes were written as a response to the movie to help children cope with the idea of nuclear war and it's consequences as the film depicts a nuclear attack against the United States and was predicted to be the highest watched TV show at the time with many children viewing the film as well.