Mister Rogers' Neighborhood/Heartwarming

For all intents and purposes, Fred Rogers was a walking Crowning Moment of Heartwarming...

• Here he is defending PBS, him accepting his Lifetime Award and him saying goodbye All good for rewatching whenever your faith in humanity is waning.
• When his car was stolen, it was immediately returned when they realized whose it was, with a fresh coat of wax and a note of apology attached. Possibly.
• While on a packed subway going home, someone recognized him and everyone started to sing his theme song.
• The crowning Heartwarming Moment, though, would have to be the story this former employee relates. Many of the men working for Mr. Rogers would make fun of him behind his back for being too soft and the like - but in private, they would sneak into where he was rehearsing and privately ask for personal advice ranging from impotence to marital troubles... all while talking to his puppets, at that. On top of that, he never showed any sign of having had those conversations with them, as a way to respect their privacy.
• Here's a whole list of Heartwarming Moments for Mr. Rogers. This is guaranteed to make you feel a little bit better about humanity.
• Every. Freaking. Episode.
• Let's just be honest here... the man's entire life is one of these.
• In this article for Guideposts, Mr. Rogers explains the origins of his Catch Phrase, "You made this day a special day just by being yourself." His grandfather said it to him word-for-word when he was eight, and Fred remembered it all his life. So when he got a job in children's TV, he wanted "to offer children the same kind of reassurance, encouragement and sense of self-worth." I'd say he succeeded.
• Lady Aberlin's entire relationship with Daniel.
• A story widely told is that a fundamentalist priest/pastor/whatever called on Mr. Rogers to castigate a nearby group of homosexuals. Without missing a beat, Rogers turned to said people and said "God loves you just the way you are."
  • He was an ordained Presbyterian minister (although he didn't preach--after his ordination, he was charged with continuing his television work) and belonged to a More Light congregation, a movement within the church dedicated to greater inclusion and participation of LGBT persons.

---

Back to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood