In 1968, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” first aired on Pittsburgh’s WQED; the half-hour long educational children’s show quickly gained traction, and by the next year, PBS came calling.
Over the course of 30 years, millions tuned in for the soft-spoken Presbyterian minister’s comforting, authentic demeanor, field trips to places like a crayon factory and behind-the-scenes sets of “The Incredible Hulk,” and life lessons from puppets like King Friday, Daniel Tiger and Lady Elaine Fairchilde. They learned, from Mister Rogers, how to navigate their feelings — especially the less-than-happy ones — as the show gently navigated issues like death, divorce, racism and war.
Now, “Misters’ Rogers Neighborhood” is as synonymous with PBS as its creator is beloved by the generations of children who, in many ways, he helped raise. Rogers’ legacy continues to this day, more than 20 years after his passing, with people like Paul Siefken carrying the torch.
“People think of Mr. Rogers as a nice guy in a sweater,” Siefken told Forbes in 2017 shortly after he began his work as president and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions, where he has worked since 2013. “.. (But) think about a man who wrote every episode, composed the music, performed as the star, was the puppeteer and also had early childhood development in mind. This was a talented, talented, talented producer of children’s television. He just chose to bring that talent to educational children’s media. And so when we expand the neighborhood, these are all the people who are remarkable talents who absolutely bring their talents forward to help children understand their world better and that’s a tremendous way to build on the legacy of Fred Rogers.”
During his tenure, Siefken has assembled a world-class, mission-driven leadership team that is committed to building on Rogers’ legacy by introducing new productions and expanding the reach of their impact by collaborating with like-minded partners in both production and distribution.
He’ll speak at 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater as part of the Chautauqua Lecture Series and its Week Nine theme “Rising Together: Our Century of Creativity and Collaboration,” reflecting on how to best create the appropriate social, cultural and political infrastructure and conditions to encourage the next generations of global citizens to rise and thrive together.
Before joining Fred Rogers Productions in 2013, Siefken spent nearly 10 years at PBS, most recently as director of children’s programming, where he managed the development of numerous PBS KIDS series, including “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That,” “Sid the Science Kid,” “WordGirl,” “Wild Kratts,” “Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman” and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”
At FRP, Siefken has spearheaded major engagement initiatives for the company award-winning series, which include “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” — an off-shoot of the original “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” — and “Through the Woods,” a series of animated shorts created in partnership with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In “Through the Woods,” producers use self-guided play to teach kids the power of loving relationships and support their confidence and sense of self — not unlike Rogers’ original approach that made him a household name.
“These are some of the life skills children need to be ready to enter the school environment,” Siefken told Forbes. “They are the same qualities that employers look for in hiring an employee — works well with others, a self-starter, responsible. Our programming focuses on social and emotional life skills that will help children their entire lives. Those goals haven’t changed since ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.’ The new programming focuses on the same areas with more contemporary characters.”
