PBS Announces Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Spinoff

Now a whole new generation of children will be exposed to Mister Rogers — and the joys of changing into a sweater and sneakers immediately after coming home. PBS is creating a new animated show called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, scheduled to debut in fall 2012. The show takes place in the “Neighborhood of Make Believe” and features the four-year-old son of Daniel Striped Tiger, as well as other pre-school aged children of the original inhabitants.

Thankfully, the show’s creators are trying to remain true to the spirit of the original show, so we won’t be subjected to a rapping, texting King Friday. Kevin Morrison, chief operating officer of The Fred Rogers Company, says they’re keeping some favorite elements of the old program, even if modern kids have no idea what’s going on:

“In research, the trolley has become a very big character with the kids we’ve tested this with,” Morrison said. “They’re 3 and 4 and have no clue what a trolley is but they like it and it plays a role in the Neighborhood.”