--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but…" description: "\"Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but he was not Captain Kangaroo or Officer Joe Bolton. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister who was so appall..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d6/tom-junod-5058_1950s_fred-rogers-was-a-children-s-tv-host-but_1944689.jpg" --- # Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but he was not… ![“Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but he was not Captain Kangaroo or Officer Joe Bolton. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister who was so appalled by what he saw on 1950s television--adults trying to entertain children by throwing pies in each other's faces - that he joined the medium as a…” quote by Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d6/tom-junod-5058_1950s_fred-rogers-was-a-children-s-tv-host-but_1944689.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d6/tom-junod-5058_1950s_fred-rogers-was-a-children-s-tv-host-but_1944689.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d6/tom-junod-5058_1950s_fred-rogers-was-a-children-s-tv-host-but_1944689.jpg) > “Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but he was not Captain Kangaroo or Officer Joe Bolton. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister who was so appalled by what he saw on 1950s television--adults trying to entertain children by throwing pies in each other's faces - that he joined the medium as a reformer.” [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fred Rogers used his TV platform to promote kindness and moral values, countering the crude entertainment of his era. **In simple terms:** He chose TV to teach good behavior. Key Takeaway Use media to uplift, not degrade. Themes kindness media responsibility morality childhood reform Mood reflective inspirational Type educational commentary When to use this quote - parenting - education - television programming - community outreach Key Concepts public broadcasting ethical influence cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance fun and values in media? - What responsibility do creators have to children? A Different Perspective Some argue entertainment must be fun, not moralizing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1950s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1950s-413/) [1950S Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/1950s-television-3119860/) [Captain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captain/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children Tv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-tv-517238/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fred-rogers/) [Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogers/) [Rogers Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rogers-children-3119859/) [Saw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [In the 1950s, when there was nothing else on television but the United Nations, I would sit down and imitate every darned thing they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-doohan/in-the-1950s-when-there-was-nothing-else-on-television-but-the-united/) [James Doohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-doohan/) > [I met fred rogers in 1998, when 'Esquire' assigned me a story about him for a special issue on American heroes. I last spoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-met-fred-rogers-in-1998-when-esquire-assigned-me-a-story-about-him/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [His name was Fred Rogers. He came home to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, once upon a time, and his parents, because they were wealthy, had bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/his-name-was-fred-rogers-he-came-home-to-latrobe-pennsylvania-once/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [“By placing Rogers in context, then, we can finally see that his compassion was not a vague feeling of warmth and fuzziness, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-g-long/by-placing-rogers-in-context-then-we-can-finally-see-that-his/) [Michael G. Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-g-long/) > [“Fred Rogers richly deserves a place in the pantheon of pacifists who tried to shake the foundations of society and culture. To the day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-g-long/fred-rogers-richly-deserves-a-place-in-the-pantheon-of-pacifists-who/) [Michael G. Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-g-long/) > [“I don't mean to sound boastful, but he was my icon before he was anyone else's. Being Mrs. Fred Rogers has been the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-rogers/i-don-t-mean-to-sound-boastful-but-he-was-my-icon-before-he-was/) [Joanne Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-rogers/) > [“life isn't about what you've done, but what you can do:-) --Fred Rogers to Tim”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-madigan/life-isn-t-about-what-you-ve-done-but-what-you-can-do-fred-rogers-to/) [Tim Madigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-madigan/) > [Once upon a time, a long time ago, a man took off his jacket and put on a sweater. Then he took off his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/once-upon-a-time-a-long-time-ago-a-man-took-off-his-jacket-and-put-on/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [Once upon a time, a man named Fred Rogers decided that he wanted to live in heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/once-upon-a-time-a-man-named-fred-rogers-decided-that-he-wanted-to/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I love doing children's TV. You get such extraordinarily positive feedback from your audience too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-armstrong/i-love-doing-children-s-tv-you-get-such-extraordinarily-positive/) [Alexander Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-armstrong/) > [In England, 'The Muppet Show' is very much seen as an English thing. So for us in the U.K., it is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bobin/in-england-the-muppet-show-is-very-much-seen-as-an-english-thing-so/) [James Bobin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bobin/) > [I have no idea how to become successful in children's tv programming today other than to say that whereever you find that rare animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jackson/i-have-no-idea-how-to-become-successful-in-children-s-tv-programming/) [William Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jackson/) > [There are not the same factual shows anymore - children's TV has become much more trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-ball/there-are-not-the-same-factual-shows-anymore-children-s-tv-has-become/) [Johnny Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-ball/) > [ When you do children's TV or one episode \[guest\] stuff, you have to listen, which is also a great thing to learn. But you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-paige/when-you-do-children-s-tv-or-one-episode-guest-stuff-you-have-to/) [Yasmin Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-paige/) > [The Muppet Show is very much seen as an English thing. So for us in the U.K. it is one of the treasures of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bobin/the-muppet-show-is-very-much-seen-as-an-english-thing-so-for-us-in/) [James Bobin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bobin/) ## More by Tom Junod > [Every artist can make art only from the materials at hand, and many of the child stars who try to mature into artists can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/every-artist-can-make-art-only-from-the-materials-at-hand-and-many-of/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I wasn't learning to sing because I thought I could; I was learning to sing because I knew I couldn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-wasn-t-learning-to-sing-because-i-thought-i-could-i-was-learning-to/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [We might accept pit bulls personally, but America still doesn't accept them institutionally, where it counts; indeed, apartment complexes and insurance companies are arrayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/we-might-accept-pit-bulls-personally-but-america-still-doesn-t-accept/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I collect songs because I want to control what I - what everybody within earshot - listens to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-collect-songs-because-i-want-to-control-what-i-what-everybody/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [Any child can tell you what Google does - Google gives you the answers. But Google doesn't, not really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/any-child-can-tell-you-what-google-does-google-gives-you-the-answers/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [My mother was not a country girl. She was a Brooklyn girl, born and raised in Flatbush, and then a Long Island girl, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/my-mother-was-not-a-country-girl-she-was-a-brooklyn-girl-born-and/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [That there is as yet no drug for immortality - or, for that matter, for muscle growth in the infirm - does not mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/that-there-is-as-yet-no-drug-for-immortality-or-for-that-matter-for/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I am not running for president, but I've always known if I ever did run for president - or local dogcatcher, for that matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-am-not-running-for-president-but-i-ve-always-known-if-i-ever-did/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [Josh Ozersky was a meat man. He knew meat, revered it, studied it, sang it, evangelized it, wrote about it, and, of course, ate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/josh-ozersky-was-a-meat-man-he-knew-meat-revered-it-studied-it-sang/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I was a bully in fifth and sixth grade. I wasn't one of the bullies - I wasn't strong or dominant enough to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-was-a-bully-in-fifth-and-sixth-grade-i-wasn-t-one-of-the-bullies-i/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I have about 25,000 songs on my computer and play them mostly on shuffle, which means that the songs I've played the most are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-have-about-25-000-songs-on-my-computer-and-play-them-mostly-on/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [Before the Beatles could give us 'The White Album', they had to achieve disorienting success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/before-the-beatles-could-give-us-the-white-album-they-had-to-achieve/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [Ask people who know him for a description of Bob Dylan outside the prerogatives of fame and the obligations of art, and they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/ask-people-who-know-him-for-a-description-of-bob-dylan-outside-the/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [I had heard a lot of stories about my father and celebrities, most of them from his own mouth. In his stories, famous women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/i-had-heard-a-lot-of-stories-about-my-father-and-celebrities-most-of/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) > [You learn a lot about America when you own a pit bull. You learn not just who likes your dog; you learn what kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-junod/you-learn-a-lot-about-america-when-you-own-a-pit-bull-you-learn-not/) [Tom Junod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) [Explore all 103 Tom Junod quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-junod/) ## More 1950s quotes > [Unless you're of a certain age, you may not know my name, but you can Google it - I was a pretty big movie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tab-hunter/unless-you-re-of-a-certain-age-you-may-not-know-my-name-but-you-can/) [Tab Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tab-hunter/) > [“The 1950s witnessed especially rapid expansion of electronic and electrical firms, of tobacco, soft drink, and food-processing companies, and of the chemical, plastics, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-patterson/the-1950s-witnessed-especially-rapid-expansion-of-electronic-and/) [James T. Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) > [In the late 1950s a major topic under discussion was whether Canada should acquire nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/in-the-late-1950s-a-major-topic-under-discussion-was-whether-canada/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [In the early 1950s, during the near avalanche of discoveries, rediscoveries, and redefinitions of subcellular components made possible by electron microscopy, those prospecting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-emil-palade/in-the-early-1950s-during-the-near-avalanche-of-discoveries/) [George Emil Palade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-emil-palade/) > [What we're most aware of in 'Eight-Legged Freaks' is how similar it is to other movies, a recombinant mutated species itself, the product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-mitchell/what-we-re-most-aware-of-in-eight-legged-freaks-is-how-similar-it-is/) [Elvis Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-mitchell/) > [I am a product of the 1950s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-jo-rupp/i-am-a-product-of-the-1950s/) [Debra Jo Rupp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-jo-rupp/) > [We had a very upwardly mobile economy, and that peaked around the 1950s when the typical middle-class American family consisted of a father with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schiff/we-had-a-very-upwardly-mobile-economy-and-that-peaked-around-the/) [Peter Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schiff/) > [“Nixon had sought the treatment of a psychiatrist throughout the 1950s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colapietro-roger-stone/nixon-had-sought-the-treatment-of-a-psychiatrist-throughout-the-1950s/) [Mike Colapietro Roger Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colapietro-roger-stone/) > [“Disneyland was one perfect answer. It provided, an almost sacred space where it is permissible and safe to let one's guard down, take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-le-mon/disneyland-was-one-perfect-answer-it-provided-an-almost-sacred-space/) [Leslie Le Mon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-le-mon/) > [“When they reached their ship, Ed gazed out at the bay. It was black. The sky was black, but the bay was even blacker.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-zlotchew/when-they-reached-their-ship-ed-gazed-out-at-the-bay-it-was-black-the/) [Clark Zlotchew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-zlotchew/) > [“In the 1950s at least less was expected of women. Now we're supposed to build a career, build a home, be the supermum that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/in-the-1950s-at-least-less-was-expected-of-women-now-we-re-supposed/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [The whole 1950s notion was find the right girl, get married, move to the suburbs and then hang out with the guys while she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/the-whole-1950s-notion-was-find-the-right-girl-get-married-move-to/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [I started with very tonal 19th-century music because I wanted to be a violinist as a child. So this was my first music, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krzysztof-penderecki/i-started-with-very-tonal-19th-century-music-because-i-wanted-to-be-a/) [Krzysztof Penderecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krzysztof-penderecki/) > [“The country is like a great sponge—it finally absorbs you. Eventually you will get malaria or you will get dysentery and whatever you do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/the-country-is-like-a-great-sponge-it-finally-absorbs-you-eventually/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [“Don't make a career out of underestimating me." — Claire de Haven”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/don-t-make-a-career-out-of-underestimating-me-claire-de-haven/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) [Browse all 123 1950s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1950s-413/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fred Rogers was a children's-TV host, but he was not Captain Kangaroo or Officer Joe Bolton. 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