Old Friends ... New Friends is an American television documentary series created and hosted by Fred Rogers during his hiatus from producing Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Produced by Family Communications, Inc., it originally aired on PBS from April 15, 1978, to September 25, 1980.
An episode begins with Rogers walking into the WQED-TV production studio, greeting staff members, and then walking onto a living room set, where the main content of the episode begins. He would give introductory remarks, then the episode would segue to on-location interviews with the episode's guests conducted by Rogers. The interviews often take place at the guests' home or hometown. The episode would end with a transition to Rogers giving concluding remarks. This format varies in some episodes. Some feature Rogers giving a monologue about his own life. Some episodes focuses on subject matters and guests suggested by Rogers' viewers. The series also features items sent by Rogers' viewers, which include letters, family photos, and patches of fabric from their favorite old clothing.
Rogers said he created the series to address his observation that older generations were becoming increasingly isolated from younger generations. He said the series addresses the problem by having "each episode [being] based on the central philosophical assumption that older people are an integral and formative part of all our lives, an essential part of the human family." He said the series emphasizes the fact that "each one of us makes a difference in this world.", which he said was also emphasized in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He said the series addresses the problem by also focusing on a variety of guests: those who are young, old, unknown, or famous, and making viewers "understand enduring relationships and interactions between people of all generations."
Reception of the series was largely negative. Critics identified many problems, which includes Rogers' inability to let go of his childlike persona from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the series' failing to give viewers a comprehensive understanding of complex relationships between its guests, the series' lack of focus on dramatic moments, and Rogers' inability to coax his guests into revealing their feelings. A former colleague of Rogers said that Rogers was not as intimately connected with the series and experienced with running it as he was with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Some critics said the series has some exceptionally compelling episodes, which includes Rogers' ability to make one of his guests, Lee Strasberg, reveal his personal feelings, and the series' dramatic portrayal of William Wasson and two of his adopted orphans, which was described as having "an incredible sensitivity for the feelings of others."
Background
In 1968, television producer Fred Rogers created and hosted a half-hour educational children's television series called Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which used the concepts of early child development and emphasized young children's social and emotional needs. In 1975, after 455 color episodes (earlier ones were in black and white), Rogers stopped producing new episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Basil Cox, then manager of Family Communications, Inc., the company that produced the program, said the choice was made completely by Rogers and surprised his colleagues. Rogers chose to allow the Neighborhood'''s 455 color episodes to air as reruns rather than producing new episodes, stating that he felt that he had covered the salient points in child development and that the program's regularly changing audience made further production unnecessary and a waste of funding.
During his hiatus from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Rogers continued to work on other television programs, including Old Friends ... New Friends, a documentary series, I Am, I Can, I Will, a program for children with disabilities, and Let's Talk About ..., a series that covers stressful moments in family life, such as reassuring children going into the hospital. Rogers said they all centered around his primary concern for the family: "There are so many forces in society that split the family ... The family is essential to the growth of human beings and television can be an integrative force in the family rather than a divisive one."
By 1979, the second and last season of Old Friends ... New Friends with 13 episodes began production. That same year, the production of a new season of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, consisting of 15 episodes lasting three weeks, started.
Funding By 1977, three episodes of the first season were filmed and were to be shown to sponsorship candidates that summer. The Richard King Mellon Foundation gave $250,000 for the first three episodes and agreed to provide a total funding of $1 million under what Rogers called "a kind of matching grant", with the remaining required funding having to be received from other donors. The foundation donated an additional $250,000 to fund the remaining four episodes of the first season. The foundation later granted the $1 million total. The show was also funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. According to Maxwell King, a biographer of Rogers, the funding was insecure. This, along with low ratings, made the series' production unsustainable.
Format The format varies. The series includes "on-location documentary sequences, dramatized episodes and personal experiences submitted by members of the audience". Rogers asked viewers to send letters, "photographs of favorite people or places", patches of "fabric from a favorite old coat or blanket", old clothing, needlework, homemade objects, and poetry, which would become part of the set. The items were not returned to the senders. After the first three episodes were aired, Rogers said he would focus on subject matters and guests suggested by his viewers.
An episode starts with Rogers walking into the WQED-TV production studio. He greets various staff members by name and goes on a living room set, where he introduces the episode's guest(s).
Each episode has a runtime of about 30 minutes.
Name Rogers made friends with many people with different interests during his then 24-year career of producing children's television programs. Among them include Hoagy B. Carmichael (son of Hoagy Carmichael), Robert Frost, his barber Nick Failla, William Sloane Coffin, and filmmaker Betsy Nadas. Rogers said that being able to learn about their lives changed his own life. This inspired him to create an adult television program where he can portray their lives. By the time the production of Old Friends ... New Friends started, they became "old friends." During early production, the series was tentatively titled "Old Friends". Later in the production, Rogers met "new friends" who he also wanted viewers to learn from. This collection of "old friends" and "new friends" that were part of his program inspired Rogers to name the series as "Old Friends ... New Friends".
Purpose Rogers said that Old Friends ... New Friends was created to address the increasing isolation and division between younger and older generations, from his belief that the generations "have much to give each other", and that differences in age should not separate people. Clark Santee, who worked for Family Communications, Inc. during production of Old Friends ... New Friends agreed, stating that the young and elderly often face similar problems, including needing "reassurance that they have purpose".
Rogers states that in order to mend the age gap between the older and younger generations, "each episode will be based on the central philosophical assumption that older people are an integral and formative part of all our lives, an essential part of the human family." Rogers said Old Friends ... New Friends highlights the fact that "each one of us makes a difference in this world. That's the theme running through the whole series. But I think it runs through the Neighborhood series, too." He further explains: "Old Friends ... New Friends is a kind of television venture for me. And yet, the whole idea behind it is as old as Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I believe that each person makes a difference in this world. And I also believe that television can be made personal enough so that people can be helped to believe that they do make a difference."
The series focuses on the life experiences of guests, both famous and unknown, to show viewers what people can learn from others. Rogers said "It will not be all famous persons ... What I'd like to show is the value of experience ..." The program highlights the influence that one person has on another, their family, or a community, and how each benefits from that influence. Rogers said "In Old Friends ... New Friends, we are going to present people who know who they are and can communicate their self-worth and their activities and accomplishments to others. Perhaps the most important matter in any person's life—at any age—is having a satisfying relationship with caring and trusted friends ... What I want to achieve is to enlarge our viewers' circle of friends by helping them to understand enduring relationships and interactions between people of all generations. The generations, young and old, have so much to give each other, to learn from each other." The guests' private philosophies and relationships are shown to guide viewers in their own life.
Rogers' concern for the elderly was fueled by his primary interest in the family. Rogers states "There are so many forces in society that split the family ... The family is essential to the growth of human beings and television can be an integrative force in the family rather than a divisive one." Rogers said the series was also inspired by letters he received from elderly viewers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, who explained that the show helped strengthen their relationships with their grandchildren. The program was also inspired by Rogers' concern that there was a lack of television programs for the elderly. Santee said "Fred began thinking about what direction he wanted to go [after Mister Rogers' Neighborhood] ... and he has been concerned about the lack of programming for the elderly." The show was also inspired by the friends that Rogers made during his career in producing children's programming. He was able to learn from his friends, who had a variety of interests. He said "So I often wished for a kind of television program in which I could offer adults the kind of friends who have come to mean so much to me." Those friends became guests of the series, which include Hoagy Carmichael's son Hoagy B. Carmichael, Robert Frost's barber Nick Failla, William Sloane Coffin, and Betsy Nadas.
The show is mainly targeted towards the elderly. Rogers explains: "With the Neighborhood, we hoped that the older children and parents would look over the small children's shoulders to watch the show ... Now [Old Friends ... New Friends] is geared for older people, and we hope the parents and young children will watch over the grandparents' shoulders." Rogers said "It's what I like to call an intergenerational program ... I would hope grandparents could watch it with their grandchildren." Despite the program's emphasis on older people, Rogers states that it is intended for people of all ages: "When I began it, some said 'Oh, you're doing a show for old people,' I said, 'Not at all. This is for all ages.' That's why in the first show we begin with a father [Hoagy Carmichael] and son [Hoagy B.], and what it means to grow up as the son of a famous father."
King said that Rogers' dedication to the viewer was intrinsically pastoral. Rogers shared the hope with a friend in a 1978 letter that church groups would watch Old Friends ... New Friends and have discussions based on the program.
Production