By the time I saw Mr. Rogers for the first time, there had been a thousand (perhaps thousands) of episodes that came before it. Now, in 2025, the first episode has been uploaded to youtube.
The differences stand out. The kitchen is different, the character of Edgar (the traffic light?) was never a thing in my day and rolling out a bed for make-believe is... pretty weird. Pretty weird. The closing song is different.
Visiting the woman who wears lampshades is an interesting segment. On the one hand, Fred traveling to another location to talk to someone is a regular part of the show. On the other hand, it was always a realistic person doing some real activity that kids could learn about. I don't remember anything like this "real" woman wearing lampshades in my day. Fred Rogers loved whimsy and lampshade fashion is certainly that.
But it's also notable how much didn't change. You're looking at a 20 year difference (this first episode being 1968) and it's pretty much the same show. Same theme song, same set (mostly), same format, same characters.
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