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The Schmooze

Sarah Silverman Pays Homage To Mister Rogers In PBS Anniversary Special

What’s the cure for 2018 America? According to Sarah Silverman, it just might be Mister Rogers.

Tuesday evening, PBS aired its Mister Rogers special, “It’s You I Like”, an hour-long 50th anniversary celebration of the beloved show’s first episode. The special featured a multitude of celebrity fans watching footage spanning the nearly 3 1/2 decades “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” was on air.

Silverman was among those tapped to revisit the program on camera. The comedian, famous for her standup specials filled with jokes about 9/11 and feces, reverts to childhood as she watches a clip of a cat giving birth.

Silverman took to Twitter to pay further homage to Fred Rogers during the show’s premiere.

“I know I’ve said this before, but we need a bat signal for Mister Rogers,” wrote Silverman. “We need him. All of us. More than ever.”

She also shared several clips from the special, including a short video of Fred Rogers meeting Koko, the famous gorilla who knew sign language — and also knew that Mister Rogers was a kindred spirit.

Michael Keaton, who once worked on the production side of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, hosted the special and Silverman was joined by names like Yo-Yo Ma and Whoopi Goldberg.

Why, oh, why couldn’t Fred Rogers have lived to be the white male reality star to beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election?

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

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