A while ago, I commented that the personal philosophy expressed by Charles Schulz in an interview reminded me of Fred Rogers. That got me thinking I should watch the Tom Hanks movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I’ll do that soon.
As a kid, despite being older than the target demographic, I watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on New York TV. It had a quiet, reassuring tone, puppets, and a nice woman.
The reassuring tone relieved some of the stressful atmosphere occasionally experienced at home. I was a fan of puppet shows even before learning that Bob Clampett’s Beany & Cecil, a beloved cartoon series, began as a puppet show. The nice woman on MisteRogers was Betty Aberlin or, as she was called, Lady Aberlin.
Poking around the Net for more background on Aberlin, I was surprised to see these images. Whoa, sexy Betty!
Betty in a swimsuit that looks more like a baby-doll nightie? It couldn’t be from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, could it? Actually, yes. Episode 1425, from 1975. Betty was teamed with hunky Bert Lloyd as her brother.
Lady Elaine, a puppet as an evil witch, expresses an interest in the “nice-looking young man,” who is forced to exercise in a cage for her entertainment. It reminded me very much of something else from 1975.
It’s interesting that Fred Rogers, who was careful in developing his program material, would present physically attractive adults in this way. It’s as if he were gently and innocently suggesting the desires that inevitably come with growing up.
Here’s the episode, with Betty falling in love with a swan and rescuing “Rocky Horror” from the evil witch’s clutches. Spoiler alert: It was all a dream!
Tech note: The video plays automatically. Firefox has a feature to prevent that on a per-site basis. This is how it looks.
