Twitch’s Latest Classic Programming Play Is A ‘Mister Rogers’ Marathon

Twitch is set to stream an 18-day-long marathon of all 886 episodes of the iconic children’s series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood beginning Monday, the company announced. The series, which was produced by The Fred Rogers Company, featured songs, crafts, and tours, and each episode ended with a positive takeaway encouraging viewers to be themselves.

At the same time, Twitch will host a fundraising campaign encouraging viewers to support their local PBS stations, which is where the classic show originally debuted in 1968. A donation panel will appear on the Mister Rogers Twitch channel, and Twitch creators will also be sharing how PBS programming has impacted their lives in an ad campaign that will run throughout the marathon.

“From listening to feedback, it became clear that the Twitch community has not only embraced content which goes beyond gaming, they want more of it,” said Bill Moorier

, head of creative at Twitch. “Like our streamers, [Rogers] talked to the viewers as if they were in the room with him. While his show was geared toward children, his messages have universal appeal.”

While Twitch is predominantly rooted in ‘Let’s Play’ video game streams, the platform has subsequently branched out to broadcast other nostalgia-driven classics, including 831 Power Rangers episodes, Julia Child’s cooking series The French Chef, and 403 episodes of Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting — another PBS staple.