“WHO IS IT?!?” Answering the Door Correctly in Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood
Dylan Lockwood
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was a beloved children’s television show between 1963 and 2001 with a target audience around 3 to 4 years old. The premise of the show is to educate children on the happenings of the world as well as to prepare them to live out in the grown up world. This was done by teaching the children manners, basic skills, and other things that can prove to be beneficial later in their lives. In 1980, the popular sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live created a parody of this children’s show called “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood.” Instead of the things Rogers taught children, this “children’s show” taught the children more “streetwise” things.
The host was not a middle aged to elderly white man in a nice neighborhood with nice things in his nice home like Rogers. The host was a greedy young black man in a run down apartment in a slum neighborhood in the city. The gentleman who played Robinson would become one of the greatest and well-respected comedians of all time: Eddie Murphy.
Eddie Murphy began his Saturday Night Live career in 1980 at only 19 years old. He was a bright spot on what many pop cultures buffs call the “dark ages” of SNL, a time when the show was fairly unpopular to most. Murphy grew up in Brooklyn, New York, a neighborhood in Brooklyn with a rather shady history. Whether it was with his single mother or in a foster home with his brother Charlie, Eddie Murphy grew up poor and underprivileged in what some would call a scary environment. This made him the perfect Candidate for playing the Robinson character on Live. Although Murphy was in a lot of other very popular Saturday Night Live sketches such as the Gumby or “James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub Party.”
“Gonna get in the hot tub! Gonna make me sweat! Gonna make me wet! Oww, burned myself!”
But the Robinson character that murphy played became a pop culture icon, as it became a frequently occurring sketch on Saturday Night Live for more than 4 years. With a new sketch every 6 months, Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood became and still is a household favorite sketch of many families to this day.
As a parody of his show, Fred Rogers himself liked the skit, thinking Eddie Murphy as the antithesis of Roger’s character was funny. There is an underlying idea within these sketches other than to just be funny. Much like Rogers was teaching children about how life is and how to grow up in this world, Murphy, as Robinson, was teaching children how life is and how to grow up in a world where everything was not so perfect and happy like Roger’s world.
Obviously “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” was not a real children’s show and was on a sketch comedy show in the 80’s, but the information that they supply in the sketch and the examples of different events that happen to Robinson are quite possible in an area like Robinson lives and where Murphy grew up.
With information in “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” taught just like in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, The two “children’s shows” had a very similar framework in how their shows worked and how their respected information was presented. Some examples of these similarities are as follows.
Opening Song/Ending Jingle
Every sketch of Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood began much like Roger’s show did, with a short little song or jingle to brighten the spirits of the viewer. Both speak of being neighbor and it being a beautiful day, but that is where the similarities end. While Roger’s song was about being happy and it being a good day, Robinson had a different verse with each sketch about some crime, or something that you might expect from an ex con. Breaking into houses, stealing things from you house, prostitution, being poor, you name it. In one instance, he says: “I’d love to live in a house like your’s my friend, maybe when you’re all gone, I’ll break in.” Petty crimes like home break-ins and shoplifting are common in areas such as where Robinson lived.
“I’d love to move into your neighborhood one day, problem is, if I move in, y’all move away!”
In this instance above Murphy, as Robinson, takes a shot at the white middle class population, calling them out for blatant racism for when blacks move into white neighborhoods. This is a concept derived in the mid 20th century that has to do with the idea that white people move in bunches from places as people of other races move in. This “White Flight” as it is called still exists today and is a fine example of racism and prejudice still existing in our country today.
Once the sketch is about to end, Robinson, much like Roger’s ended his show, spoke the jingle: “and a very happy tomorrow to you.” This was followed usually by Robinson in some kind of trouble or escaping his apartment via his window and fire escape. Robinson was a man who was always in trouble and always trying to get away, but he is only mimicking what was going on in inner cities during that time and even to this day.
Whose at the Door? & The “Event”
Like all shows, each episode of both shows had a special theme or plot for that show. Rogers always had an educational plot that was beneficial to the children’s futures. Robinson on the other hand was always looking out for himself. His themes or plots of his show always regard something that has happened to him or a negative idea that he tries to teach children.
“Guess what boys and girls? My wife walked out on me. Aint that nice? I’m so glad the bitch is gone.”
In the example above, Robinson doesn’t care about his wife because all she did was nag or spend money, only fueling to the already terrible life he lives in. Now he can freely pursue the women he wants and keep all the money he wants, not that he wasn’t doing both already.
In another example, Robinson is left a basket on his front door. “It was from my old friend, Juanita. We had a real special friendship. You know, friends like to give each other things. I gave something to Juanita one night… 8 times one night boys and girls. And now Juanita has given me something. Lets see what it is… it weighs about 7 pounds, and smells like rotten milk!”
Robinson got a woman pregnant and he was left the child. Later in the sketch, he plans to sell the child on the black market, as babies fetch a “high price” there. Robinson only wants to get rich and he will do anything to make that possible, even if that means selling the son he does not want. He is teaching the children and viewers that people in the inner city will do anything to get rich and get out, even sell a child.
Each episode of both shows usually had a visitor of some kind. Where Roger’s guest was there for pleasure, Robinson never really had guests, only people looking for him for something he had done earlier.
In one instance, Robinson is served a summons of eviction by his landlord. This prompts Robinson to wonder why he is so poor and he wants to ask the president why. He then “journeys” to the wonderful land of make believe to talk to the president and ask why he is so poor.
Pictured above is the wonderful world of make believe that Robinson described, with the finger people looking like black people and the president looking a lot like Ronald Reagan, the president during the time when these sketches ran. This is an obvious shot that Murphy is taking at the government, by going on in the sketch to mimic that the president doesn’t care about black people and how poor they are. Because most of the populations of inner city neighborhood are majority black, Hispanic or some other minority, this is a lesson to viewers about how the government doesn’t care about inner city children or people in general.
Word of the Day
Robinson, again just like Rogers, had a word of the day that had to do with the theme of the show. It was also usually a word that the children did not know the meaning to already and so it was a word he was teaching them. Robinson’s words were not as educational and appropriate as those of Fred Rogers. Both, however were taught to the children because both hosts thought that the word would be important to the child watching down the road.
In the sketch with Juanita and the baby described earlier, the word of the day for that episode was “Bastard” to describe Robinson’s new child
Anything from “money” or “X-Mas” to anything like “Pain” or “Ex-Con” were words that were used at Robinson’s word of the day. In the episode with the eviction notice, the word of the day for that episode was “scum bucket,” a term Robinson used to describe his landlord. Teaching children words like these would be horrible of a parent to do. But people in inner cities and run down neighborhoods use harsh words like these. So what Robinson is doing is preparing the viewers for if they have to go and use these kinds of words, just so they know what they mean before they use them.
The SNL sketch “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” was a direct parody of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, with similarities in both its context and its purpose. Eddie Murphy became a huge success as a comedic personality with this sketch and in turn one of the most popular SNL cast members of all time.
Murphy used his experiences growing up in an underprivileged area to convey to the general public what it was like in there and what it is like today for those who do not know, an example of how geography shapes the person that we will turn out to be. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Rogers, as previously mentioned, are 2 very different people from very different walks of life. The idea of the “neighbor” and what is “neighborly” is discussed throughout both pieces. The two hosts describe the geography of both neighborhoods and how one should act when brought up in these different communities. These are prime examples of how our geography and our communities shape who we turn out to be when we grow up.
Some Resources Used
1. Eddie Murphy Biography — Yahoo! Movies
2. “Mr. Robinson… Eddie Murphy… MR. T.” 1/31/15 http://snltranscripts.jt.org/82/82bmrrobinson.phtml
“Mr. Robinson” 2/3/15 http://snl.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Robinson
