30 most shocking late night scandals

18. Johnny Carson apologizes for making fun of Mr. Rogers

Fred Rogers was undoubtedly an amazing human being. There’s no way to tell how many kids’ lives were made better because of Mr. Rogers. His wonderful TV show was a favorite for so many children during that era, and he was even busier behind the scenes with all of the charity work he would do. It might be stating the obvious, but Mr. Rogers is awesome.

But sometimes Mr. Rogers found himself getting jokes at his expense. One of the most notable take downs of Rogers came from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In one particular sketch, Carson would play an evil version of Mr. Rogers whose TV show was failing. To keep funding the program, evil Mr. Rogers would tell the children watching to steal money from their parents.

Needless to say, the real Mr. Rogers was not very amused. But to Carson’s credit, he did go on his show later to apologize for the sketch. Carson has also apparently told Mr. Rogers that the impersonation comes from a place of affection, and is not meant to be harmful. Rogers would later admit to thinking about that when he would see other impersonations of him.