When I was a kid, I watched three things on television (mainly). Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and the Electric Company (Check out this link for more information...you might be surprised at the actors who were in it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Company )
I also watched 3-2-1 Contact, but that was when I was an older kid and more into science.
Now, my daughter watches Mr. Rogers, and it's really a different sort of program. If you watch a lot of the kids shows on television now, they're very...busy. Lots of sound and fast paced video coming at you all at once. Mr. Rogers takes things in a much more laid back manner. It's a relatively quiet show with some jazzy music. There is lots of "wait-time" to let the kids process the information... He takes cool field trips, and there's make-believe time for the imagination.
I thought about bringing in an episode where he visited the set of Stomp. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomp_%28dance_troupe%29 ) It was a neat episode.
Anyway, I think he had a huge influence on many folks. It's funny, there are a lot of urban legends about Fred Rogers. Check out Snope's article on him:
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp
