Silke Jasso
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. PBS has just announced the classic holiday movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is set to air on Thursday, December 10, 2020, at 7:30 pm local time! Time to celebrate the holidays with the peanuts gang. The one-hour “Peanuts” Christmas special will include a digitally remastered version of the 1965 classic by “Charlie Brown“ creator Charles M. Schulz. Earlier this year it was announced that the Peanuts specials were not going to be on network TV, rather on Apple TV +. This meant Apple TV + subscribers could basically watch any time if they were signed up to the streaming service. After heavy backlash from social media users and Charlie Brown fans, Apple decided it was also making it free for non-subscribers from December 11 to December 13th.
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The one-hour Emmy Award-winning Peanuts special features Charlie Brown complaining about the overwhelming materialism that he sees all around him during the Christmas season. That’s when little Lucy suggests he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown obviously accepts, but it proves to be quite a frustrating struggle. He then attempts to restore “the proper spirit with a “forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails” and needs Linus’ help to learn the real meaning of Christmas.
Charlie Brown Christmas Dance
Did you know the special was sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company? It was written over a period of several weeks and produced in only six months. Directors then decided to take an unconventional route by hiring child actors. The voice cast includes Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus Van Pelt, Tracy Stratford as Lucy, Cathy Steinberg as Sally Brown, and Bill Melendez as Snoopy.
The holiday special received very high ratings and acclaims from critics and has won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. It then became an annual presentation in the US, airing every Christmas season since its debut. Safe to say A Charlie Brown Christmas paved a beautiful way for the series of peanut television holiday specials and films.
Other famous Charlie Brown specials include Charlie Brown’s All-Stars!, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, You’re in Love, Charlie Brown, He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown, It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, and Play It Again, Charlie Brown to name a few. Time to cozy up, grab your favorite blanket, and watch some good ol’ nostalgic Charlie Brown! Happy holidays!
“A Charlie Brown Christmas 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition”
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Editors Note: This article was originally published on December 3, 2019. It was updated on December 7, 2020, after PBS and Apple TV+ announced the new schedule for 2020.
