Posts with tag linus
Posted Oct 9th 2007 6:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV Royalty, Animation, Documentary
I'll say right up front that I am a huge Charles Schulz fan. I think Peanuts is one of the most important things in the history of pop culture (not just comics, but in all of pop culture - film, literature, TV, music and art). It's the type of comic that's entertaining and fun for all of the obvious reasons but something that can also show you a little bit about how to live your life too. I mean, who doesn't like Snoopy or A Charlie Brown Christmas?
So I've been a little antsy about a new biography of Schulz that is coming out next week, Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography, by David Michaelis. It's a bio that supposedly gives a fuller picture of Schulz, including the sad, unhappy parts of his life. Now I see that I'm not the only one who is a little antsy about the book and a new American Masters that will profile Schulz too.
Continue reading Charles Schulz's family not thrilled with PBS doc - VIDEO
Posted Dec 4th 2006 7:01PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: ABC, Animation, Children
Just like last year, ABC is airing A Charlie Brown Christmas twice this year. If you missed it when it aired late last month, you can catch it again on ABC on Sunday, December 17 at 7 pm. I recorded the special when it aired in November but haven't yet gotten around to watching it. When I do finally get time to sit and watch it, I'll do my usual ritual of dousing the lights, unplugging the phone and immersing myself in the special as I've done every year since I was a kid. I could purchase the DVD, but I have no interest in that. I like keeping this special tied to the holiday season, it's like a gift I get to unwrap and enjoy at the end of every year. I only wish ABC had also re-aired It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, since my local station moved it to 3 am so they could air some insipid midterm election debate.
Posted Nov 22nd 2006 8:31PM by Kevin Kelly
Filed under: Animation, Children

It's a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Week! Charlie Brown, where have you been all these years? We've been missing you. We usually see you at the major holidays, like Christmas and Halloween, but to be honest those visits seem repetitive. What else have you been up to? Sure, you've taken some trips and had some valentines and such, but we've come to expect more Charlie Brown, and quite frankly, we need you these days. Please think about giving us
Charlie Brown's Democratic Presidential Election, or something equally topical and timely.
10 Zen Monkeys has compiled a
list of Charlie Brown's five worst cartoon moments. Check it out on their site which comes complete with YouTube embedded video and spot-on commentary. Continue onto see my thoughts about the list:
Continue reading Charlie Brown's five worst cartoon moments
Posted Oct 24th 2006 8:09AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Cable, TV Royalty, Animation, Web, Children
I am older than It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
One year older, to be exact. The classic Halloween TV special marks its 40th anniversary this year, and Fine Living Network is celebrating with several TV and web specials and features. On TV, you can watch a special one hour episode of We Live Here titled We Live Here - In Fear, which will explore three haunted cities around the country: Savannah, Georgia, St. Augustine, Florida, and Memphis, Tennessee. The special will air several times until November 1. Online, you can watch a new reading of the classic Peanuts story by Top 40 icon Rick Dees. And to make your Halloween complete, you can download a wav file of spooky Halloween sounds.
Posted Oct 10th 2006 9:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: ABC, Animation

Running a very close second to
A Charlie Brown Christmas as one of my favorite television specials of all time,
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will air on ABC October 27 at 8 pm. The special will be followed by a bonus cartoon in which Linus runs for class president. This year marks the
40th anniversary of the Halloween special in which wise but naive Linus tries to tell everyone about The Great Pumpkin, a mystical creature who rises from the pumpkin patch to deliver toys to all the good children. Charles Schulz originally came up with the idea for the Peanuts comic strip as a gag in which Linus confuses Halloween with Christmas. Actually, the name "Charlie Brown" in the title is kind of misleading, since Linus is the real star of this special. You still gotta feel bad for ol' Chuck getting all those rocks in his treat bag, though.
Posted Jun 5th 2006 2:07PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Children

This year marks the 40th anniversary of
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which first aired in 1966, one year after
A Charlie Brown Christmas made its debut. To celebrate, United Feature Syndicate, Inc., the company that distributed the Peanuts comic strip, is sponsoring an essay contest where people can write about their worst Halloween experience ever. If, you know, you can think of something worse than spending the night in a pumpkin patch only to be greeted by a beagle dressed as a World War I pilot. The deadline for the essays, which must be more than 500 words and less than 600, is July 21. Winners will be chosen by members of Charles Schulz's family, as well as his partners on the Peanuts animated specials, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez. Peter Robbins, the first kid to voice Charlie Brown, will also be a judge. Winners will receive lots of Peanuts-related stuff, plus a trip to the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California. You can learn more about the contest
here.