[Tue Dec 6 UPDATE:
Thanks to all of you who responded so quickly and passionately -- on Twitter, here and even in other blogs and posts -- about ABC's mistreatment of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
One reader, Scott McGuire, even has his own web page devoted to Peanuts TV specials, which you can reach HERE. Here's what he wrote TV WORTH WATCHING about my own Peanuts column, which is printed below this update:
"I appreciated your latest blog entry regarding ABC's decision to air A Charlie Brown Christmas in a half-hour slot this evening. It's certainly something ABC should be taken to task for and I'm glad to see you did so, unlike so many other sites that are just announcing it as a special to watch tonight.
"I wasn't sure if you were aware of this or not, but I thought it might be worth mentioning in the article (or a perhaps a followup) that ABC will be airing the unedited A Charlie Brown Christmas on Thursday December 15 from 8-9 p.m. ET.
"It's still rather dumb that ABC is airing the edited version of the special as the initial broadcast, when most people will watch it, and the complete version for the repeat broadcast, but at least watching a complete version 'live' on TV is still possible, if people know the date to tune in.
"Also, this is the second time ABC has pulled this stunt (showing an edited version of A Charlie Brown Christmas first, then the unedited version second) - they did it in 2009 as well, when they had the first Prep & Landing special to promote.
"I'm a regular reader of your blog and always enjoy it (in addition to being some guy obsessed with Peanuts TV shows)."
And John Kiesewetter, an old friend and TV critic from the Cincinnati Enquirer, reposted and wrote about the same issue HERE. Thanks, John.
And now, on to the original column... - DB]
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A Charlie Brown Christmas, broadcast by CBS in 1965, was and remains the best holiday TV special ever made. Even in an age of DVRs and Blu-Ray, gathering the family to watch Linus, Snoopy and the gang, even with commercial intrusions, is one of the few annual television traditions we have left.
But CBS, after showing the animated special reliably and proudly for decades, undervalued it and sold it to ABC, which restored it and put it in a respectful one-hour time slot. But now, as ABC televises it Monday night at 8 ET, that network, too, is disrespecting a classic...
ABC, since acquiring A Charlie Brown Christmas from CBS, used to present the special in a one-hour time slot. And with good reason: Back in the 1960s, a lot less commercial time was allowed in each hour, so a 30-minute special then, crammed into a 30-minute slot today, would have to lose scenes, as well as be sped up electronically in places to fit all the ads. Ho ho ho.
(For a fast trip down memory lane, click HERE to see what my BIANCULLI'S BEST BETS page looked like in 2008, touting ABC's one-hour telecast.)
And yet, in 2011, ABC is doing what CBS used to do, and is cramming this first, perfect Peanuts
special into a 30-minute slot, to make room for a new Prep & Landing Christmas special.
Bah, humbug!
Good grief!
Rats!
Back on Nov. 27, 2007, the opening month of TV WORTH WATCHING, I wrote about A Charlie Brown Christmas, praising ABC for rescuing the show but complaining about televising it so early in the season.
Now I find myself pointing out that ABC is following in CBS's footsteps -- and both networks, by not treasuring this iconic TV special, are treading down the wrong path.
In the spirit of holiday reruns, you can read my original November 2007 column about A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the true meaning of that unparalleled Charles Schulz special, by clicking HERE.
But here are some key excerpts:
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Linus, the faithful optimist, would see the true meaning of this TV special. He'd say that it's one of the few places left, other than the Super Bowl and American Idol, where entire families can and will gather annually to enjoy a television show together. But A Charlie Brown Christmas isn't a competition. It's a celebration.
Charlie Brown, the perpetual frowner whose most common exclamation is "Good grief!," would say it's one more example of a TV network not recognizing, much less treasuring, its own heritage...
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Just because the networks take this show for granted, though, don't make the same mistake. The simplicity of the animation, all these years later, is charming, not quaint. The music, by the Vince Guaraldi trio, is as infectious as ever: "Christmas Time is Here," sung by children, is angelic, and "Linus and Lucy" is about as happy as musical notes can sound.
Most important, there's the message of the special itself, written by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. Where Super Bowls and American Idol finals are hyped massively, A Charlie Brown Christmas actually bemoans, and lectures against, the juggernaut of commercialization. And when Charlie Brown, at rehearsal for the school holiday pageant, asks discouragingly if anyone knows the true meaning of Christmas, Linus explains it to him - by walking to center stage of the auditorium, waiting for the spotlight, and quoting from scripture.
(To see this, play the YouTube video at the top of today's new 2011 column. YouTube wasn't showing this sort of stuff in 2007.)
No TV special made today would get away with that. But Schulz held firm, and when A Charlie Brown Christmas was unveiled - back when both James Bond and the Beatles were young - his first Peanuts special was seen in half the TV homes using television that night. And deserved to be...