Years before the VCR, the Schulz family had tapes of “A Charlie Brown Christmas." But that didn't mean the special's creator, the late Charles Schulz, didn't lament a missed opportunity to see it “live."
“We did try to watch it when were home and sometimes we'd be out and he'd say 'Oh drat, it's on tonight," remembers Schulz' wife Jeannie. “For some reason, when you watch it on television at the time that it's broadcast, I think you have a sense of the community of people that are watching it with you."
Since the special premiered in 1965, that community has grown to millions of adults and children who span generations. Like Schulz, many carve a place in their holiday tradition to watch each year when the program is broadcast on television, despite the availability of VHS and DVD.
On Tuesday, fans will celebrate Christmas with the Peanuts gang for the 40th time when they leap off the newspaper comics page into Schulz' tale of needy trees, a materialistic beagle named Snoopy and a depressed Charlie Brown who is searching for the true meaning of the holiday. The special airs 7 p.m. on ABC, and includes an additional series of animated stories based on the work of Schulz, who died in 2000.
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“We did try to watch it when were home and sometimes we'd be out and he'd say 'Oh drat, it's on tonight," remembers Schulz' wife Jeannie. “For some reason, when you watch it on television at the time that it's broadcast, I think you have a sense of the community of people that are watching it with you."
Since the special premiered in 1965, that community has grown to millions of adults and children who span generations. Like Schulz, many carve a place in their holiday tradition to watch each year when the program is broadcast on television, despite the availability of VHS and DVD.
On Tuesday, fans will celebrate Christmas with the Peanuts gang for the 40th time when they leap off the newspaper comics page into Schulz' tale of needy trees, a materialistic beagle named Snoopy and a depressed Charlie Brown who is searching for the true meaning of the holiday. The special airs 7 p.m. on ABC, and includes an additional series of animated stories based on the work of Schulz, who died in 2000.
Continue...
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