This is a first: ABC airing "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" while Fox has a new one, "Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," both on Thanksgiving Night (November 24, 2011). This will mark the first time that the "Peanuts" series has aired on all four major networks and on two networks on the same night. Can't wait to see which one will win this battle.
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"Good Grief!" Two "Peanuts" specials on the same night!
- Thread starter only1moore
- Start date
Reportedly Mrs. Shultz is ramping up "Peanuts" as since Charles passed on, some folks originally thought that time had passed the characters by.
Along with the return of The Muppets (albeit with the now-obiligatory gas jokes), Charlie Brown will be more than welcome in many homes during the Holidays.
Along with the return of The Muppets (albeit with the now-obiligatory gas jokes), Charlie Brown will be more than welcome in many homes during the Holidays.
Why wouldn't both these specials air on the same network? They overlapped each other by 30 minutes. I got to see a few minutes of the Fox special, and noticed that one of the sponsors was AFLAC. That seems odd considering how much the Peanuts characters are used with Met Life.
mescutia said:
How many years back are you going with this one? I'm willing to say any network can pick up the Peanuts gang if they pay for the rights to each airing...however, I do have to agree, something just isn't right when Aflak crawls into the ad space instead of Metlife.
Who sponsored the closed captions?
Had the Warm Blanket special ever aired before? It was the first time that I recall ever seeing it, but it has a 2010 copyright, leading me to believe that it might have aired last year and I just missed it. (No Thanksgiving angle to that special whatsoever that I recall!)
Also, whenever I hear the Stevie Wonder song "One Little Christmas Tree," it reminds me of that frail tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Also, whenever I hear the Stevie Wonder song "One Little Christmas Tree," it reminds me of that frail tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
M
Mario500
Guest
"Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown" was released on home video on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 before it was broadcast in its entirety this past Thursday, November 24th.
Mario-500 said:
There have been several Peanuts shows that have gone straight to video in recent years; some intentionally, others when no network picked them up.
"Warm Blanket" was the first post-Bill Melendez production for the Peanuts shows.
This site has pretty much everything you would ever want to know about all the Peanuts specials: www.fivecentsplease.com/tv/peanuts-tv.html
The comparison to the Muppets revival is interesting; you know that the Disney empire would love to get its grubby paws on the Peanuts franchise. Don't think the Schulz family nor the current license holders are ready for that, however. But a possibility some years down the road.
The more I've thought about it this looks like a move by Fox to pull away viewers from the ABC special. Since there was nothing really Thanksgiving connected to the new special, it could have been shown at some other time. It looks like the Schulz estate could have had some say so on then the new special was shown and have prevented this conflict. It just happened I had rented the Thanksgiving special for my daughter from Netflix so we got to see it at our own convienent time.
I watched 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' last year, and realized why it's never achieved the 'classic' status of the Christmas and Halloween shows.
As for 'Warm Blanket', it took me a while to get used to the 'artsy' camera angles (extreme close-ups, etc.). I wasn't crazy about Lucy's voice in some scenes(the actress sounded too 'old' for the role), and Linus' closing speech sounded a bit like Peanuts 'fan fiction'. Once I saw that the show was co-written by 'Pearls Before Swine' creator Stefan Patsis, I understood where this sort of 'inside joke' came from.
I missed the late Bill Melendez, although the nearly-silent Snoopy had some good sight gags, and seemed a bit like his earlie-or later- more 'dog-like' self.
One positive thing about the show was its 'late '50s/ early 60s' vibe' I liked seeing the 'forgotten' characters-Shermy, Violet, 'Original Patty, 3, 4, 5, Frieda, and Faron-and didn't really mss the absent Rerun, Peppermint Patty and Marcie.
As for 'Warm Blanket', it took me a while to get used to the 'artsy' camera angles (extreme close-ups, etc.). I wasn't crazy about Lucy's voice in some scenes(the actress sounded too 'old' for the role), and Linus' closing speech sounded a bit like Peanuts 'fan fiction'. Once I saw that the show was co-written by 'Pearls Before Swine' creator Stefan Patsis, I understood where this sort of 'inside joke' came from.
I missed the late Bill Melendez, although the nearly-silent Snoopy had some good sight gags, and seemed a bit like his earlie-or later- more 'dog-like' self.
One positive thing about the show was its 'late '50s/ early 60s' vibe' I liked seeing the 'forgotten' characters-Shermy, Violet, 'Original Patty, 3, 4, 5, Frieda, and Faron-and didn't really mss the absent Rerun, Peppermint Patty and Marcie.
As a lifetime fan of Peanuts, I thought the new special was excellent. They used stories from the strips that Schultz did years ago, and put them together well. I loved the new camera angles combined with the simple 2-D art. For the most part the voices were spot on, especially charlie Brown. He sounded like the same kid from "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
And I agree. Peanuts on any network but CBS seems a little weird.
And I agree. Peanuts on any network but CBS seems a little weird.
I was reminded of the way "mama socked it to the Harper Valley PTA"! ;D He even turned on Charlie Brown, who is usually his best friend! "Want to see me turn out like Charlie Brown?"onairb said:
I liked seeing the "minor" characters, too. Wasn't Pigpen also in it, or am I thinking about the Thanksgiving special that I also watched that night?
M
Mario500
Guest
I would not call Shermy, Violet, Patty, 3, 4, 5, Frieda, and Faron forgotten characters, just missed characters. According to the page linked below this post, Faron was "the cat next door" referenced in the newspaper cartoons and animated cartoons.
http://www.schulzmuseum.org/faq.html#faron
http://www.schulzmuseum.org/faq.html#faron
Mario-500 said:
Many of the early supporting characters were fairly bland and didn't add much to the Peanuts franchise, which is why Schulz phased them out. The later additions were sharply defined personalities, most of whom could carry the strip by itself, adding to a variety of storylines.
Many people who are only casually familiar with Peanuts have the idea that the strip never really changed over the years...however that's not true. If you compare the early years of Peanuts (1950's) to the later years (1980's and 90's) you will see a huge change in the personalities, intelligence, humor, and attitude of the characters.
Seems the latest show offering has regressed things quite a bit. You can see why Schulz didn't want anyone else to take over Peanuts after his death, as it might morph into something completely different from what he envisioned.
As for forgotten characters, the ultimate would be "Charlotte Braun", introduced in 1954. She got such negative reaction that Schulz quickly yanked her from the cast after only a few weeks. Some of her personality was later integrated in to Lucy's character.
mescutia said:
Yes, and to go one further I can't watch a Peanuts special without thinking about Dolly Madison cakes.
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