"Good Grief!" Two "Peanuts" specials on the same night!

[radiolives]

Who allowed this to happen? If I was ABC I would be mad about this because they have the rights to Peanuts.

I also agree that Peanuts belong on CBS.

Regarding classic holiday cartoons, does ABC air the Mickey Mouse Christmas? I can't remember if they do but I feel that ABC should because they are part of Disney.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I've had the same thought that ABC should be howling about Fox running the new special on the same night. But then in the past ABC has shown the Thanksgiving special earlier than Thanksgiving night, so it seems like they may be getting to where they don't care whether it is on at a good time or not. But like I said Earlier, it looks like the Schulz estate could have some control over when the specials are shown.

If you're talking about Mickey's Christmas Carol, ABC had it, but in looking at schedules this year it looks like it's on several times on ABC Family, but not ABC. But the schedules I've been able to find mainly list cable after Dec. 1 for now. There isn't even a listing for A Charlie Brown Christmas yet.

 

[Iowan]

Maybe My Network TV could repeat 'Happiness Is A Warm' Blanket, Charlie Brown' (idea based on the fact that Fox and MyNet are co-owned, unless one of them have been sold off)

 

[Mediafrog+]

Who allowed this to happen? If I was ABC I would be mad about this because they have the rights to Peanuts.

Then ABC should have bought the rights to "Warm Blanket." All the existing Peanuts shows aren't under the same broadcast contract.

I also agree that Peanuts belong on CBS.

Why? CBS had them for 35 years, but was caught napping when a renewal came up in 2000. And IIRC CBS actually passed on a couple of already-produced specials in the mid 90's. The eye network apparently has made no effort to reacquire the rights.

Nothing against CBS showing Peanuts (I watched the first airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in 1965) but its a competitive business, after all.

Maybe My Network TV could repeat 'Happiness Is A Warm' Blanket, Charlie Brown' (idea based on the fact that Fox and MyNet are co-owned, unless one of them have been sold off)

FOX will repeat "Warm Blanket" on December 16.

 

[ixnay]

Am I the only one who finds the thought of the Peanuts being on any network other than CBS to be just weird?

Yes, and to go one further I can't watch a Peanuts special without thinking about Dolly Madison cakes.

In my case, add "the people in *your* town who bottle Coca-Cola. It's the real thing. Coke."

Slightly OT: Yesterday I received a belated musical Peanuts Thanksgiving card (yes, it plays "Linus and Lucy"). The artwork appears to be cels from "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving".

ixnay

 

[anotherguyTN]

Maybe My Network TV could repeat 'Happiness Is A Warm' Blanket, Charlie Brown' (idea based on the fact that Fox and MyNet are co-owned, unless one of them have been sold off)

FOX will repeat "Warm Blanket" on December 16.

Hopefully not opposite A Charlie Brown Christmas on ABC :

 

[pab]

Regarding Charlotte Braun: Yes, some of her personality went into Lucy, but the main reason that Lucy's personality shifted was that Sparky based her, originally, on his first wife. As his opinions of her shifted, so did the character.

Sufferers of clinical depression should adopt Sparky as their mascot. After all, he proved that you could not only survive but thrive despite it.

 

[Mario500]

FOX will repeat "Warm Blanket" on December 16.

Hopefully not opposite A Charlie Brown Christmas on ABC  :

ABC has "A Charlie Brown Christmas" scheduled for Monday, December 5th and Thursday, December 15th, according to their program listings. Here are some links to the program listings:

http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/progcal.aspx?Date=12%2f05%2f2011
http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/progcal.aspx?Date=12%2f15%2f2011

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I also agree that Peanuts belong on CBS.

But IIRC toward the end of the Peanuts era on CBS, wasn't "Charlie Brown Christmas" the only Peanuts special that aired on the network in its last few years (1999, 2000). After ABC picked up the Peanuts rights in 2001 that was also the first time in several years I remember seeing "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on network TV (the last time I saw the Thanksgiving special on CBS may have been the early '90s).

 

[Braves2005]

I also agree that Peanuts belong on CBS.

But IIRC toward the end of the Peanuts era on CBS, wasn't "Charlie Brown Christmas" the only Peanuts special that aired on the network in its last few years (1999, 2000). After ABC picked up the Peanuts rights in 2001 that was also the first time in several years I remember seeing "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on network TV (the last time I saw the Thanksgiving special on CBS may have been the early '90s).

I thought CBS carried both Charlie Brown Christmas and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown up until ABC got the rights for the Peanuts specials in 2001. It had been years since I had seen not only the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown special but the Valentine's Day special as well as CBS took them both off the air in the late 1980's or early 1990's. There are probably other Peanuts specials that haven't aired on TC since their original airdate as well and some of which have made it onto DVD "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown" from 1968 as an example.

 

[nomadcowatbk]

CBS used to have Peanuts specials throughout the year, not just holidays, anyone remember "It's flashbeagle Charlie Brown"?

 

[azumanga]

But IIRC toward the end of the Peanuts era on CBS, wasn't "Charlie Brown Christmas" the only Peanuts special that aired on the network in its last few years (1999, 2000).

I thought CBS carried both Charlie Brown Christmas and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown up until ABC got the rights for the Peanuts specials in 2001.

I think both aired on CBS right until ABC got them. That being said, in their final years on CBS, that network began to edit the specials to make room for more commercials and promos -- for the Christmas special, the carol at the very end was cut out to make room for promos as the credits are displayed at the side of the screen; that led to such an uproar, that ABC promised to show the special in its entirety once they got it.

 

[anotherguyTN]

FOX will repeat "Warm Blanket" on December 16.

Hopefully not opposite A Charlie Brown Christmas on ABC  :

ABC has "A Charlie Brown Christmas" scheduled for Monday, December 5th and Thursday, December 15th, according to their program listings. Here are some links to the program listings:

http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/progcal.aspx?Date=12%2f05%2f2011
http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/progcal.aspx?Date=12%2f15%2f2011

Thanks for the info. I'm glad to see that there isn't a conflict this time around. But I can't help but wonder what caused the conflict on Thanksgiving. Did ABC drop the ball and just throw the Thanksgiving special on the schedule in an open slot, or did Fox intentionally put the Warm Blanket special on at a conflicting time?

 

[TexasTom]

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.

That "late 50s/early 60s vibe" was very pronounced -- in fact, it looked like the special was intentionally set about fifty years ago, with the black & white console television in the middle of the living room, a rotary dial phone in the background in a couple of scenes, and Schroeder's music collection on vinyl instead of CD.

Adding even more to the retro feel was the hand-water colored look of the backgrounds, something that we haven't really seen much in television animation since the sixties.

Overall, I liked the effect. And I also thought it was appropriate -- can anyone really imagine the Peanuts characters in a world filled with MP3 players, cellphones, and flat screen TVs?

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

Oddly enough, the "Warm Blanket" special actually returned "Peanuts" to the Cleveland station which aired the specials for decades...WJW/8 "Fox 8", the market's former long-time CBS affiliate.

 

[azumanga]

Oddly enough, the "Warm Blanket" special actually returned "Peanuts" to the Cleveland station which aired the specials for decades...WJW/8 "Fox 8", the market's former long-time CBS affiliate.

Likewise for WTVT in Tampa, also a longtime CBS affiliate before going Fox.

 

[onairb]

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

That quote is poorly edited and misleading; in the interview cited(in the book 'Peanuts Jubilee'), Schulz actually said an 'offstage' cat works better than Faron did. The two cats are not the same; the 'cat next door' was named 'World War II', according to a storyline from later in the '70s.

 

[imhomerjay]

But I can't help but wonder what caused the conflict on Thanksgiving. Did ABC drop the ball and just throw the Thanksgiving special on the schedule in an open slot, or did Fox intentionally put the Warm Blanket special on at a conflicting time?

Two networks with a logical opening for special programming on Thanksgiving night "caused" it. ABC didn't have the rights to the other show, and can't very well control what FOX does.

 

[Mario500]

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

That quote is poorly edited and misleading; in the interview cited(in the book 'Peanuts Jubilee'), [Charles] Schulz actually said an 'offstage' cat works better than Faron did. The two cats are not the same; the 'cat next door' was named 'World War II', according to a storyline from later in the '70s.

I'm sorry for ever posting a link to that page. The ellipsis between the quoted words in the profile for Faron was an indication of important information being left out.

Before coming to this message board topic, I was not really familiar with the names "Faron" and "World War II" in relation to the cats in "Peanuts". I was more familiar with the phrase "the cat next door" than the aforementioned names due to the uses of the phrase in the animated cartoons.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Some things to keep in mind regarding the Peanuts animated specials:

It has been a longstanding point of discussion amongst Peanuts enthusiasts that the animated specials do not exactly follow the established storylines of the original comic strip. For instance Snoopy has two additional siblings in the animated shows who never appeared in the strip; and the "Little Red Haired Girl" actually appears in another special (and is given the name "Heather") but she is never seen or named in the strip. It's sort of like the Red and Blue universes in "Fringe"--the characters are mostly the same, but things are, well, somewhat different.

Also perhaps driving the retro feel of "Warm Blanket": Most of the newspapers still carrying Peanuts have been running strips from the 60's, so that era is what current readers are familiar with...and those recently acquainted with the comic would probably not be familiar with the later evolution of the strip (some papers are running much later work; our local Houston Chronicle currently has strips from 1998.)