On December 9, 1965, CBS aired the holiday special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
Last Friday was the 57th anniversary of that special. When the executives first saw the final cut, they weren’t too thrilled, after all, the story was about the crass commercialization of Christmas, not a topic too fond with the sponsor, Coca-Cola!
But supposedly they already had ads out about it, so they had no choice but to air it and it go on to become a classic Christmas special.
On the occasion of this 57th anniversary of this holiday special I have six links to online articles and an SNL parody video of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and then there’s the MBIP Coming Attractions for the return of MBIP next week!
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Sunday Links
CBS Execs Hated 'Charlie Brown Christmas,' Predicted It Would Flop: Producer - Producer Lee Mendelson remembers how CBS executives said it would be the first and last Charlie Brown show. As we now know, that didn’t turn out to be true!
A Charlie Brown Christmas: 6 Behind-The Scenes Facts You Probably Didn’t Know - It was genius for Charles Schulz to fight against a laugh track and it did make the special stand out.
How A Charle Brown Christmas Almost Wasn’t - After reading this, you’ll see why the odds were stacked against this special ever airing, much less becoming a Christmas classic!
10 Things To Know About ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ - Interesting factoids about this holiday TV special.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas”: The gospel truth behind how a humble ‘Peanuts’ holiday classic defied the odds - An all inclusive story about this seasonal classic.
The “Charlie Brown Christmas” Special Was the Flop That Wasn’t - CBS gambled against the odds and won with this unlikely Christmas TV Special.
SNL TV Funhouse Charlie Brown Christmas - A classic SNL skit about a classic show!
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MBIP Coming Attractions
Monday: Yesterday my blog turned 10-years-old. That’s crazy! I went back and had a Saturday night dinner at the place where it all started, Mike’s Tavern in West Peoria.
Tuesday: I’m continuing the Ltitle Golden Lunch series sampling savory dishes from my Keens Goldbelly box. This week we’re cooking up a Keens Burger!
Wednesday: They had a premiere screening for the documentary about Peoria shoeshine legend, George Manias at the Peoria Riverfront Museum and I somehow made it onto the guest list! Check out photos from that evening this Wednesday!
Thursday: For this week’s Lunch At First Bite I had lunch with a special guest star at Dac’s Smokehouse in Campustown and we had a delicious lunch!
Friday: I’ll be stopping somewhere for a sweet treat for this week’s Friday Sweet Spot, I just need to figure out where to go!
Saturday: We’ll take an historical trip through time with yet another Meanwhile, Back In Peoria’s Past post.
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Sunday Comic
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Related Posts: Sunday Links: Planes, Trains & Automobiles, All The President’s Men, Rolling Stone’s 55 Anniversary.