On December 9, 1965, CBS aired the holiday special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
This Tuesday is the 60th 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 the upcoming 60th 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: Last night I traveled to Eureka, Illinois with my friends, Tim and Moon. Moon is socially known as “The Meat Man.” We had a fun evening and fantastic pizza at the Wendy Puff Pizzeria + Pub. You can read all about this fun road trip tomorrow!
Tuesday: We’re continuing the MBIP Appetizer Tour and this week is our twelfth stop and I met my friend Steven at Saffron Social in downtown Peoria. We enjoyed a trio of luncheion appetizers and you can check that out on Tuesday.
Wednesday: We’ll be featuring the Sandwich of the Month this Wednesday from Kenny’s Westside Pub!
Thursday: The Six Shops Of Xmas tour will continue this Thursday and I’m not sure where I’m going to, so tune in and we’ll both find out!
Friday: We’ll be samping snacks for another Friday Bites post this Friday,
Saturday: Next Saturday we’ll be glancing in Peoria’s past for another Meanwhile, Back In Peoria’s Past post.
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Sunday Comic
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Related Posts: Sunday Links: Planes, Trains And Automobiles, All The President’s Men and Network.