Good grief.
Since 2020, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been gone from network television.
For 54 years, the special aired on CBS, then ABC, every December — and millions of kids made sure they were sitting in front of the TV the moment it aired.
My family followed the same ritual for years: sitting in our wood-paneled basement family room, we’d plug in the Christmas tree and turn off the lamps.
As the Christmas lights glowed softly, we’d smile as Vince Guaraldi’s Trio played “Christmas Time Is Here” while the Peanuts gang glided across the ice.
Though Charlie Brown is no longer on broadcast television, the truth is it was almost never broadcast at all.
When CBS executives screened the first cut, they hated it. They didn’t like the amateur voices of real children. They didn’t think audiences would understand or appreciate Guaraldi’s cool jazz. And they especially disliked Linus quoting Scripture in prime time.
But creator Charles M. Schulz refused to make a single change — and with the deadline fast approaching, CBS had no choice but to air it exactly as Schulz wanted it.
What happened next is legend: On Dec. 9, 1965, nearly half of America’s television sets — more than 15 million households — tuned in to watch.
The show delivered massive ratings every December for years — still ranking No. 1 among adults 18 to 49 in 2019, the last year ABC broadcast it.
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We all identify deeply with Charlie Brown’s dilemma. He is depressed because everyone around him fails to see the true meaning of Christmas. Lucy complains that she doesn’t want toys or clothes — she wants “real estate!”
To resolve his depression, Charlie Brown throws himself into his work as the director of the Christmas play. But that soon falls apart, too.
Distraught, he follows a light in the east and finds his way to a Christmas tree lot. The only tree he can find is a small, sickly one. When he brings it back, the others mock him.
But then Linus comes to the rescue and tells the story of Christ’s birth from the Gospel of Luke: “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.”
Suddenly, the other characters are transformed. They decorate the tree into a thing of beauty and gather around Charlie Brown to sing a Christmas carol.
I know it’s ironic that a television show whose commercial sponsors have sold a lot of consumer goods — and whose rights were sold to Apple TV+ for huge dollars — would be noted for its anti-commercial message.
But it is — because Charles Schulz was a genius.
For 54 years, there was something very special about whole families gathering together at exactly 8 PM when the show aired every December — not scattered in separate rooms updating social media feeds.
For all the gains that technology — and streaming video — have brought us, this is one of our great losses.
Hey, ABC: Bring Charlie Brown back to broadcast. Restore that 8 PM family huddle under the Christmas lights — just as it should be.
Sure, Apple TV+ recently extended its exclusive lock on Peanuts through 2030 — and yes, it will offer the show for free a couple of days in December — but millions of Americans still long for that one-night-only family experience only broadcast TV can deliver.
Good grief.
Find Tom Purcell’s syndicated column, humor books, and funny videos of his dog, Thurber, at TomPurcell.com. Email him at Tom@TomPurcell.com.
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