Continuing a yearly tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

Halloween has come and gone… and so has It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Now that Turkey Day is soon upon us, why not revisit the special that doesn't get as much attention as its established Halloween and Christmas siblings, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

This episode first appeared on CBS back on November 20, 1973 and was the 9th primetime Peanuts special to air. Because its age is older than Christmas and Halloween, most of the voice talents are very different. Linus is voiced by the same person as in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, Stephen Shea… who incidentally was the younger brother of the guy who originally voiced Linus in the Christmas episode, Christopher Shea. The episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming.

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Continuing a yearly tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

With Tuesday being Election Day here in the United States, I'm happy to share audio from another Peanuts special, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

1972's "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown"

This episode debuted on CBS on October 29, 1972. Unlike the "classic 3" Peanuts television specials (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), this episode features different voice talent and a distinctly 1970s vibe. As such, I think it's missing a bit of "heart" when compared to the more popular specials.

Linus ponders the student body presidency

The plotline focuses on Linus running for student body president at his school. During his campaign, he mentions the Great Pumpkin… and I'll let you figure out what happens after that. Because of that topic, this episode is often aired with the classic Great Pumpkin Halloween episode.  It's was bundled with the Halloween special on 2000 DVD release. Later, in 2008, You're Not Elected received its own DVD release as the featured title.

The Big Speech!

Unlike the previously-shared "made for LP" version of a TV special, this is just the audio from the show itself, so some of the scenes that are visually-based might not translate well. But hey, it's Peanuts and it's Election Day, so why not!

As a special Election Week feature, you can download this audio in MP3 format… but once the ballots are all counted, it's gone. Enjoy!

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Continuing a yearly Halloween tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on October 27, 1966, as the third Peanuts television special (the first obviously being the Christmas one). It is here that most of the world who wasn't reading the comic strips was introduced to Linus Van Pelt's fascination with "the Great Pumpkin".

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown LP from 1978

Charles Schulz thought it would be funny to see what happens if a child confused Halloween with Christmas… and the rest was history. This year, the show is celebrating its 46th anniversary.

Continue Reading…

Continuing a yearly tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

Halloween has come and gone… and so has It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Now that Turkey Day is soon upon us, why not revisit the special that doesn't get as much attention as its established Halloween and Christmas siblings, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

This episode first appeared on CBS back on November 20, 1973 and was the 9th primetime Peanuts special to air. Because its age is older than Christmas and Halloween, most of the voice talents are very different. Linus is voiced by the same person as in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, Stephen Shea… who incidentally was the younger brother of the guy who originally voiced Linus in the Christmas episode, Christopher Shea. The episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming.

Continue Reading…

Continuing a yearly Halloween tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on October 27, 1966, as the third Peanuts television special (the first obviously being the Christmas one). It is here that most of the world who wasn't reading the comic strips was introduced to Linus Van Pelt's fascination with "the Great Pumpkin".

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown LP from 1978

Charles Schulz thought it would be funny to see what happens if a child confused Halloween with Christmas… and the rest was history. This year, the show is celebrating its 45th anniversary.

Continue Reading…

Continuing a yearly Christmas tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com as well as the TannerWorld Junction discussion forums…

A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on December 9, 1965, as the very first Peanuts television special. It's no surprise that it continues to air today!

"Linus, I wish I had some Charlie Brown audio!"

This special came to be thanks to none other than Coca-Cola, which approached the creators of a Charles Schultz documentary called A Boy Named Charlie Brown about doing a Peanuts Christmas special. While this documentary never aired on TV, it featured work from folks we now associate closely with Charlie Brown television specials… produced by Lee Mendelson, animation by Bill Melendez, and music by Vince Guaraldi. So ironically it was commercialism which brought the special to air!

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We're all pretty familiar with the 1965 television classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. But how familiar are you with the other Peanuts specials that celebrate this time of year? In fact, there are 4 in all!

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

The "sequel" to the classic appeared some 27 years later when It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown hit the airwaves on CBS in 1992. Interestingly, this was actually released to video first, via an exclusive at Shell gas stations.

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)

You can tell by watching that it tried to emulate the success of the original, and by doing so, failed miserably. Once you get past the annoying smooth jazz versions of Vince Guaraldi's music, you are treated to a plotline involving Charlie Brown trying to sell wreaths and buy gloves, Peppermint Patti attempting to get out of a book report, and yes, another Christmas play… with Scripture thrown in along the way. You'll never think of "Hark!" quite the same way after watching Sally practice her lines. Intended to be broadcast in a 30-minute timeslot for years to come, it was never seen on TV again. You can find it as a bonus feature on the DVD release for A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's not a great show, but it's fun to watch… kinda.

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Continuing a yearly Halloween tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com…

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on October 27, 1966, as the third Peanuts television special (the first obviously being the Christmas one). It is here that most of the world who wasn't reading the comic strips was introduced to Linus Van Pelt's fascination with "the Great Pumpkin".

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown LP from 1978

Charles Schulz thought it would be funny to see what happens if a child confused Halloween with Christmas… and the rest was history. This year, the show is celebrating its 44th anniversary.

While most are familiar with the TV version of this story, many might not know that an audio-only adaptation of the show was created on record in 1978. This shortened-for-LP version contains all the same voice talent and sound effects, but scripted as an exclusive listening experience. The original record has long been out-of-print and surprisingly has never been released on CD.

(If you listen carefully, you can hear the audio voice talent edits done to make the for-TV audio work as an audio-only experience… and note that these edits aren't done with the same voices.)

As a special Halloween treat, you can download this audio story here in MP3 format… but just during Halloween season only! Once November 1 comes around, it's gone! Enjoy

Download
It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 1) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:38, 13.4MB)

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Part 2) [Link Expired]
(MP3, 9:15, 12.9MB)