Yesterday, Nov. 26, would have been Charles M. Schulz's one hundred and second birthday. The Minneapolis native and World War II veteran spent his life drawing, and while his high school yearbook wouldn't accept his art, he eventually found a home for it in an anti-Communist propaganda comic book and the Saturday Evening Post. His beloved "Peanuts" comic strips didn't go to print until 1950. For the next 50 years, he'd draw 17,897 comic strips featuring Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, and the gang. At the time of his death in 2000, the strip appeared in over 2,600 newspapers across 75 countries.
Schulz is arguably one of the most iconic American cartoonists of all time, and for many of us, he's become an integral part of our holiday season. For me, Peanuts holiday specials were a staple in my home. My mom was obsessed with them, and I guess she influenced me to be, too. Every year, even after I was well into adulthood, she and I would gather around the TV together to watch those specials. We could practically recite every line. Sadly, she died in 2021, but every holiday, I still watch in her honor.
My mom, like many others, loved Peanuts programs because they were both entertaining and wholesome. They incorporated Christian values and sometimes a history lesson, too. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," which debuted in 1973, is no different. It's also the first Peanuts special to have its own original script that wasn't initially printed as a comic. And it's one of the first Peanut specials to include a major speaking role for Franklin, the comic strip's first black character. The late Robin Reed was only 11 years old when he voiced the character for the special, and in a 2021 interview, he said he was proud of it and felt it "represented progress."
Spoiler alert for anyone who lives under a rock: The plot of the holiday special involves Peppermint Patty inviting herself and some friends to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving. He doesn't know how to cook, but Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock get together and help him put together a meal for the whole Peanuts gang. Their meal is far from traditional — popcorn, toast, candy, pretzels, and ice cream — and I remember thinking that sounded like a great meal to me as a child. But Peppermint Patty was expecting turkey and the works, and she wasn't quite as amused. Fortunately for her, Charlie Brown's grandmother invites them all to accompany him to his family's Thanksgiving dinner.
Anyway, before the kids eat, Peppermint Patty suggests they say a prayer. Linus speaks up and recites one from the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
While "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" may not be quite as popular as the Peanuts Christmas and Halloween specials, it's still one of the most iconic holiday specials of all time. And when I started thinking about writing this article, I realized it seems like one of the few Thanksgiving specials that exists and/or has survived over 50 years of airtime. My colleague here at PJ Media, Lincoln Brown, told me, "Believe it or not, back in the 1970s, there were a ton of animated Thanksgiving specials… but that was before the internet, when networks actually had programming for kids."
It seems like those of us who grew up in the decades after that got the short end of the stick when it comes to Thanksgiving programming. I did a little research and found many alleged reasons as to why Hollywood ignores one of the biggest holidays of the year. Comicbook.com suggests it's not commercially viable, citing that when you walk into a store after Halloween, the theme immediately goes from witches, monsters, and vampires to Christmas trees and Santa. GQ points out that there isn't much to the holiday other than, well, eating a meal. That makes sense. It's more of a holiday for grocery stores than Hollywood, I suppose. The website Film Obsessive suggests there's just no magic surrounding the holiday, like Christmas and Halloween offer.
On the other hand, Bustle points out that while there may not be many Thanksgiving movies, there are several movies that feature Thanksgiving scenes, and "it’s usually one of the most successful box office weekends of the year. Studios always release some of their biggest films at this time so we can take advantage of a lazy, overstuffed belly of a Friday afternoon at the movie theater." ScreenRant also points out that a lot of the most beloved sitcoms offer up quality Thanksgiving programming, like "Friends," "Modern Family," and "Everybody Loves Raymond."
With all of this in mind, I decided to ask my colleagues here at PJ Media if they have their own holiday viewing traditions. Given that I'm the new girl around here, it was also a fun way to maybe learn a little about them. Our editor Chris Queen is one of those who appreciates those sitcoms. He said he almost always watches "Brooklyn Nine Nine's" first season's Thanksgiving episode and the episode of "Mad About You" where Paul and Jamie try to cook Thanksgiving for their parents.
Robert Spencer said he likes to watch the 2003 film "Masked and Anonymous," starring Bob Dylan, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, and Jeff Bridges. He called it "bizarre" but "wildly entertaining." I've never seen it, but as a big Bob Dylan fan, I'll definitely have to check it out.
ironically, one of our youngest writers, Catherine Salgado, said she enjoys watching the old Bergen-McCarthy Thanksgiving TV special that debuted back in 1950. The aforementioned Lincoln Brown said he used to like to kick back with the annual "Planet of the Apes" marathon while his wife cooked up some turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving Day, and on Black Friday, when his wife and daughter went shopping, he'd settle in with a plate of leftovers and the old Sci-Fi channel, presumably before it became Syfy.
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Several of our writers chimed in and said they spend the day watching football. "For 50 plus years I've been watching the Detroit Lions lose on Thanksgiving — last year, too. This year might be different," Kevin Downey Jr. told me, while Scott Pinsker said, "I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. So I usually spend Thanksgiving Day screaming about the point spread, threatening to murder referees. Fun times." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that KDJ is going to have a better football day than Pinsker, though the Cowboys are playing the Giants, so who knows who will win? I just know that those of us who have to watch that game will likely lose.
Personally, I spend most of the day watching football, too, but I find some time to sneak in my annual viewing of my favorite movie, "Gone With the Wind."
We'd love to know about your annual Thanksgiving TV and/or movie viewing traditions. Let us know in the comments. Happy Thanksgiving!
