How the Creator of ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Got the Gospel Past CBS Execs

Watching Charlie Brown Christmas has been a tradition for millions since it first aired on December 9, 1965. In 2020, many Americans were disappointed that Apple TV scooped up the streaming rights for future years. The outrage ultimately resulted in it showing up exclusively on PBS and again on 2021. This is a way to combat this kind of problem and to reduce the risk of cancel culture by purchasing so-called controversial shows and movies on Blu Ray DVD.

It doesn’t matter how you view it. There is so much to love: The Vince Guaraldi music, humor, and animation are all great. But one part of the special has always stood out and made it unique: Linus’s recitation of the Gospel of Luke. 

Explaining the true meaning of Christmas in a network television special broadcast to millions was a controversial move, even 55 years ago. 2015. The Washington PostPublished a retrospective Charlie Brown Christmas. Michael Cavna explained Peanuts creator Charles Schulz’s mission in making the special: 

 

 

Charles Schulz was firm in his core goal: Charlie Brown Christmas had to be about something. The true meaning of Christmas. Otherwise, Schulz said, “Why bother doing it?”

To Coca-Cola’s credit, Mendelson says, the corporate sponsor never balked at the idea of including New Testament passages. The result — Linus’s reading from the Book of Luke about the meaning of the season — became “the most magical two minutes in all of TV animation,” the producer says.

Schulz stood firm, in spite of attempts to convince him not to quote from the Bible. The following was published on December 5, 2005 USA Today recounted: 

[Executive producer Lee]Mendelson, Bill Melendez and animator Bill Melendez were concerned about Charles Schulz’s insistent that their first TV show be a spinoff. He wanted it to end with Linus reading from the Gospel of Luke the Christmas story.

Schulz was told by us, “Look, you cannot read the Bible on network TV.”,’ ” Mendelson says. Melendez and me looked at one another after we had finished watching the program and said that Charlie Brown was gone. “

Kara Kovalchik, a Mental Floss author, recounts what followed: 

CBS made an agreement with their sponsor and aired the special on December 9th 1965. The suit’s initial reaction was wrong, as is so often the case with entertainment. Charlie Brown ChristmasIt attracted 15.4 Million viewers and was second in ratings for that week. Bonanza. Charles Schulz, Lee Mendelson and Lee Mendelson received an Emmy Award in Outstanding Children’s Programs a few months later. 

And so, the Charlie Brown creator persevered and created a Christmas classic that endures 56 years later. In case you don’t remember the iconic moment, here it is: 

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. The sign will be to you, ye shall see the newborn wrapped in warm clothes and placed in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace and goodwill towards men.’” 

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

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