On this day in 1965, CBS finally took a chance and aired A Charlie Brown Christmas, which was adapted from the comic strip.
The theme of the animated film was ahead of its time with Charlie Brown upset with the commercialism of Christmas.
Charlie Brown: I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.
Linus Van Pelt: Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem. Maybe Lucy’s right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.
I remember as a kid adoring this program, however, the Charlie Brown classic had an uphill battle with CBS executives before ever making it on air
The Smithsonian has the scoop.
Days before the air date, CBS—which had taken the gamble of this drastic sidestep from their successful primetime philosophy—had the opportunity to take their first look at the special. Fred Silverman, a former CBS programming executive, was in his late 20s during the time of the viewing.
“The general reaction was one of some disappointment,” he remembered. “That it didn’t really translate as well as we thought.”
“[CBS executives] didn’t get the voices,” Mendelson told The Washington Post. “They didn’t get the music. They didn’t get the pacing.” CBS would only air the show, executives said, because they had already scheduled it to run the following week.
Prior to the airing, Time magazine published a review of the special that presaged its overwhelming reception. “A ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ is one children’s special that bears repeating,” wrote Richard Burgheim.
On Thursday, December 9, 1965, over 15 million households tuned in to judge for themselves. The reception would turn the special into a classic. CBS soon learned that nearly half of American television sets had watched what the network thought would be a flop.
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