Good grief, the contract for ABC to air the Peanuts specials have expired. Apple TV + has now taken hold of these specials for their streaming service, making one wonder, is this a good thing? Is this the end of Charlie Brown?
Some background about the Peanuts specials: They began airing in 1965 when CBS and Coca-Cola bought A Charlie Brown Christmas from Lee Mendelson....something Charles Schulz had to write the next day. Upon first glance, CBS saw it and hated it since it had Jazz Music, amateurish voice acting (they used real kids), a didn't look too exciting like other cartoon shows at that time, but the first airing received a 49% share of the ratings plus an Emmy and a Peabody. This led to CBS airing more, although a rough patch was hit by the third special. Either they make another Blockbuster, or they would not order anymore shows. Fortunately, that third special, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, was a hit too, and CBS left them alone since. From 1965-1999, a mix of old and new specials with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and the entire Peanuts gang were a staple of the network. Many of these specials also aired briefly on Nickelodeon as part of the You're on Nickelodeon Charlie Brown block.
In 2000, ABC took over the role of airing the Charlie Brown specials. Like CBS, they had a mix of both old and some new specials. Already by that time they were considered gems. They had become classic television just as much as I Love Lucy or The Twilight Zone. What's more, they, along with some of the Rankin/Bass specials and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, were ratings powerhouse. No matter how old they were and no matter how much we've seen them over again, people still tuned in as they became traditional. Now, 2020 comes along and it brings with everything else it has to offer a new deal with Apple TV + for exclusive streaming rights. For a brief period, the holiday represented would be accessed for free. The rest of the time, you will need an Apple + subscription. This deal also includes new specials and series.
So......what happened? The answer, a lot. The bigger picture here is that traditional TV, as we know it, is struggling somewhat to streaming, and as bad as networks like CBS and ABC are doing, cable networks are doing worse. So cable was off the table. Meanwhile, ABC had major restructuring issues. It's owner, the Disney Company, had begun pushing more of their newly acquired properties. This meant more Star Wars, more Marvel, and more of their original movies. Not to mention the major success Frozen would get meaning they had to milk that cow. Old TV specials were easy victims of edits and time compression due to more commercial air time, and when paired with a Toy Story special, the chances of them being edited go up. The last couple of years became increasingly clear that once the contract was up, ABC was DONE. Very few promotions were made about them, usually overshadowed by the latest Disney moments. The last major promotion done was in 2015 for A Charlie Brown Christmas's 50th Anniversary.
On the other hand, when Apple TV + launched in 2019, it had very weak programming unlike competitors like Netflix and Disney +, but it also came with a new series, Snoopy in Space. For Apple, it was a success, leading to the Peanuts in Space documentary and now The Snoopy Show. Disney + had Mickey Mouse, HBO Max had Bugs Bunny, all Apple needed was just one classic iconic cartoon character to anchor the streaming service, so why not Snoopy?
Here's where we stand, Apple + is apparently getting all the specials. Whether they'll all show up on the service has yet to be seen. As of now, The Great Pumpkin is the only special on there. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will appear in November and A Charlie Brown Christmas will appear in December. On select days during said holiday, the specials will be available to watch for free. In addition, The Snoopy Show will debut in February with plans for new TV specials for days like Mother's Day and New Year's Eve.
For me personally, I am going to wait to subscribe. If they were to have the entire library up or something close to it, I'd easily subscribe. But as I said earlier, Apple + is still currently slim pickings. In the meantime, might as well check out the free versions when available (though I already have mostly everything on DVD anyways). Is it sad to see them leave network television, but let's face facts; TV networks have very little interest in shows not in HD (even though many have been restored in HD) and are not in 16:9 (interestingly enough, recent restorations have these specials CROPPED to that aspect ratio). This is especially true with cartoons as only a handle of stuff pre-HD reruns on cable and over the air networks. It does hurt that rural areas with little to no good internet connections will miss out for sure, but hopefully that may change someday soon.
As for the specials, I did a post about TV specials when it was announced that Freeform picked up Rudolph and Frosty for broadcasting during their annual 25 Days of Christmas, and I have said this for a little while since. Has the network's view of these specials being special despite ratings success lean towards not being special anymore, yes. However, are these still special? That's up to one person......YOU. Do you have fond memories watching these knowing you only saw them ONCE a Year, or seeing if The Great Pumpkin would appear year after year, seeing Snoopy the WWI Flying Ace Dog fighting The Red Baron, and Charlie Brown finding the true meaning of Christmas? Do you have plans to pass these down to your children and now grandchildren? If so, they really are still special. They hold a strong place in many people's hearts that they won't be going away anytime soon.
As won't the Peanuts Gang, they're not done for; they are still going to be around. We've got new content coming next year for sure with a new season of Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show. We're looking at new specials, and heck if Covid finally let's up, we might see the newest Camp Snoopy open up at Michigan's Adventure. Charlie Brown and the gang are and will always be a part of our family. They have been with us for the past 70 years, and there is no stopping them now.
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| The Peanuts Gang await your return to your favorite Cedar Fair Park when they can open again |
