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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: October 27, 1966
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. [Stream on Amazon Video.]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: After the success of A Charlie Brown Christmas the year before, the Peanuts gang was back for another TV special. This one featured some of the old standbys, including Lucy yanking the football away from Charlie Brown, Snoopy’s adventures as the World War I flying ace, and Sally’s crush on her sweet babboo Linus. But besides Charlie Brown’s sad-sack efforts to go out trick-or-treating (“I got a rock”), It’s the Great Pumpkin belongs to Linus.
In classic Peanuts style, Linus’ naive quest to see his beloved Great Pumpkin sees the kids shouldering the kinds of heavily philosophical dilemmas that adults often don’t have patience for. Linus’ innocent belief in the Great Pumpkin is tested and mocked. Linus tells us that the Great Pumpkin will only visit the pumpkin patch that is the most sincere. If you know how to properly evaluate the sincerity of a pumpkin patch, you be sure to let me know. Meanwhile, Linus has to deal with the anger that comes when you finally realize that your gods and phantoms won’t be there to protect you. That it’s only you in the universe; the Great Pumpkin is a lie, your parents voices drone on as if they are indecipherable, your friends abandon you, your sister berates you, even the little girl who once idolized you will soon find you pathetic. PRETTY HEAVY STUFF, CHARLES SCHULTZ!
And then. THEN. Charlie Brown makes the mistake of assuming Linus agrees that his Great Pumpkin allegiance was pretty stupid, and Linus reacts very poorly. This poor kid to berate himself for failing to properly prepare himself for the Great Pumpkin’s arrival, in the hopes that next year will be different. So now, Linus will feel guilty and inadequate for a whole year while still clinging to his belief in a Great Pumpkin that won’t show itself. It’s a metaphor for organized religion, people!
You can watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on Amazon. (Or, psst, it’s streaming on YouTube.)
