A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Premiered November 20, 1973.

Charlie Brown: We've got ANOTHER holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.
Sally Brown: I haven't even finished eating all of my Halloween candy!

Marcie: Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown.

Linus van Pelt: This is not unlike another famous Thanksgiving episode. Do you remember the story of John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins, and Captain Miles Standish?
Patricia 'Peppermint Patty' Reichardt: This isn't like that one at all!

It's Thanksgiving, but Charlie Brown (Todd Barbee)  and his sister Sally (Hilary Momberger) aren't very happy about it.  Holidays always depress Charlie Brown and this one is no exception.    Sally frets over her homework assignment,she needs to write an essay about "Stanley Miles" (Chuck rightly guesses she means Miles Standish).

Sally does not want to write an essay about "Stanley Miles"

Linus Van Pelt (Stephen Shea) arrives arrives and talks about the importance of the occasion.  He reminds them that the United States was the first country in the world to make a national holiday to give thanks. 

They discuss their Thanksgiving plans.  Charlie Brown says he, Sally and their parents will be visiting their grandmother for dinner.  Sally invites Linus to join them so they can hold hands under the table.

Charlie Brown gets a phone call from his friend Peppermint Patty (Christopher DeFaria).  She says her father has been called away, but he told her she could go over to Chuck's house for Thanksgiving.

Peppermint Patty tells him "I don't mind inviting myself over because I know you kind of like me, Chuck"!
Charlie Brown is incapable of getting a word in edgewise, so he doesn't mention to Peppermint Patty that he won't be home for Thanksgiving dinner.  She calls back and says their friends Marcie (Jimmy Ahrens) and Franklin (Robin Reed) will be coming along with her.

Charlie Brown doesn't know what to, he can't just call her back and cancel because "you can't explain anything to Peppermint Patty because you never get a chance to say anything!  I'm doomed!"

"I'm doomed!"

Linus suggests that he's not as doomed as he thinks and proposes a solution.  Charlie Brown doesn't have to be at his grandmother's house until 4:30, he can serve Thanksgiving dinner for his friends at his house earlier. He can't cook a turkey, so they decide to serve popcorn ,toast, jelly beans and pretzels.  Linus says he will help him and they enlist Snoopy and Woodstock (Bill Melendez, voicing both) to assist them.

Linus, Snoopy and Charlie Brown preparing a Thanksgiving feast for their guests

Snoopy and Woodstock get a ping-pong table and chairs out of the garage and set them up in the backyard.  Snoopy also uses this time as an excuse to play some basketball.  All goes well, until Snoopy has trouble unfolding a chair.  This leads to a fight between Snoopy and the chair.

Snoopy vs. dastardly anthropomorphic lawn chair

Peppermint Patty, Franklin and Marcy arrive and it's time for "dinner".  Snoopy serves food to everyone.  Linus says a prayer of thanks and tells a story about the first Thanksgiving.   But Peppermint Patty isn't happy.  She was expecting  turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

 "What kind of Thanksgiving dinner is this? Where's the turkey, Chuck? Don't you know anything about Thanksgiving dinners? Where's the mashed potatoes? Where's the cranberry sauce? Where's the pumpkin pie"

 She tears into Charlie Brown over this, he feels bad and walks off dejected.

Poor Charlie Brown!

 Can their Thanksgiving festivities be saved?


J.A. Morris says:

While it's not quite as good as its Halloween and Christmas counterparts, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is another Peanuts classic.  I've always loved Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Linus' version of a "Thanksgiving dinner".  It seems like the sort of thing real-life kids would do in that situation.

From what I've been able to determine (and I have a history degree!),  the Thanksgiving prayer Linus recites was made up for this special.  We don't know what Elder William Brewster said at the first Thanksgiving, but Linus' speech sounds like something one of the Pilgrims could have said.  It should also be noted that Brewster was spiritual leader, but not a minister, as Linus described him.

Linus says "grace".

Vince Guaraldi wrote and sings the song "Little Birdie".  The song works as nice background music for the scene where Snoopy and Woodstock set up for the party.           

Charlie Brown's nemesis Lucy is noticeably absent from most of this special.  But she shows up long enough to pull the football away from Chuck in the cold opening.  I appreciate the way Charles Schultz  invented new ways for Lucy to trick Charlie Brown attempting to kick the football.    

"One of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving Day football game. And the biggest most important tradition is the kicking off of the football."

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is something I grew up watching every year around Thanksgiving and I think it's something people all ages will enjoy.

"Isn't it peculiar Charlie Brown, how some traditions slowly fade away?"

J.A. Morris' rating:
4 Pumpkin Pies!

 


RigbyMel says:

This is another holiday classic from Charles Schulz, Bill Melendez et al.    I remember watching this as a child and feeling a bit outraged on Charlie Brown's behalf when Peppermint Patty invites herself over to his house for Thanksgiving and then gets angry when she doesn't get the meal she expects.   (Methinks there is a life/etiquette lesson embedded in there somewhere!)     I also think it is amusing that it appears Snoopy was holding out on Charlie Brown since a more traditional Thanksgiving repast emerges from the doghouse late in the episode. 

Does anyone else find it weird that Woodstock would be eating turkey?

As a height-challenged person,  I've always had an affection for Woodstock and he has more to do in this episode than in his previous animated special appearance. (For those keeping score at home, 1972's You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown was the first "holiday" special to include Woodstock -- check out our review of that here.)   I love the interactions with Snoopy, particularly the arguing over wearing Pilgrim costumes.

I also like really like Snoopy's epic battle with the lawn chair -  he even "play bows" to it at one point - showing he can act like a regular dog sometimes.

RAWR!

 As a side note,  when I was very little (and when yellow was my favorite color),  my parents gave me a Woodstock beanbag toy that I loved very much.   In fact, although I did not know this at the time, I actually had more than one of these as the first one fell apart and was quietly replaced.    Here's a picture of a toy that is similar, if not exactly the same as my dear, departed Woodstock beanbag:

A beanbag Woodstock of late 1970s vintage

To return to the special,  I also like that the kids sing "Over The River And Through The Wood",  a Thanksgiving song I remember learning in elementary school, during the episode.  The kids' singing is cute and authentic sounding since the Peanuts specials always use actual children to do the character voices.

Woodstock gets the bigger half of the wishbone!

 This is a special that I try to watch every year.    Fortunately,  it seems to still air on ABC every year and is also available via DVD/Blu-Ray, Netflix, Amazon video and others.   Maybe one day we'll even try to make Charlie Brown's unorthodox Thanksgiving meal ourselves!


RigbyMel's rating:
4 pumpkin pies

WKRP In Cincinnati: "Turkeys Away"

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"
-Arthur Carlson

First aired October 30, 1978

WKRP's station manager Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), aka "The Big Guy", is feeling like a fifth wheel at the radio station.  He asks program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) "what do I do?"  Travis tells him "you're the boss and you do...boss stuff."  Carlson says that's not good enough, he wants to be in charge of everything at the station.

Carlson reminds Andy Travis that he's "the Big Guy."

Carlson hovers over everyone, asking if he can help and gets on everyone's nerves.  He won't leave anyone alone.  DJs Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) get sick of Carlson's interference.  Newscaster Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) complains that Carlson is hanging around his teletype machine and wants to go on assignment with him.  He tries to take over Bailey Quarters' (Jan Smithers) t-shirt promotion.  Ad manager Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) says Carlson's meddling cost him a sale. They all take their complaints to Travis and ask him to get Carlson off their backs.

WKRP's staff complains to Travis about Carlson's meddling.

Carlson barges in and tells the staff he's "just concluded  a deal that's gonna make radio history...the greatest promotion idea of all time. All it's gonna take is your complete cooperation, absolute secrecy and 20 live turkeys."  WKRP will sponsor the greatest Thanksgiving promotion in history...!

Carlson puts Herb in charge of obtaining the 20 turkeys from a local farmer.  When it's time for the promotion, Les is sent to do a live radio feed outside a local mall, with Johnny working at the studio.  Suddenly, a helicopter appears overhead, carrying a banner that reads "Happy Thanksgiving From WKRP".  A door opens in the back of the helicopter, dropping (in Les' words) "a dark object. Perhaps a skydiver."  But it's not a skydiver.

"Oh, my goodness! Oh,the humanity!"

What has Carlson done?  Will this go down as the greatest Thanksgiving promotion of all time or the worst disaster in Turkey Day history?

J.A. Morris says:

WKRP was one of the best "workplace sitcoms" of my lifetime with one of the best ensemble casts.  "Turkeys Away" is the finest episode of the series, and one of the most memorable episodes of any series.

Venus, Jennifer (Loni Anderson), Andy and Bailey work on damage control

For once we get a Thanksgiving episode that has nothing to do with carving turkeys or kitchen disasters. Even before it gets to the "Thanksgiving" portion of the story, it's already a great episode.  Gordon Jump is excellent as Carlson here.  We've all felt left out at some point in our lives, so we can sympathize with Carlson...until he tries to micromanage everyone.  But the MVP of the episode is Richard Sanders as Les.  He makes us believe Carlson's "promotion" is actually happening.  Sanders deserved an Emmy for his work in "Turkeys Away."

The amazing thing about this episode (especially the finale, which I'm reluctant to spoil) is that it's almost done entirely through dialogue.  I could almost see this story being dramatized on the radio.

"Turkeys Away" can be found on dvd, as part of  WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete First Season
and it also streams for free on Hulu.  But beware, this cut of the episode will have all the original music removed.  There's a great scene where Carlson visits Johnny Fever in the DJ booth that's heavily edited due to music rights issues.  It's worth seeking out the original version of "Turkeys Away" if you can find it.  

"I thought it would work!"

A great episode and not a bad introduction to the series for those who've never seen WKRP.

J.A. Morris' Rating:
4 Pumpkin Pies!

RigbyMel says:

This is a classic sitcom and a classic Thanksgiving holiday episode.  I've seen it many times and it never fails to make me laugh.

Much credit should be given to Bill Dial who wrote the episode as well as to the actors (especially Richard Sanders' portrayal of Les Nessman) for their great comic delivery. 

As J.A. Morris says, it is a shame that current releases of this episode do not contain the original music cues due to rights issues.   There are some great scenes throughout the WKRP series that simply don't work as well with "generic" replacement tunes.   Also,  you miss out on a rather brilliant in-joke as Creedence Clearwater Revival's "It Came Out Of The Sky" plays during the climactic scene in the original broadcast version.   Even with the music related edits, though, this episode is one of the greats.

RigbyMel's rating:
4 pumpkin pies

Garfield's Thanksgiving

"Do you see that, Odie?  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  That's the day people celebrate having food by eating as much of it as possible!  Yes, that's the day people try to eat every turkey, pumpkin and cranberry on the face of the earth.  It's a tradition.  And you know how I LOVE tradition!"
-Garfield explaining Thanksgiving to Odie.

Premiered November 22, 1989

Garfield (Lorenzo Music) looks at the calendar and sees that he's scheduled to go to the vet that day. He notices that the next day is Thanksgiving and tries to trick his owner, Jon (Thom Huge) into believing Thanksgiving has already arrived.

Jon goes food shopping, Garfield thinks he's in the clear, but they stop at the vet on the way home.

Jon flirts with Dr. Liz Wilson (Julie Payne), the veterinarian. She's not interested in him, so he resorts to holding his breath until she says yes to his advances. Liz succumbs saying she "hates to see a dumb animal suffer." Liz agrees to have Thanksgiving dinner with Jon at his house. While examining Garfield, Liz says he's overweight and puts him on a low-fat/low-carb diet. Upon hearing this, Garfield gets very upset.

Thanksgiving Day arrives, Jon starts cooking dinner. He has no idea how to cook a turkey. Liz is arriving in three hours.

Jon decides to just put the turkey in the oven and turns the heat way up to make up for lost time. Garfield knows that won't work, but he doesn't care because his new diet prohibits him from eating any turkey.

Liz arrives and wonders if her prescribed diet was a bad idea. Garfield acts sick, so she tells him she would "rather see him fat and healthy." She recommends exercise instead.

  So Garfield is free to eat Thanksgiving dinner, but he remembers that due to Jon's stupidity, there's won't be any dinner. Garfield gets Jon to call his Grandmother, hoping she can save the day.

 Grandma (Pat Carroll) arrives and goes to work in the kitchen, while Jon stalls with Liz in the living room.

Can Grandma save Thanksgiving? Will Liz think even less of Jon after their Thanksgiving "date"?

J.A. Morris says:

"Garfield's Thanksgiving" is a lot of fun, especially for fans of Garfield's newspaper strip and Saturday morning series.  There aren't that many Thanksgiving specials, but this is one of the best.  Garfield's primary goal in life is to eat as much as possible, so he makes a perfect subject for a Thanksgiving story.  Lorenzo Music is excellent as Garfield (one of the best voice casting choices of all time), the rest of the voice cast is pretty good too.  Julie Payne also has some great deadpan lines as Liz.

While I've never been as bad a cook as Jon Arbuckle is in this special, but I have committed some Thanksgiving blunders in the kitchen.  So this is something I could relate to.  I also don't think Thanksgiving dinner is the best time to have a "first date" in real life, but it goes okay for Liz and John.

As a cat owner, I also appreciated the sub-plot about taking Garfield to the Vet. 

The only thing that doesn't work is a song called "It's A Quiet Celebration" sung by Desiree Goyette.  It's about the meaning of Thanksgiving near the end of the show.  The sentiment is fine, but it feels out of place in Garfield's Thanksgiving.  On the other hand, the opening song by Lou Rawls, "Make Thanksgiving One Whole Meal" is great.  We don't have many "Thanksgiving-themed" songs, I'm sorry this Rawls' song didn't catch on beyond the special.  Give the song a listen:

 

Like I said, if you're a Garfield fan (especially a fan of '80s-era Garfield), you'll love Garfield's Thanksgiving.  If you're not familiar with America's favorite Fat Cat, this Thanksgiving special will serve as a nice introduction to the character. 

J.A. Morris' rating:
Four Pumpkin Pies!

RigbyMel says:

This is a classic Garfield special.   We have the obligatory cooking disaster Thanksgiving trope,  Garfield freaking out about being forced to diet near the holiday (and arguing with the talking scale, which compares him to Orson Welles)  and there is even a visual reference to U.S. Acres, the other  Jim Davis comic strip from the 80s.   Check out Orson the U.S. Acres pig in Liz the vet's waiting room:

Orson the U.S. Acres pig waiting to see the vet

Garfield vs. the RX2 talking scale:  "Judging by your weight, you are Orson Welles."

I also must give a shout out to the great voice work by Pat Carroll (best remembered as Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid)  as Grandma (yay for Grandma!) and Gregg Berger as Odie the dog.   Odie's self-appointed policing of Garfield's diet is something I remembered from watching the special when it was new (or at least new-ish) and it remains funny.

Odie acting as a literal whistle-blower when Garfield tries to cheat on his diet

As a history geek, I actually wanted to hear more of Jon's lecture on the history of Thanksgiving that he uses to stall Liz while Grandma is at work in the kitchen.   I would not have been bored by it, but to each their own!  

The only note that rings false to me in this special is the Desiree Goyette "It's A Quiet Celebration" song that J.A. Morris mentions above, the sentiment of it is nice, but the cloying presentation of said sentiment isn't easy to take. 

Despite the annoying song, this is a special that makes for recommended annual Thanksgiving viewing.

RigbyMel's rating:
4 Pumpkin Pies

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown

First aired October 29, 1972.


"You can't go to school without a rousing breakfast!  It's a known fact the all of our country's Presidents started each day with a rousing breakfast.  I don't know how they managed to get together every morning.  But I guess that's one of those things about government I don't understand."
-Sally

It's time for Birchwood School to hold their class elections.  Linus Van Pelt (Stephen Shea) thinks Charlie Brown (Chad Webber) should run for Student Body President.  Chuck doesn't think anyone (besides Linus) would vote for him.  Lucy (Robin Kohn) conducts a poll that says he would lose if he ran, so Charlie Brown chooses not to run.  But Linus decides to run for President.  Lucy conducts another poll that says 99% of the students think Linus should run.  Some of the people she polls are bullied by Lucy into saying they think Linus would make a good President.  Lucy also decides to serve as Linus' campaign manager. 

Lucy books Linus on a local talk show that takes phone questions.  This turns out to be a waste of time, as none of the callers asks a cogent question.

Lucy says the latest poll numbers show Linus is leading 98% to 2%.  Linus' electoral opponent is a quiet boy named Russell Anderson (Todd Barbee).  When they meet for a debate, Russell gets up and says that he's honored to run for President, adding "if I'm elected, I promise to do the best I can.  Thank you."

In contrast, Linus is a natural firebrand politician (channeling Mark Antony and William Jennings Bryan), he says his administration "will release us from our spiritual Babylon".

He promises wide-sweeping changes, including raises for teachers and custodians and safety for any dog who shows up on the playground.  He says his first act as President will be to meet with the school board.  He's forced to back-track, realizing the board meets after his bedtime!  But the crowd eats up everything Linus says, cheering and clapping for him. 

The crowd goes crazy for Linus!

Linus is interviewed by Violet (Linda Ercoli) for the school paper, and Schroeder (Brian Kazanjian) sets up a photo-op for the candidate with Snoopy (Bill Melendez).  It seems like Linus will cruise to victory.

Schroeder thinks Snoopy will make Linus appear more "homey".

But then Linus commits a campaign "gaffe".  During his last speech before the election, he goes on a tangent about his belief in the Great Pumpkin!

Linus is laughed off stage, Lucy and Charlie Brown freak out about this.

Lucy and Chuck react to Linus' gaffe-"Aaugh!"

Linus is distraught, he tells his friends "I've blown the election.  Go ahead and say it, I know you want to say it".

But all hope is not lost,  Lucy says her internal poll shows that Linus and Russell are tied at 50%.  On election day, the vote is very close.  It may come down to one or two votes.

Election Day:Votes are cast and counted.

Can Linus prevail?  Will his speech about the Great Pumpkin come back to haunt him?

J.A. Morris says:

You're Not Elected Charlie Brown is not the best Peanuts special, but it's fun and serves as a nice introduction to politics for kids.  The original voice cast is gone, but it has the same look and great Vince Guaraldi music of the classic specials.

Speaking of Vince Guaraldi, fans of Snoopy's "Joe Cool" persona will enjoy this special.  It contains a scene that features Guaraldi singing the song "Joe Cool" that accompanies Snoopy's attempts to be cool.

"Joe Cool" tries to impress a girl.

It seems like every Presidential Election (and many Senatorial and Gubernatorial Elections) has one infamous campaign gaffe.  Linus' comments about the Great Pumpkin are the sort of thing that could change an election in the real world.

If there's anything wrong with the special, it's that it takes a little while to get to the main plot.  There's an opening segment that deals with Sally's (Hilary Momberger) inability to open the lock on her locker.  This leads to Charlie Brown being humiliated when she uses him as her Show And Tell object.  Not a bad scene, but it has nothing to do with the "election" storyline.

This special has been released on dvd several times and is also available as streaming video on Amazon.

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown is a solid special.  It's not as well known as other Peanuts offerings  (I think I remember watching it once as a kid), or quite as good, but it's worth checking out.

J.A. Morris' rating:
3 Ballot Boxes

RigbyMel says:

As J.A. Morris says,  You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown is an enjoyable special, but probably not a "classic".  There are definitely some funny and believable moments -  I especially liked that Linus almost seems to be channeling scenes from Citizen Kane in his campaign speech and his "Great Pumpkin" gaffe is a definite highlight.    Also the watercolored autumnal backgrounds in the outdoor scenes are rather wonderful.

In addition to the somewhat extraneous subplots J.A. Morris mentions above, I also wondered about Sally having a locker at school at all.  Is it common for elementary school kids to have lockers?  I know I didn't have a locker at school until junior high, but perhaps my experience was anomalous.   It struck me as weird based on my personal experience in school.

Snoopy & Woodstock making campaign signs

If you are tired of political ads this election season and don't want to spend all night watching election returns,  this special is a fun, non-partisan escape.  

RigbyMel's rating:
3 Ballot Boxes