Timeless triumph of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas': The Gospel according to Linus
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!?”
This question has become more and more pertinent since good ol’ Charlie Brown exasperatingly uttered it in the best and certainly most authentically Christian, American Christmas special, broadcast nearly 60 years ago. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is a mere one year older than I am, and I have seen it countless times on three different continents in the company of Polish grandparents and Japanese schoolchildren. It remains evergreen and universal — just like the Savior whom Linus describes in his simple recitation of the Nativity as it appears in Luke’s Gospel.
However, that citing of Scripture did not easily pass the cynicism and cowardly cultural gatekeepers of American network television at the time Charles Schulz and his production team offered the first of what became many Peanuts specials to CBS executives in December of 1965. In fact, even before those suits tried to remove mentioning Christ from this Christmas show, Schulz’s two partners in the venture, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, both advised him to take the Gospel passage out of Linus’ mouth. As one of those executives put it, “The Bible thing scares us.” The Peanuts’ creator’s response spoke volumes: “If we don’t do it, who will?”
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The fact that any mention of Jesus over the public airwaves was controversial or ill-advised in the 1960s may come as a shock to us in 2024. Somehow, I had imagined an earlier America as being more tolerant, less paranoid of potential offense, or — in a word — timid. But this is simply not the case.
In an interesting aside, only a year later, Brian Wilson, upon penning the Beach Boys classic “God Only Knows,” was told his song was “too religious, too square.” And this is exactly what Lucy tells Charlie after he has the audacity to buy a “wooden” Christmas tree for their play: “We all know,” the psychologist of the group informs the naïve blockhead, “Christmas is a big commercial racket.” Among the aluminum trees and Christmas queens (as Lucy refers to herself), what room is there for the Light of the World?
Fortunately, we have Linus to put Charlie, the whole gang, and us right. Despite the skepticism of the cultural tastemakers at CBS, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was a gigantic hit when first broadcast on December 9, 1965. “All heaven broke loose,” as one New York adman described it, with critics and the viewing audience all hailing “the special that really is special.” The show went on to win a Peabody Award and has emerged as a Christmas icon. It is a perennial favorite of the season principally because it recognizes and trumpets its very reason. It should be required viewing at least once every Advent.
Because that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
Bernard Prokop is an Associate Professor of English at Colorado Christian University, where he has taught for over 25 years. He specializes in areas such as the International Baccalaureate program and film history, and he is the founder and faculty sponsor of the CCU Film Series, now in its seventh year. He lives in Arvada, Colorado, with his wife, Magda, and their three sons.
