Charlie Brown Specials

[Dacey]

Time to gather the whole family round the cell phone.

I actually think enough people will be upset with this for it not to "stick" for next year.

[EricJ]

But, yeah, things like traditional TV airings will become a thing of the past. Wait for Warners to start restricting their Rankin/Bass library to HBOM, and probably The Grinch to follow. Does this mean Warners' home video rights expire for Peanuts as well?

Traditional TV airings have been a thing of the past for years now, since networks long since abandoned special programming, rather than fuel their corporately-owned moneymaker-icon series.
The 70's, back in the days when the whole country was watching at the same time, might have pre-empted All in the Family for the traditional airing of Charlie Brown Christmas, but nobody asks modern-day CBS or NBC to let Young Sheldon or CSI stand aside for anybody...

It's only recently that the Peanuts New Year's and Valentine specials were added back to 21st-cty. network broadcast, as the usual airings of ACBC, Rudolph, and the Great Pumpkin were more in the interest of promoting Warner's marketable trademarks.
Those who wanted a more reliable airing already bought them on disc back in the 00's.

[Dacey]

Except that...Rudolph has literally aired every year since it first premiered. It’s safe to say it’s been “dependable”...

[Randall]

Peanuts would have been a great fit for Disney. After all, they distributed the Peanuts records for years, too.

[Ben]

And then own Blue Sky's feature! Hadn’t thought about that before. Yeah, silly movie not to secure those rights...

[gaastra]

Charlie brown had the highest rating every year. Even last year they did great. That's why they air frosty three times a year now. They get big ratings.

NCIS big final was crushed by charlie brown!

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/ ... -christmas

This is of course why apple wanted them. Downside is if it's shoved off to a less used netlfix like service kids may never grow up on it and it will be lost like the garfield specials. Apple had the digital copies for sale removed also! If you bought it before you are fine but right now you can't buy charlie brown christmas on the digital sites! We didn't know why.

Now we know why. (lets hope you can buy them again in the future.)

[Dacey]

The thing is there's a "communal" feeling that comes with watching something on television with the knowledge that millions are enjoying it "with you" at the same time. For something as associated with the holidays as Peanuts--and with the networks in a desperate need for content to the point where CBS has brought back the Sunday Night Movie--this seems like something that's going to backfire as far as PR is concerned.

[Ben]

Unfortunately, this is the new reality. Kids don’t care about communal experiences anymore, and probably only watched at Crimbo because they were dragged to the TV. Ironically, by making it "cool" to the Apple crowd, kids won’t end up watching, as you say, and the very reason they bought it for will end up killing it.

This is the same for the theatre issue: most kids now are just as happy (happier?) to watch huge epics on a four inch screen. Piracy shows there is no value put into whether something is a five minute DIY YouTube vid, or a $200m blockbuster: as far as they are concerned, it’s all just "content", to be dipped into, paused whenever, or just junked halfway through if they don’t like it.

Everything will become fragmented like this, and watched on individual screens, to the point that, as I said in my now very old Blu-ray review, we will see that Andrew Stanton was right on the money in how we will all end up in WALL-E, by and large.

[ShyViolet]

This! A million times.


“Try blue! It’s the new red.”

“Have your cupcake...in a cup!”


Communal experiences were always the best. So weird how absolutely archaic the expression “the 6:00 News” has become.

[Daniel]

The news sure has spread like wildfire! Even saw it mentioned on TV. Still can't believe it's not airing! Good grief.

[EricJ]

The news sure has spread like wildfire! Even saw it mentioned on TV. Still can't believe it's not airing! Good grief.

It's kind of like that sudden panic we had during "Netflix-pocalypse" in '13, back when Starz suddenly left Netflix, taking almost 2000 of their movie titles off the service. You'd think the world really WAS coming to an end, in the general non-technical news press.

If you think most audiences are pretty grounded about streaming vs. disc, just watch some sudden self-indulgent act by one studio or service shake up the landscape, and the general grownup news press will freak out--What will we DO????
That's called "Withdrawal symptoms", and it happens to addicts. Or just overly complacent people who thought Streaming services were good people that would serve them everything on a silver platter forever.

[Daniel]

No surprise, DVD copies are now fetching a pretty penny on eBay.. when just recently you could have won it for a dollar! Crazy! Glad I already own 'em.

[Daniel]

Today marks the first day of the free period dealy on Apple TV. Looks like you do need an Apple ID to watch if you don't already have one. Only Great Pumpkin, no Election special.

[Daniel]

After all the backlash, You're on PBS, Charlie Brown! Tradition resumes. Happy news!

[gaastra]

CBS can join apple as grinches. They once again blocked frosty from digital cable over money. Jerks.