It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown

Put on your leg warmers and lay out your flattened cardboard, refrigerator box to show off your sweet breakdancing moves. The 1980s are back! This month, we're watching "IT'S FLASHBEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN" from 1984 and a 1983 episode of "THE CHARLIE BROWN & SNOOPY SHOW". In the former, we soar like and an eagle. In the latter, when we do the Pig-Pen hoedown, we really kick up some dust. In between,...

What do designer jeans, ducks, crosswalks and World War II soldiers have in common?  They're all here in episode 28 of the podcast! We've got Emmy nominated WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED, CHARLIE BROWN?, which originally aired May 30, 1983 and another CHARLIE BROWN & SNOOPY SHOW from November 26, 1983. We've also got a Peanuts by Schulz called  "A Little Love" and another Random Strip of the Month. Enjoy! ...

Episode 27 is shall we say...adventurous? Not all of us get to experience this month's Comic-Con adventure, so we have to make our own adventure, which is not a problem with the 1983 "IT'S AN ADVENTURE, CHARLIE BROWN" and, also from 1983, another episode of "THE CHARLIE BROWN & SNOOPY SHOW". Marcie is a football star! Kite-eating trees! Running from the law! Angelic messages! And Charlie Brown's h...

This is a month of fond and not so fond farewells. In IS THIS GOODBYE, CHARLIE BROWN? from 1983, Mr. VanPelt has been transferred so Linus and Lucy have to move away! Will Charlie Brown get over the loss of his best friend? What will become of Linus's blanket? Will Charlie Brown follow through on the promise Peppermint Patty made for him to take her out to forget about his loss? Or will he leave h...

Have you ever packed a suitcase for a trip? Don't worry. I'm going somewhere with this. If you have packed a suitcase, you know sometimes you have too many sweaters and Snoopy print underwear to stuff in there. Episode 25, it turns out, was kind of like that. There was just TOO MUCH SHOW to stuff in there. Thus, this bonus episode was born. The Elmhurst History Museum in Elmhurst, Illinois is the...

Episode 25 of the podcast is a celebration! No, really, it's in the title. We're watching A CHARLIE BROWN CELEBRATION from 1982. I'll bet Lucy hates that concept. Is the party that is this HOUR LONG episode worth show up for?  The undercard for this month's episode is a new segment on the podcast. I do a deep dive into the origins and history of Snoopy's alter-ego The World Famous Author, which, o...

For episode 24 of the podcast, it would be cool if I had a clever tie in to twenty-four hours in a day. But I don't. What I do have is my conversation with Stephen Lind, author of the 2015 book A Charlie Brown Religion , which is much more than a mere Schulz biography. Lind does a deep dive into Schulz's faith and outlook on the world. You need to read this. (After you listen to the conversation,...

So...yeah, this month's episode is a  wee bit  late. Sorry 'bout that. I had a hard time getting into the podcast studio to finish the editing on the episode, what with all these NO DOGS ALLOWED signs around. I guess that's what I get for wearing my Snoopy costume as every day wear. But episode 23 is finally here. We're talking about the Peanuts gang's second theatrical outing, SNOOPY COME HOME fr...

This month on episode 22, we put Peppermint Patty, who has barely had time to rest since winning musical chairs last month in "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown", through her paces. First, we explore which came first: the peppermint patty candy or the character. Then, in NO TIME FOR LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (which first aired 3/11/73), a field trip to the art museum puts her feelings for ol' Chuck on displ...

This month, episode 21 of the podcast is unofficially the month of the VanPelts. In 1981's "Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown", Linus is in his familiar role as the best, but ultimately clueless as everyone is in Peanuts Town, friend to Charlie Brown. The two boys stalk, er, search for the beautiful girl our man Chuck fell in love with after seeing her briefly during a "honey shot" on TV in t...

Should old acquaintance be forgot?  No way! There's a party in Peanuts Town! First up this month, from 2003, the Van Pelt's youngest sibling Rerun just wants a dog for Christmas in the appropriately titled I WANT A DOG FOR CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN. Could Spike be the answer to his canine dreams? Maybe, IF Rerun can survive the rides on the back of Mom's bike and, in a frighteningly timely B-plot,...

EPISODE 19 has it all! Dinner AND a show! Dinner is courtesy of the 1973 holiday classic A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING. Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie and Franklin to Chuck's house for Thanksgiving, forcing Charlie Brown to face his crippling fear of buttering toast. Snoopy gets his butt handed to him by a lawn chair. Woodstock engages in flagrant bird cannibalism. Ah, holidays! The "show...

The usual giddy joy at dropping a new episode of the podcast is dampened a bit this time with the news of the loss of Charles M. Schulz's home and Craig Schulz's home in the horrendous wildfires ravaging California. While the property (including much valuable Schulz memorabilia) was lost, thankfully, Jean Schulz was evacuated safely. Our hearts go out to the Schulzes and all of California.  But th...

So, hey, remember at the end of the September episode I said the rundown for the October episode was subject to change? Well, it changed. Andrew Farago - author, comics historian, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum - agreed to chat with me about his upcoming book THE COMPLETE PEANUTS FAMILY ALBUM: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHARLES M. SCHULZ'S CLASSIC CHARACTERS. And I am thrilled to share that conversa...

I demand absolute silence. I, the Great Podcastini, will now guess what number you are thinking of... It's 17! As in episode 17 of the podcast! Now, pick a card! Do it!  *Gazes magically at you while I wait* Is this your card? The queen of hearts! I knew it was because the little heart is bent. I learned that trick from Marcie. (You'll understand that once you listen to the episode.) Until then, j...

In episode 16, we ride the rails in the 2/10/89 edu-tainment THIS IS AMERICA CHARLIE BROWN: BUILDING THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD. Want to know the saga of one of American history's biggest construction projects, a story about literally uniting a post-Civil war country? Then hop aboard! As the train pulls away from the station, we jump on to run away with Snoopy as he joins the circus in the 10/2...

This month in episode 15 of the podcast we wade into the Peanuts neighborhood kiddie pool to take on the burning question: If a Peanuts character says "Rats" alone in the woods, does it make a sound? Also, we explore the mysteries of why Peppermint Patty is sneaking out in the early morning hours, why is crime so rampant in Peanuts Town, and where did Marcie get an automatic duck plucker? The epis...

MAKE THIS PODCAST "GREAT" AGAIN The painstaking production and scrutinizing the schedule that went into developing this theme for this month's episode, #14 for those of you keeping score at home, is staggering. Both episodes have "great" in their titles. From 1979, we've got "You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown" and from 1989, "This is America: The Great Inventors". That's what you call synchronici...

Good grief! Another month has gone by already? We've got a first for the podcast on this lucky episode 13...a guest! Nat Gertler is a respected author (The Peanuts Collection: Treasures from the World's Most Beloved Comic Strip; The Snoopy Treasures), publisher and Peanuts historian. And he was nice enough to give a bit of his time, wit and wisdom to the podcast. Thanks, Nat! This month, we also w...

It's all about the eggs, y'all! In the 1974 special IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN, the gang is obsessed with the looming specter of Easter and living in existential fear they won't be buried alive in an avalanche of eggs. Everyone, that is, except Linus who takes a break from obsessing about the Great Pumpkin to obsess about a thing called "the Easter Beagle". (And Sally calls him on it.)...

A B-O-Y N-A-M-E-D C-H-A-R-L-I-E B-R-U-H-N Darn it! I just lost the National Spelling Bee! AUGHHHHHHHH! Well, at least I can empathize with Charlie Brown's trials and tribulations in his first big screen outing, A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN, a box office hit in 1969. Charlie Brown has a shot at shedding his "failure face" when he wins the school spelling bee and heads off to the - gasp! - National Spe...

Ah, love...life's sweetest reward. It's an open smile, on a friendly shore... Wait. That's "The Love Boat". Maybe we'll cover the Peanuts/Love Boat crossover in another episode (we wish). For now, we're right here in Peanuts Town where love pretty much always goes unrequited, especially for Charlie Brown. And this month's episodes don't disappoint. So pull up a heart-shaped box of candy and join u...

This month, the podcast is all about muddy messes - both on the motocross track and in the hallowed halls of the presidency. With the American presidential inauguration looming as this episode drops, we check out another installment of "This is America, Charlie Brown" from 1989 called "The Smithsonian and the Presidency". And we also look at "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" because motocross i...

CHRISTMASTIME IS HERE...HAPPINESS AND CHEER! Well, here it is. Episode 8 has dropped faster than Santa coming down your chimney. For many, it's not Christmas until "A Charlie Brown Christmas" appears on their screens. Here at the podcast, we feel the same. We do a deep dive into the 1965 classic that almost didn't happen. Is the special more of a spectacle like a great, big, shiny aluminum Christm...

November! America is busy gorging itself on turkey gravy while celebrating/mourning the recent U.S. elections (you might have heard about that) and, of course, giving thanks for all that we have, even if that's a little harder these days. This month, we're watching YOU'RE NOT ELECTED, CHARLIE BROWN from 1972 and THIS IS AMERICA, CHARLIE BROWN: THE MAYFLOWER VOYAGERS from 1988. Grab another slice o...