Unpacking Peanuts

The gang celebrates the USA’s birthday by looking at one of the latest iterations of Snoopy’s alter egos…The Revolutionary War patriot. UP Recommends: The American Revolution by Ken Burns Super Context Podcast: An autopsy of media Gunsmoke on the radio Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books a...

The straight man of all straight men gets an episode all to himself. Will the gang finally crack the code on this beloved figure of Peanuts past? Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumn...

Finally, it’s come to this: The Roy episode. Roy befriends both Charlie Brown and Linus at camp. And if that’s not exciting enough, old people talk about how neat telephones were. But maybe his main raison d'être is to introduce the world to the swinging-est character ever - Peppermint Patty. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at Unpac...

Sally’s pal Eudora finally gets a turn in the spotlight, as the gang revisits her debut sequence from 1978 and finds a fun and unique character who still feels modern.   Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produce...

We start our look at the bit players in Peanuts in this new season of “Sidekicks and Second Bananas.” In this episode Bill, Olivier, Harriet, Conrad, and Woodstock get to shake their tail feathers in the spotlight. Mentioned in the Mailbox: Health Capsules by Dr. Michael A. Petti and cartoonist Jud Hurd https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/06/02/health-capsules-1961-2022/ Transcript avai...

The gang takes a cockeyed look at the Peanuts strips that make you go “hmmm.” From Charlie Brown sharpening himself to the beauty of a girl named Truffles, it doesn’t get weirder than this. Strips we discuss and the original episode names: Truffles - March 31 & April 1, 1975 - 1975 Part 1 Spike and Woodstock on the Moon - October 6, 1995 - 1995 Part 1 Pencil Sharpener - January 25, 1990 - 1990...

Re-Run arrives and struggles to assimilate into the family for the next twenty years. Lucy is still a grouch. Sally still loves Linus. And speaking of consistency, which Peanuts characters changed the least? The gang investigates.  Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Go...

It’s a fun-sized mailbag bonus episode! Listeners ask us probing questions like whose is the adorable voice behind our introduction, and tell us stuff we never knew like there is a plush version of Snoopy as Mister T. Plus more great business suggestions for Sony. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpack...

Linus is doing the St. Francis shtick, but that doesn’t stop him from playing a mean shortstop. The gang discusses Schulz’s ability to layer contradictory elements to create some of the richest characters in comics. Here's a link to our episode about the football strips: https://tinyurl.com/footballstrips   Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are ava...

The gang celebrates four years of podcasting about Beagles and Blockheads by looking at a totally random group of Peanuts strips, and even a few non-Peanuts strips too! Here's to many more years of joy discussing Charles Schulz's masterpiece. Random Non-Peanuts Strips are posted in the Obscurities section of the website. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s...

Lucy torments Linus with a call to their blanket-hating grandma. She explains that to be a good brother he has to work at it, and he succeeds with a bowl of ice cream. A new segment is revealed, “Hangin’ Out at the Thinkin’ Wall.” This week the guys discuss Snoopy before resuming the season-long look at the Van Pelt Family.  Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Haro...

Linus’s original struggle for security is with Lucy… and was it her blanket originally?! Plus Linus learns the difference between tv and reality in language he can understand. Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. P...

Linus is bringing out Lucy’s inner Lucy, yet somehow his head remains undented. In this episode, the Van Pelt kids’ personalities are slowly coming into focus… No wonder Linus needs that blanket! Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Jimmy’s, Michael’s, and Harold’s books are available at UnpackingPeanuts.com/store. Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchhol...

It’s a new season on Unpacking Peanuts, as the gang begins a long look at everyone’s favorite venerable grade schoolers: Linus, Lucy, and Rerun Van Pelt. In this first episode, we review the earliest episodes featuring two of Charles Schulz' beloved characters, and the seeds of greatness have already been sown. Harold interviewed by Ted Koppel: https://youtu.be/DwsY4agO2qs?si=4Gf05kzociyR2cuI Tran...

The Legendary cartoonist of MUTTS, the comic strip Charles Schulz once said was “the last great strip of the 20th Century,” stops by to talk about Charles Schulz, the craft of cartooning, comics history and more in this fun conversation. Don’t miss it! For more about Patrick visit MUTTS.com Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Ha...

Happy New Year and welcome to all our new listeners! Here is a little intro to the show along with a look at one of our favorite strips of all time - July 11, 1954. Sample some of our early interviews in It's A Clip Show Charlie Brown - https://shorturl.at/kOX0f .  Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music...

Everyone’s favorite abstract bird doodle takes center stage for this episode-long look at Snoopy’s relationship with his “friend of friends” Woodstock.  Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.  F...

The gang takes on the epic task of discussing Snoopy’s many visual changes and go on a few cartooning-related side quests as well… discussing Leonard Starr, Stan Drake, Hal Foster, Harold Gray and more. Link to Snoopy image: https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Snoopy?file=Image_2022-06-02_120907435.png Link to Scott McCloud's pyramid: https://www.scottmccloud.com/4-inventions/triangle/index.html Preor...

Comics legend Mark Evanier stops by to discuss his work on the amazing new book The Essential Peanuts. We discuss Mark’s life in comics including his relationships with icons like Jack Kirby, Jim Davis, and of course, Charles Schulz.  Mark's Blog https://www.newsfromme.com/ Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, an...

The gang takes a closer look at Michael’s favorite era of Snoopy. Fourth wall breaks, funny punchlines, and a healthy dollop of Beagle violence are all discussed. Then we answer the question…. Who is the GOAT-- Linus or Snoopy? Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner...

We are thrilled to welcome Paige Braddock, the Creative Director Emeritus for the Schulz Studio. Hired by Charles Schulz himself as Creative Director in 1999, Paige is also the talented cartoonist behind Jane’s World, Peanut, Butter, & Crackers, and more.  Paige recommends the book Love Letters to Jane's World as a place to start. https://janesworld.us/janes-world/ Her current work, Peanut But...

The gang answers your emails in this special fun-sized bonus episode!

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, Michael, Harold, and Jimmy each pick their top ten Peanuts strips of all time! Who picks what? Will one character dominate? One Decade? Listen to find out what is the toppermost of the poppermost in Peanuts five decade run of brilliance. You Tube interview Jimmy mentions: https://youtu.be/s_vmm4JW61U?si=lNs3Cqh-aQTz9D6F Our original discussion of Be Of...

Please enjoy this special full-length preview of Jimmy’s new podcast. It is available on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts. http://gvillecomics.substack.com

Our season-long look at the world famous beagle continues. This week we discuss Snoopy’s metamorphosis from cute puppy to banana nose anarchist to doghouse philosopher. Along the way, we discuss evolving art styles, Ninja High School, and Jeff Smith’s Bone.  The Buzzfeed quiz we talk about: https://www.buzzfeed.com/appletv/this-quiz-will-determine-which-peanuts-character-you-are Transcript availab...