I finally have proof of something that has bothered me for years. Like any other American over the age of 40, I grew up watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” a cultural touchstone more important during my childhood than oxygen. Just saying the words “large Eastern syndicate,” gives me flashbacks to the rec rooms and console TVs of the early 1970s.
I’ve had the nagging feeling that little bits of the show have been snipped out to make way for more commercials, but I was never able to say for sure what scenes had been deleted.
So last night, my two daughters and I settle down and get ready to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on ABC. By chance, my wife had gotten a stack of tapes and DVDs at the library, including an old VHS copy of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Were about 10 minutes into the ABC broadcast and there’s too many commercials, so I suggest watching the VHS tape instead. We pop it in and start watching the first 10 minutes again.
And there it was. The lost scene.
It’s when the gang is throwing snowballs at a tin can on a fence. They repeatedly miss, until Linus uses his blanket as a slingshot and nails the can. That scene was missing from the ABC broadcast we had just watched. Was it a crucial part of the show? Many would say no. I say every second of the show is crucial or else Charles Schulz wouldn’t have written it.
So, listen up ABC, next year show “A Charlie Brown Christmas: Uncut and Unrated.” Ratings will skyrocket.
And another thing, Fig Newtons were bigger when I was a kid. If I could only prove it.