There are a significant number of Christmas Holiday classic television programs for sure but ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ has got to be near the top doesn’t it!?
The show aired for the very first time back in 1965 (45 years ago now… does that make you feel old or what!) and it was an instant hit. But according to Jim Daly of Focus On The Family, this was a complete surprise to the network executives who had fought with the show’s creator Charles Schultz over a number of issues they believed to be show stoppers.
According to Daly, studio personnel thought it was too amateur. All the voices were done by children rather than by professional actors. They also believed the theme music was too contemporary for kids' tastes and that the lack of a laugh track left the production “feeling flat and too contemplative”.
And, of course, they thought it was too religious. After all, the show includes a full reading of Luke 2:8-14 as the climax of the story presenting the real meaning of and reason for Christmas.
One of the interesting things about all of this is that these are the very same things that have made the show so endearing to so many in the years since. And in those years since, Hollywood continues to pump out so much garbage that it makes our heads spin, all the while claiming it’s what the consumer wants. They consistently repeat the mantra that wholesome family values just don’t sell, and yet, the actual statistics on this prove they are not being honest about it. Why? The answer is quite simple - they have an agenda.
It’s not news to any of us that we live in a world that is hostile to Christ and the ones that don’t want to kill Him would just as soon He went away quietly. I am so thankful though that the Lord continues to provide us with those who would speak into the culture the life changing truth of the gospel in creative and compelling ways. May their tribe (our tribe) increase.
As for Charlie Brown’s Christmas – I still love it.
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