​Happy Thanksgiving, the Charlie Brown Way

Growing up, my favorite part of Thanksgiving season was the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special on CBS. I was five when it aired for the first time in 1973, and every subsequent year, I would start checking the television listings in the newspaper to see when it would be on. It was usually the Sunday or Monday before the holiday, and I’d count the hours in anticipation.

The plot of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is simple: resident badass Peppermint Patty’s parents are out of town (a situation which today would spark letters to the network but in the 1970s, no one questioned…ah, freedom). But Patty wants a party, so she cajoles Charlie Brown (er, “Chuck”) into hosting a Thanksgiving feast at his place. She invites the whole gang, including Marcie, Franklin, Sally, and Linus. Charlie protests that all he knows how to make is toast, but Linus, aware that it’s impossible to bat away a force of nature like Patty, convinces him that there’s nothing to do but acquiesce.