# 10 Days 'til the Great Pumpkin **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012 "2006-10-18T21:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/1 "2006-10-18T21:52:39Z")
OK Charlie Brown fans. The Great Pumpkin is airing at 8:00 PM Friday the 27th. I know I’ll be there. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/2 "2006-10-18T22:03:55Z")
The Great Pumkin died [February 12, 2000)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Schultz). We all miss him. I’ll not watch the ghost of his creations, whether reprinted nor rebroadcast. A respect thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/3 "2006-10-18T22:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] The Great Pumkin died [February 12, 2000)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Schultz). We all miss him. I’ll not watch the ghost of his creations, whether reprinted nor rebroadcast. A respect thing. [/QUOTE] What??? Am I being whooshed here? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/4 "2006-10-18T22:22:53Z")
[QUOTE=The Swan] What??? Am I being whooshed here? [/QUOTE] Nope. Charles Schultz was Grade-A. And the lowlifes & 10%ers at the syndicates are exploiting his memory like graverobbers. I predict that they will try to hunt up a hack cartoonist to create “new” _Peanuts_ strips as soon as they think they can get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/5 "2006-10-18T22:25:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Nope. Charles Schultz was Grade-A. And the lowlifes & 10%ers at the syndicates are exploiting his memory like graverobbers. I predict that they will try to hunt up a hack cartoonist to create “new” _Peanuts_ strips as soon as they think they can get away with it. [/QUOTE] So, you’ve really missed out on some classic literature then, huh? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/6 "2006-10-18T22:27:49Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I predict that they will try to hunt up a hack cartoonist to create “new” _Peanuts_ strips as soon as they think they can get away with it. [/QUOTE] They actually did try to consider someone to replace Schulz after he died…but this was in the early years of the strip, when no one realized that it would go on 49 years. Sparky can never be replaced, and never will be- Schulz’s family agreed that no one else can draw _Peanuts_. We still miss you, Sparky. This year marks the 40th anniversary of _Great Pumpkin_- there’s a nice little book out now by Lee Mendelson about the making of the special. I see that on October 21, the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa is having a special screening of the special including a anniversary panel led by Mendelson, as well as a preview of a new _Peanuts_ special that will air in November that was written and storyboarded by Schulz shortly before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/7 "2006-10-18T22:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=The Swan] So, you’ve really missed out on some classic literature then, huh? [/QUOTE] No. Nobody ever hired a hack to write _The Anabasis 2: Blood Vengence & Chariot Chases_. People have tried to write sequals to some Classics, but I largely ignore em. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/8 "2006-10-18T22:45:35Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] No. Nobody ever hired a hack to write _The Anabasis 2: Blood Vengence & Chariot Chases_. People have tried to write sequals to some Classics, but I largely ignore em. [/QUOTE] So, you refuse to watch a show that continues to be rebraodcast every year, just as it was when Shultz was alive, because someone tried to write a sequel? From what I’ve read about Shultz (and I could well be wrong here), he never missed an opportunity to capitalize on the Peanuts brand. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/9 "2006-10-18T22:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] The Great Pumkin died [February 12, 2000)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Schultz). We all miss him. I’ll not watch the ghost of his creations, whether reprinted nor rebroadcast. A respect thing. [/QUOTE] Do you also stop watching old movies after the actors and directors have died as a “respect thing”? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/10 "2006-10-18T23:01:53Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Do you also stop watching old movies after the actors and directors have died as a “respect thing”? [/QUOTE] I still watch Bogart films, but I won’t if they starting regularly “ressurecting” classic (read:dead) stars via CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/11 "2006-10-18T23:30:28Z")
While I respect your right to not watch - and even to voice your opinion about not watching - if you want to debate whether the show should or shouldn’t be aired, would you please start your own thread? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/12 "2006-10-18T23:45:11Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] While I respect your right to not watch - and even to voice your opinion about not watching - if you want to debate whether the show should or shouldn’t be aired, would you please start your own thread? [/QUOTE] Sorry for helping the hijack along. To get things back on track, I absolutely cannot wait for the Peanuts Holloween, Christmas, and even the Thankgiving episodes. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/13 "2006-10-19T00:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I still watch Bogart films, but I won’t if they starting regularly “ressurecting” classic (read:dead) stars via CGI. [/QUOTE] Just a point of clarification, but with regard to the “Great Pumpkin” airing on the 27th, is this a brand new Peanuts cartoon or the same one they’ve been airing for the last 40 years that you are referring to? ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/14 "2006-10-19T00:53:24Z")
**NDP** , it’s the original Great Pumpkin cartoon, AFAIK. I, for one, always look forward to the Peanuts holiday specials, especially the Christmas one. So I will be watching next Friday night, as Linus waits in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Shake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f17d59/32.png) [@Master\_Shake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Shake)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/15 "2006-10-19T01:26:09Z")
When I was a kid, that special was pretty much the only contact we were allowed to have with Halloween. No trick or treating, no dressing up, no going to parties, no having parties. Our parents tried to make up for it by just giving us a bunch of candy, but come on. Not even close. Good old Great Pumpkin. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/16 "2006-10-19T01:46:02Z")
[It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!](http://abc.go.com/specials/cbrown_greatpumpkin.html) First broadcast in 1966 on CBS. 40th anniversary broadcast scheduled to air Friday, October 27 2006 on ABC. What an awesome cartoon. Schulz is God. It’s hard to believe that at one point American holiday TV specials could be produced with punchlines like, “We are obviously separated by denominational differences.” Not to mention the fact that, having established a clear parallel between Linus’ Halloween theology and that of Christmas, the cartoon then proceeds to drive home the none-too-subtle point that belief doesn’t automatically equal truth. Also, I always marvel at how amazingly well the WWI Flying Ace interlude translates; in the comics Snoopy always had those snappy internal monologues, yet here the same material is masterfully conveyed in almost complete silence (other than Bill Melendez’ bravaura vocalization). I also love the bobbing-for-apples bit. Makes me laugh, every time. Unfortunately I’ll be working at that time (haunted attraction tour), but perhaps I’ll tape it for later viewing. Or maybe I’ll see about renting it to watch on the 31st instead. I’ve tuned in on a few Peanuts holiday broadcasts in later years, and they just don’t seem quite the same, somehow. Maybe it’s the intrusive little ABC logo in the corner of the screen, or maybe it’s the presence of commercials other than for Peter, Paul & Mounds products; I’m not sure. For some reason I just don’t feel emotionally primed without that urgent drum/trumpet intro and spinning graphic sequence: “A CBS **SPECIAL** PRESENTATION.” ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/17 "2006-10-19T16:41:55Z")
Ah, the “Great Pumpkin”. Source of my all-purpose “this sucks” phrase: “I got a rock…” Definitely going to set the recorder for this since I may be busy that night. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Swan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/18 "2006-10-19T17:14:59Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] [It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!](http://abc.go.com/specials/cbrown_greatpumpkin.html) I’ve tuned in on a few Peanuts holiday broadcasts in later years, and they just don’t seem quite the same, somehow. Maybe it’s the intrusive little ABC logo in the corner of the screen, or maybe it’s the presence of commercials other than for Peter, Paul & Mounds products; I’m not sure. For some reason I just don’t feel emotionally primed without that urgent drum/trumpet intro and spinning graphic sequence: “A CBS **SPECIAL** PRESENTATION.” [/QUOTE] Thank you. I was wondering why it never seems the same these days, and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. “…Mound’s don’t.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/19 "2006-10-19T17:36:33Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Unfortunately I’ll be working at that time (haunted attraction tour), but perhaps I’ll tape it for later viewing. Or maybe I’ll see about renting it to watch on the 31st instead. I’ve tuned in on a few Peanuts holiday broadcasts in later years, and they just don’t seem quite the same, somehow. Maybe it’s the intrusive little ABC logo in the corner of the screen, or maybe it’s the presence of commercials other than for Peter, Paul & Mounds products; I’m not sure. For some reason I just don’t feel emotionally primed without that urgent drum/trumpet intro and spinning graphic sequence: “A CBS **SPECIAL** PRESENTATION.” [/QUOTE] Where on Earth did you grow up that had anybody other than Coca-Cola and [whatever bakery company in the region that produced Dolly Madison snack cakes] providing the commercials for Peanuts specials? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012/20 "2006-10-19T17:45:28Z")
I will be watching because, as _The Office_ pointed out last Thursday, Charlie Brown has shown the world that there is that other kind of grief we can express, the “Good Grief”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-days-til-the-great-pumpkin/377012.md?page=2)