# I just watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for the first time, and it was not entertaining.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 6, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470 "2014-12-06T03:08:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/1 "2014-12-06T03:08:51Z")
I know I have a bit of history of watching things for the first time and complaining that I didn’t like them. This cartoon was incredibly unfunny and even more incredibly boring.
The best thing about the whole show was the original jazz music in the background.
Holy shit that was boring. I’m really glad it was only a half hour.
This is a Christmas classic? No wonder I’ve avoided it my whole life.
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### Author:  [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/2 "2014-12-06T03:12:59Z")
[Go to your room.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/parent-mad-6yearold-didnt-like-peanuts-special,3197/)
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/3 "2014-12-06T03:23:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> This is a Christmas classic? No wonder I’ve avoided it my whole life.
You have to watch it when you’re a kid.
_A Charlie Brown Christmas_ is special because it was a _cartoon_ you could watch in the _evening_. And it was _Peanuts_, which you read in the Sunday funnies. But most importantly, it was a Harbinger of Christmas. When you saw _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ you knew Christmas was coming. Same with all of the other Christmas specials, particularly the Rankin-Bass ones. (Not so much _The Little Drummer Boy_, what with its bringing Jesus into it and all. But we watched it anyway.)
.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/4 "2014-12-06T03:26:57Z")
you’ll never see the Great Pumpkin now.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/5 "2014-12-06T03:29:03Z")
It was made just about 50 years ago for kids. Probably shouldn’t have too high expectations seeing it first time as an adult.
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/6 "2014-12-06T03:37:14Z")
I was never a huge fan, even though I saw it as a kid. I do still love the Rankin-Bass specials. Maybe because they were just so campy, while Charlie Brown is pretty earnest. I guess like most Americans, I prefer my Christmas more Santa/reindeer infused and less Jesus heavy.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/7 "2014-12-06T03:42:26Z")
Personally, I always liked it, particularly Linus’ recitation of the Bible story (even though I’m _not at all_ Christian).
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/8 "2014-12-06T03:44:03Z")
Objectively, I do think it’s well done. Rationally I know it’s a million times better than the Rankin Bass stuff I watch out of tradition. Good music, good story, genuine tone. I’m not sure why it never clicked with me.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/9 "2014-12-06T03:52:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> I know I have a bit of history of watching things for the first time and complaining that I didn’t like them. This cartoon was incredibly unfunny and even more incredibly boring.
>
> The best thing about the whole show was the original jazz music in the background.
>
> Holy shit that was boring. I’m really glad it was only a half hour.
>
> This is a Christmas classic? No wonder I’ve avoided it my whole life.
Maybe it would have been better if cartoon Snoopy was an egotistical asshole like in the strip, rather than a lovable little elf.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/10 "2014-12-06T04:01:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> You have to watch it when you’re a kid.
You really do. I noticed a similar trend: if you ask people what the scariest movie they’ve ever seen is, they’re almost inevitably going to answer some tepid thing that scared them when they were in elementary school. I wasn’t allowed to watch horror movies as a kid, so I missed a great many of the suggestions, and watching them (Jaws. The Fog. The Changeling. Jacob’s Ladder etc) as an adult for the first time, I never find any of them scary.
So yeah, if you didn’t watch this Charlie Brown special for the first time when you were in footie pajamas and actually believed that Santa was coming… you’re not going to view it with the same appreciation that someone who has nostalgic memories of watching it as a kid will.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/11 "2014-12-06T04:09:16Z")
Well there is a Christmas movie or two that I hate. One that I really really hate. And yet it is a classic, beloved by many. Not only do I hate it, there are times when the very thought of it depresses me, and it always comes up during my most depressed month anyway. (Hi, December.)
So I feel ya in not liking a popular seasonal classic. The music was the best thing about Charlie Brown Christmas anyway IMO.
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### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/12 "2014-12-06T04:09:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> You really do. I noticed a similar trend: if you ask people what the scariest movie they’ve ever seen is, they’re almost inevitably going to answer some tepid thing that scared them when they were in elementary school. I wasn’t allowed to watch horror movies as a kid, so I missed a great many of the suggestions, and watching them (Jaws. The Fog. The Changeling. Jacob’s Ladder etc) as an adult for the first time, I never find any of them scary.
>
> So yeah, if you didn’t watch this Charlie Brown special for the first time when you were in footie pajamas and actually believed that Santa was coming… you’re not going to view it with the same appreciation that someone who has nostalgic memories of watching it as a kid will.
Those films arnt scary…they’re creepy. No, they don’t have jump scare bullshit \* or creatures moving five frames per second while kids voices are heard going “la la la la”
\*Though the part in Jaws where the guys head comes out the hole in the bottom of his boat made millions shit their pants.
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### Author:  [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/13 "2014-12-06T04:41:36Z")
It’s not boring, it’s calm and peaceful. 🙂
Even 45 years ago (not that I was around to see it then), it was created as a sweet reminder of the true meaning of the Christmas season among a sea of loud, commercialized noise.
Now it stands out even more- boring to some, but reassuring and heartwarming to most- as that moment of quiet during this crazy time. It’s something I know I can sit and watch quietly without being assaulted by CGI, bad pop music, or product placement, and now I think they show it commercial free too.
I’m sure part of that is nostalgia for simpler childhood times, and yes, I have seen it every year since, well, a long time ago.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/14 "2014-12-06T05:13:43Z")
I think it’s beautiful. The music sets a wonderful tone, and it’s genuine, earnest, and sweet.
I’m an atheist, and I still find the message that “Christmas doesn’t have to be solely about flash and sparkle” to be a rewarding one. No, I don’t buy the Christian message, but I like the gentle, generous tone.
And the voice of Linus is one of those embedded childhood binkie/wubby things, especially the way he says “joy.”
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/15 "2014-12-06T05:20:38Z")
Nm
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/16 "2014-12-06T05:22:25Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Nm
Oh, come on. Tell us what you really think.
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### Author:  [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/17 "2014-12-06T05:39:00Z")
You watched the wrong video. Head over to most offensive video dot com and watch “A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa”.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/18 "2014-12-06T06:09:59Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> Even 45 years ago (not that I was around to see it then), it was created as a sweet reminder of the true meaning of the Christmas season among a sea of loud, commercialized noise.
49 years ago actually. And I wasn’t around then, but I imagine that the commercialization of the holiday in 1965 was nothing compared to what it is today.
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### Author:  [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/19 "2014-12-06T07:36:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> You have to watch it when you’re a kid.
>
> _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ is special because it was a _cartoon_ you could watch in the _evening_. And it was _Peanuts_, which you read in the Sunday funnies. But most importantly, it was a Harbinger of Christmas. When you saw _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ you knew Christmas was coming. Same with all of the other Christmas specials, particularly the Rankin-Bass ones. (Not so much _The Little Drummer Boy_, what with its bringing Jesus into it and all. But we watched it anyway.)
>
> .
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> ```
> >snip<
>
> ```
>
> So yeah, if you didn’t watch this Charlie Brown special for the first time when you were in footie pajamas and actually believed that Santa was coming… you’re not going to view it with the same appreciation that someone who has nostalgic memories of watching it as a kid will.
> [@tenacious\_j](#):
>
> It’s not boring, it’s calm and peaceful. 🙂
> Even 45 years ago (not that I was around to see it then), it was created as a sweet reminder of the true meaning of the Christmas season among a sea of loud, commercialized noise.
> Now it stands out even more- boring to some, but reassuring and heartwarming to most- as that moment of quiet during this crazy time. It’s something I know I can sit and watch quietly without being assaulted by CGI, bad pop music, or product placement, and now I think they show it commercial free too.
> I’m sure part of that is nostalgia for simpler childhood times, and yes, I have seen it every year since, well, a long time ago.
All of this. No, it’s not, " Michael Bay’s Christmas Explodaganza!!!one!!!" and I’d be kind of pissed off if it was. It IS a reminder of a time in my life when everything and anything just _might_ be something magical. I could believe that safe places existed and that my parents loved each other and me very much. The world wasn’t the cold, hard place it is now. It was warm and soft and maybe I could mold part of it with my own hands. I was warm, too. Straight out of the bath, rolled up in a blanket on the floor in front of the TV.
In that dreamy, drowsy state I couldn’t help but imagine all the great things that were ahead of me. We would go visiting people I hadn’t seen all year, giving and getting presents. I’d get to sing in the school pageant, and then no more school for the rest of the year. Oh, and the food! Glorious cakes and pies and cookies. Mom’s homemade mashed potatoes for the last time until Easter or even Thanksgiving. Dad would be home from work and he could play with us and our new toys all day long. It was going to be great!
It’s not great anymore. Most of the wonder and magic is gone from my life. I’ve avoided all of the Christmas specials for the last couple of years. I might give it another try this year. I want to see if I can get back that feeling of warmth again, even if it’s just for a half hour or so. I get why you don’t like it as an adult. It was never meant for someone without all that innocent joy and anticipation in their hearts. I think of it, and the other specials, more as empty jars that kids pour their memories into. It can’t be too complicated or it gets in the way of everything else going on in their little heads. Watching it later in life is like taking that jar off the shelf and enjoying everything you put into all over again.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-a-charlie-brown-christmas-for-the-first-time-and-it-was-not-entertaining/706470/20 "2014-12-06T13:29:49Z")
> [@Sodalite](#):
>
> Watching it later in life is like taking that jar off the shelf and enjoying everything you put into all over again.
That’s a pretty good summation. I guess that’s how it is for me. They say “you can’t go home again”, and it’s usually true, but for one hour a year (add in the original Grinch) I can.
I must have seen the special 60 or more times in the last 50 years. Same with the Great Pumpkin. I wish they would make a new one every 5-10 years, though. Not a remake, just a different, equally good, special, telling a different story related to the season. Not those crappy ones that no one remembers like “It’s Arbor Day”. Make another great one. It can be done!
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