“A Charlie Brown Christmas” Fun Facts
What’s Christmas without watching the treasured classic A Charlie Brown Christmas each holiday season? But did you know the initial project faced so many challenges in the early planning stages that it’s truly a miracle this iconic production was ever made?
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A Charlie Brown Christmas Fun Facts…
- a Charlie Brown Christmas first aired at 7:30 p.m. ET on December 9, 1965
- initially CBS thought the final version would be a flop
- CBS executives didn’t think jazz belonged in a cartoon
- they didn’t want kids doing the voices
- they thought Charlie Brown would have one airing and shelved for perpetuity
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What saved A Charlie Brown Christmas?
- Coca-Cola sponsored the program
- it was already listed in TV guides
- half of American TV viewers tuned in to watch Charlie Brown with outstanding reviews
- Washington Post TV critic Lawrence Laurent wrote, “Good old Charlie Brown, a natural born loser … finally turned up a winner.”
In what’s become the ideal jazz holiday tradition, the Ottawa Jazz Festival is delighted to present Charlie Brown’s original drummer, Jerry Granelli on Tuesday, Dec.12, 7pm at Dominion-Chalmers United Church (355 Cooper St., corner of O’Connor and Lisgar). Passing on his vast musical insights and Charlie Brown knowledge to a new generation, Granelli and his band will work with Ottawa’s, The Cross Town Youth Chorus, to perform some of the musical numbers.