Sometimes the holiday season makes me feel old. Recently my friend techfun pointed out how the advent of hundreds of channels and Tivo have retired what used to be annual cultural touchstones we all shared. Once school was back in session and the evenings became dark and cool the annual telecast of The Wizard of Oz was something that all kids looked forward to. It would be followed in early–mid November by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special– The Great Pumpkin and then it would be December and time for our annual rendezvous with Rudolph , Frosty, The Grinch and of course A Charlie Brown Christmas.
For all I know these programs are still around, though if they are they are un-noticed by me and others of my generation in the constant offering of endless choices. (That somehow still leaves us complaining just as frequently as in the old days that ‘there’s nothing on worth watching’.) I will confess to being a fan of The Simpsons and Law and Order and admit that I do enjoy being able to watch these shows every day. I have also been known to bring home entire seasons of shows I like on DVD to watch on my schedule. But I definitely feel as though something has been lost in gaining all these choices.
And so it was with a pleasant whiff of nostalgia that I happened to snatch up a copy of A Peanuts Christmas in a huge batch of books I was checking in over the weekend. A collection of classic Christmas-themed Peanuts comic strips, it is not a book of the beloved television special, but I definitely felt something of the old magic as I gazed fondly at the holiday antics of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally and their gang. If, like me, you have cherished memories of a time when Christmas was never complete without Charlie Brown’s hapless search for the perfect tree, A Peanuts Christmas comes Highly Recommended.
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December 20th, 2007 at 3:39 am
I can really relate to what you’ve said here, Alan. I have such vivid memories of anticipating these fine seasonal shows as a youngster. They were truly touchstones, as you say, along with the grand arrival of the Sears holiday catalog. This sentiment goes beyond the holiday season for me…I remember the aroma of dinner being prepared against the backdrop of “Bewitched” and “Family Affair”, brushing teeth and hurredly donning PJs to catch every second of “Little House on the Prairie”. I just don’t see that kind of schedule or comforting routine, for lack of better words, with all the instant choices available today through different media. Is more, faster and easier always better? I don’t think so. Sometimes simplicity is supremely advantageous.
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I remember this also. In fact it is so ingrained that I still try to keep track and watch movies like The Wizard of Oz at the traditional time every year. Somehow I missed It’s a Wonderful Life this year.