Today is October 15th. Therefore, today is the halfway point of the Countdown to Halloween, and you know what that means--s*** gets real. Time to crank things up, get to the good stuff, and don't hold back!
Today is also the first airing this year of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (ABC, 8:30pm ET), which is, of course, the finest Halloween TV special ever created. Even though I have it on DVD, I still need to watch it on network TV, as I love the communal aspect of watching the special knowing millions of others are doing the same thing.
In celebration, I'm offering some old promos and clips that you don't see on the special these days. In fact, I never saw some of these even when I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s.
First, here is a commercial for the special that aired back when it made its debut in 1966. I love it!
Next is the original ending of the opening credits from that first airing, which includes the show's original sponsors, Coca-Cola and Dolly Madison snack cakes, into the animation. This portion was deleted in later airings when the sponsors changed. I always wondered why the credits ended so abruptly after the owl flies away--now I know!
Likewise, here is another deleted sponsorship from the end credits.
Here is a very brief promo for the special from 1978, when I was watching TV (I was four at the time).
Finally, just because it's beautiful, here is The Vince Guaraldi Trio performing "The Great Pumpkin Waltz." What a sweet piece of music!
Thanks, and be sure to watch tonight! I will! I'm as excited as Linus!
All very awesome. You made me realize I didn't have The Great Pumpkin Waltz in my Halloween playlist, so I used my free music credit and added it today. Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteJoe: I'm here to help :)
ReplyDeleteNice, but did watch the show on Wednesday? They edited out at least Schroeder's scene with Snoopy at the piano, with other scenes obviously being trimmed.Not so much of a Halloween treat. Hate to see what they do to Thanksgiving and Christmas, just in the name of promo'ing upcoming movies.
ReplyDeleteI did indeed notice that, Anon. I'm glad you confirmed it, as I wasn't sure I was right. I also think the Toy Story special (which is good but not really a Halloween special) may have run a minute or two long?
ReplyDeleteAt least I can always watch the unedited version of the Peanuts specials on my DVDs. :)