Pumpkin-Shaped Charlie Brown Album Complements Halloween Special

ACROSS AMERICA —Charlie Brown never had the best luck, and unfortunately, neither will his fans: The Emmy-nominated Halloween classic “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is still not airing on broadcast TV in 2021.

The TV movie based on Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip tells the story of Linus, who believes that the Great Pumpkin will arise from its patch to deliver Halloween treats to children the world over, a sort of squash Santa Claus for Halloween.

It was first broadcast on CBS in 1966 to smashing success: Aside from earning a staggering 49 share in the ratings, it was nominated for an Emmy. CBS broadcast the special on Halloween every year until 2000, when ABC took over.

But in the fall of 2020, Apple got the pumpkin and the Peanuts.

The 25-minute special was moved to the streaming service Apple TV+, which acquired the rights to all Peanuts material. Apple TV+, a streaming service launched in 2019, is available as an app for all Apple devices, and some non-Apple devices such as Roku and Fire TV devices.

The Peanuts special is also available to rent on streaming service Vudu, which — like Apple TV+ — offers a package deal with the other two Peanuts holiday classics: “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Unfortunately, that’s the case for fall of 2021 as well, and probably will be for the near future. Good grief!

But every cloud has a silver pumpkin: This year, fans can get a treat that’s even more retro than free network television: a pumpkin-shaped vinyl record featuring the entire Vince Guaraldi soundtrack to the TV classic. The record features cleaned-up versions of songs recorded by a full orchestra back in 1966. These include the classic “Linus and Lucy,” the “Charlie Brown Theme” and, of course, “The Great Pumpkin Waltz.”

The album was released on Sep. 17 on Amazon and is available for $22.98 on vinyl and $10.98 on CD.

“Vince's score carries the gang with the autumn leaves, through the scary and cold Halloween night,” Lee Mendelson, who produced many Peanuts TV specials, wrote in 2018 of the album’s music. “This music comforts the indomitable faith of Linus, still waiting for his hero since 1966 — forever in our ears, hearts and memories.”

Any Peanuts fan doesn’t need to pay Lucy 5 cents to have her tell them that in an age of digital streaming, a pumpkin-shaped vinyl record playing all the old classics is as comforting as Linus’ blanket.