Apple TV Plus announces new Peanuts holiday special, For Auld Lang Syne
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of Peanuts gang are bringing their own brand of melancholy to New Year's Eve
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Apple TV+ announced earlier today that they would be airing a brand-new Peanuts special this holiday season. Entitled For Auld Lang Syne, the special will focus on New Year’s Eve, one of the most important eves of all.
According to the announcement, the special will revolve around Lucy, a character we’ve all come to admire for her relentless bullying over the years. In the special, she attempts to make up for Grandma’s inability to make Christmas by throwing a big New Year’s Eve party. Though, we should wait to hear Lucy’s grandma’s reasons for her absence. If we had to guess, it probably had to do with her granddaughter’s penchant for violent behavior and practicing psychology without a license.
Meanwhile, Charlie Brown decides that he just has to nail all of his resolutions before midnight. Why does he do this to himself? Can’t he just forget about these promises by January 15 like the rest of us?
Last year, Apple TV+ joined with WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide, and Lee Mendelson Film Productions to become the exclusive home for all things Peanuts. In 2019, the streamer unveiled Snoopy In Space, among the first new Peanuts-related offerings since the 2015 movie. The series won a Daytime Emmy Award, a big win for Charlie Brown’s dog—not so much for Brown, who can’t seem to catch a break. A follow-up series, The Snoopy Show, debuted earlier this year.
In our review of The Snoopy Show, Kevin Johnson wrote, “[The Snoopy Show] is a pleasant, funny, weightless affair that manages to evoke the feeling of Charles Schulz’ seminal comic strip, but not its meaning. But hey, Snoopy is fun.”
The new special will debut on December 10 on AppleTV+. Additionally, the streamer will air the regular slate of Charlie Brown specials, including It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. All three will also receive ad-free airings on PBS.
27 Comments
I genuinely love Peanuts, and it’s probably played a bigger role in my media tastes and development than any other thing in the world. That said, we don’t need any more specials. Just the three main ones will suffice.
Yup – Christmas, Great Pumpkin, and It’s the Girl in the Red Truck.
We would’ve also accepted It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown or Why, Charlie Brown, Why?
Say what you will about that special, but that title track is an absolute banger.
Thanksgiving isn’t even all that good. I mean, it’s totally watchable but it’s not that good. Peanuts specials coasted on goodwill for decades… Though the first two movies are fantastic too.
A few years ago I read The Complete Peanuts in its entirety and liked the strip’s entire run. I also watched almost every Peanuts special made while Schulz was alive and thought most of them were pretty forgettable, which makes me wonder how they were popular enough to practically be their own series. I did like all five Peanuts movies, which I think is ironic since you’d think the longer running time would cause an even bigger diminishing returns problem.
Bizarrely enough, the actual TV series, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, crashed out after 18 episodes. It was a Saturday morning show, so maybe they underestimated the adult viewership’s role in keeping the specials afloat.
The only thing I really remember about Thanksgiving is Peppermint Pattie just laying into Charlie Brown for his “feast” of pretzels, popcorn and jelly beans.Hey, at least he TRIED, Pattie; where’s YOUR party?
Please do not disrespect Sir Peppermint Patty.
I grew up watching all the Peanuts movies and of course, Great Pumpkin and the Christmas show (still hands down the best ever, if only because of the music). I never, ever knew about the Thanksgiving episode until I was 33 years old. In 2008. And…it’s ok. But it’s not a timeless classic like the other two. I’ve also found my nostalgia for Peanuts has waned over the years. I still love the Great Pumpkin and Christmas shows, but… I recently bought full collections of Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes, and they have both aged much better, the former’s political references notwithstanding.
It’s Just New Year’s Eve, Honestly Who Gives a Shit?, Charlie Brown
Is this set in the future where Charlie Brown and the Peppermint Patty bump into each other at the grocery store and split a six-pack in her car?
The OG New Year’s special I remember being very depressing but I don’t remember exactly what happened in it.
Charlie Brown’s teacher makes him do a book report on War And Peace over the break as a cruel prank, considering that no one else in his class seems to have to do it.
Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986). Charlie Brown’s New Year’s is spoiled when he realizes that he needs to read War and Peace and write a book report for when school comes back after the holidays. It’s weird that they are redoing New Year’s. Have they run out of holidays? I don’t think they’ve done Mother’s or Father’s Day, for example.
How exactly would they do Mother’s/Father’s Day with no adults?
They have adults — they just are never shown directly and just make “wah-wah-wah-wah-wah” sounds when they speak. So Charlie Brown could try to buy a great gift for his mom and realize he can’t afford it so he makes some gift himself and has an epiphany to the effect that Mother’s Day is about showing your mother that you appreciate her, not buying the greatest gift for her. Although I suppose the drama may be lessened by having the “I love you mom” followed by “wah-wah-wah-wah-wah”.
There’s a couple where the off-screen adults actually speak intelligibly (one of the sports-heavy ones, as I recall). The Pied Piper one has adults in full view, but it’s a fairy tale thing so it doesn’t really count.
It’s Hanukkah, Charlie Brown! should be the next one!
It’s Kwanzaa, Franklin!
“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. A new year is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand New Year’s, I guess. I like getting terribly drunk, and dancing uncoordinately and making resolutions I never keep and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.”
“I threw up a rock.”
I bought a DVD set of most of the holiday specials so I don’t have to deal with Apple hoarding them all.
I’ve found it pretty hard to find a complete set of all of the old Peanuts tv specials. They rerelease Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving all the time, but some of the others kind of disappeared. They did box sets of the ones from the 60’s and 70’s, but the later ones are hard to find. I don’t think they ever released a complete set.
How long until Apple announces they’re simply buying the IP, like Nickelodeon/Viacom did with Garfield?
New Year’s Eve isn’t really for kids, though. I can’t recall ever celebrating the new year or making new year’s resolutions as a child. Maybe that’s just me though.
Yeah lets see more people butcher the pronunciation.