Good grief! Peanuts special leads holiday TV pack

? “Good grief,” network executives said when they first saw Charles Schulz’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

“They thought it was too slow,” executive producer Lee Mendelson recalls being told by the powers-that-were at CBS in 1965.

But the special was an instant hit with critics and audiences. Forty years later, its ruminations on the spirit of Christmas, backed by a lilting jazz score by Vince Guaraldi, remain fresh and affecting.

Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and the rest of the “Peanuts” comic strip gang, never doubted that the program he’d written was good, Mendelson said. Schulz, who died in 2000, considered it his favorite of the “Peanuts” TV specials.

“I guess you can have an animated scene where you have a kid read from the Bible,” Mendelson said of the show, in which Charlie is depressed by the commercialization of Christmas until he is reminded of its unchanged meaning.

The sermon falls to Linus. “I can tell you what Christmas is about,” he says, recounting the story of Christ’s birth and ending with, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.”

Charlie Brown and Linus appear in a scene from A

“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” directed by animator Bill Melendez, airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ABC. It’s paired with “Charlie Brown Christmas Tales,” based on Schulz’s work and featuring each of the Peanuts characters, including Snoopy, in individual vignettes.

Among the other old favorites and newcomers marking the holiday season:

Animated

¢ “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” 7 p.m. today, CBS. A shy reindeer battles the Abominable Snowmonster and finds that his vibrantly colored nose makes him a hero, not a misfit, when Santa Claus needs a guiding light.

¢ “The Happy Elf,” 7 p.m. Friday, NBC. Harry Connick lends his voice and original songs to the story of Eubie the elf, who must rescue the unhappy town of Bluesville.

¢ “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” 7 p.m. Friday, ABC. Fred Astaire was the narrator for this 1970 tale about how Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney) overcomes a ban on toys in his native Sombertown and ends up becoming Santa Claus, the world’s biggest toy distributor.

¢ “Rugrats Chanukah Special,” 1 p.m. Dec. 17, Nickelodeon. Grandpa Boris and his old rival, Shlomo, perform in a play about the holiday’s meaning and, with the help of the babies, find a way to reconcile.

¢ “Frosty the Snowman,” 7 p.m. Dec. 17, CBS. Jimmy Durante narrated the tale of the brave snowman pursued by evil Professor Hinkle on a mission to rescue the North Pole. Followed at 7:30 p.m. by “Frosty Returns,” narrated by Jonathan Winters.

¢ “A Rugrats Kwanzaa,” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 26, Nickelodeon. When Aunt T. arrives to celebrate the Kwanzaa holiday with the Carmichaels, little Susie learns what it means to honor “the legacy of our great people,” and what greatness comes from.

Movies

¢ “Holiday Inn,” 7 p.m. Sunday, AMC. Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire star as two showmen whose New England country inn, open only on national holidays, becomes a success. The classic tune “White Christmas” was introduced in the 1942 film.

¢ “Recipe for a Perfect Christmas,” 8 p.m. Monday, Lifetime Television. Bobby Cannavale, Christine Baranski and Carly Pope star in a romantic comedy about a fledgling food critic whose scheme involving her mom and a restaurant owner doesn’t go according to plan.

¢ “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 7 p.m. Dec. 10 and 7 p.m. Dec. 24, NBC. Frank Capra’s classic 1946 fantasy about troubled George Bailey (James Stewart) and his enlightening angel,Clarence (Henry Travers).

¢ “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10, ABC. Jim Carrey stars as the unpopular Grinch in the film based on the Dr. Seuss book. Christine Baranski and Jeffrey Tambor co-star.

¢ “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” 7 p.m. Dec. 18, NBC. Life on the road isn’t easy for Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and family, but at least his Christmas bonus is coming. Beverly D’Angelo co-stars.