It's the Great Hannukah Miracle, Charlie Brown!

I don't care what you say, if you don't watch ABC at 8:00pm this evening then you just don't like great things. Tonight marks the 40th annual broadcast of the famous A Charlie Brown Christmas special. Fuck, I'm Jewish, and even I cry at this program which quotes scripture and uses blatant religious references. Perhaps it is the lack of a laugh track, the use of real kids' voices, the trombone for the schoolteacher, or that majestically haunting jazz score by Vince Guaraldi which has become second nature as part of our collective musical lexicon. Everybody knows the theme to "Linus and Lucy," which has become known as sort of the theme song to the Peanuts. Guaraldi did the score for fifteen successive "Peanuts" specials, and then died of a heart attack in 1976, on the same day he'd finished recording the soundtrack for It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. Nevertheless, tonight's special is just that -- special. Tonight's airing will feature a never-before-seen (according the ABC's website) collection of Peanuts shorts, based on the strips of Charles Schulz, called Charlie Brown Christmas Tales. Try to catch it tonight, and I dare you not to get nostalgic and cry.

8:00pm - A Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC

MP3: Vince Guaraldi Trio - Linus and Lucy