CHILD OF TELEVISION

Saturday, December 09, 2023

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas

Here is a

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

>

December 9, 1965
A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first of many prime-time animated TV specials based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz aired for the first time.
It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Meléndez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy. Initially sponsored by Coca-Cola, the special aired on CBS from its debut in 1965 through 2000, and has aired on ABC since 2001. For many years it aired only annually, but is now telecast at least twice during the Christmas season. The special has been honored with both an Emmy and Peabody award.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is also one of CBS's most successful specials, airing annually more times on that network than even MGM's classic motion picture The Wizard of Oz. Oz was shown thirty-one times on CBS, but not consecutively; between 1968 and 1976, NBC aired the 1939 film.

For the first time in nearly six decades, the Charlie Brown holiday specials will not be broadcast on television. Instead, the Peanuts are heading to Apple TV+.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Friday, December 08, 2023

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: John Lennon - Happy Christmas War Is Over

Here is a

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

December 8, 1980

John Lennon, is murdered by a deranged fan in front of his New York apartment building. Lennon was born in 1940 in Liverpool, England. As a boy, Lennon lived with his aunt after his father left the family. Lennon attended Quarry Bank High School, from which he derived the name for his first band, the Quarrymen, formed in 1955. In 1956, he met Paul McCartney, who joined the band, and the two began writing songs together. George Harrison joined the band in 1957, and the three played together under several different names and with varying members until 1960, when they adopted the name the Beatles.

The band toured German beerhouses in 1961 and debuted later that year at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they gave more than 300 performances during the next two years. Drummer Ringo Starr joined the group in 1962. The group scored several U.K. hits in 1963, launching the "Beatlemania" tidal wave that hit the United States in 1964. In a little more than 10 years, the group transformed rock and roll, scoring 20 No. 1 hits on the Billboard pop charts, more than any group in history. The group's records spent a total of 59 weeks topping the charts between 1964 and 1970.

Lennon divorced his first wife, Cynthia Lennon, the mother of his son Julian, and married artist Yoko Ono in 1969. With Ono, he released the album Two Virgins in 1968. He became more involved in liberal political causes and pursued projects with Ono. In 1970, McCartney announced that the Beatles had broken up. Lennon released his first solo album, Imagine, in 1971, and it rose to No. 1 on the charts. During the next few years, he released projects with Ono as well as his own solo albums, including chart-topper Walls and Bridges (1974). He gave his last public performance in 1974 and released his last solo album, Rock 'n' Roll, the following year. In 1975, Lennon and Ono had a son, Sean, and in 1980 the couple released their album Double Fantasy, which topped the charts and included the No. 1 single "(Just Like) Starting Over."

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Thursday, December 07, 2023

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Adam Sandler - CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) Song Part 4

Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas and Chanukah spirit.

Today is the first day of Chanukah/Hanukkah
Adam Sandler - CHANUKAH (HANUKKAH) Song Part 4

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Norman Lear

That's the heart of it: My shows were not that controversial with the American people.

They were controversial with the people who think for the American people.

Norman Lear

Norman Milton Lear

July 27, 1922 – December 5, 2023

I had the pleasure of meeting Norman Lear at a rally during the lad writers strike. He was heading to to podium to address the crowd. As he passed me I said, "You are my television hero". He stopped and turned to me and said, "Thank you for telling me right now".

Norman Lear was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including All in the Family (1971–1979), Maude (1972–1978), Sanford and Son (1972–1977), One Day at a Time (1975–1984), The Jeffersons (1975–1985), and Good Times (1974–1979). His shows were credited with introducing political and social themes to the sitcom.

Lear was a World War II veteran who dropped out of college to fight fascism and considered himself an unabashedly patriotic American. “I am a patriot,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published on his 99th birthday, “and I will not surrender that word to those who play to our worst impulses rather than our highest ideals.”

An old photo of a group of soldiers posing in front of a plane during World War Two. — Norman Lear (top right) posing with fellow servicemembers during WWII.

Lear was fond of saying, “There’s not a single day that I don’t pick up the newspaper and think, ‘Thank God, we have People For the American Way.’” He was deeply troubled about the threat posed by authoritarianism, writing in a New York Times op ed published on his 100th birthday, “To be honest, I’m a bit worried that I may be in better shape than our democracy is.”