Good grief.

Since 2020, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been gone from network television.

For 54 years, the special aired on CBS, then ABC, every December – and millions of kids made sure they were sitting in front of the TV the moment it aired.

My family followed the same ritual for years: sitting in our wood-paneled basement family room, we’d plug in the Christmas tree and turn off the lamps.

As the Christmas lights glowed softly, we’d smile as Vince Guaraldi’s Trio played “Christmas Time Is Here” while the Peanuts gang glided across the ice.

Though Charlie Brown is no longer on broadcast television, the truth is it was almost never broadcast at all.

When CBS executives screened the first cut, they hated it. They didn’t like the amateur voices of real children. They didn’t think audiences would understand or appreciate Guaraldi’s cool jazz. And they........

© Yuma Sun