The Lookback : Charlie Brown Lookback : It's the Pied Piper , Charlie Brown

The Peanuts  

     A Peanuts special you may have not heard about , "The Pied Piper, Charlie Brown" , that sounds like  the Great Pumpkin (is that capitalize?)  has so far not aired on TV (in the US, maybe other countries)  but it was the first released on DVD , in 2000.  It was also the first "new" one after Charles Schultz's death.   Let's get to it.

    Sally wants her big brother, (Ole Charlie Brown) to read her  a story because , in her words,  he promised her that he would read her story.  After she prods Charlie Brown he relents and gets two books :  War and  Peace  or  The Pied Piper (Are children supposed to read War and Peace, and what if Sally picked that one would this be called " It's War and Peace , Charlie Brown" ?)  Since the title of the special is not with War and Peace , you know Sally picks the 2nd book because it was lighter.   Charlie Brown changes rats to mice because Sally didn't like that intro. (Rats  are jerks , mice are not)  He also changes the story  to a more modern small town , over run with mice (sports mice).

                                 

     The mice dance in victory of their kill/ Copyright Peanuts

  Charlie Brown , Sally, Linus , and Lucy follow a TV crew to city hall where Charlie Brown tells the mayor (who's approval rating is probably down due to mice problem) he knows someone who lead the mice away from the town.  Funny hidden joke when the mayor's sectary turns him away  she tells him why don't come back when you are fifty years old, the Peanuts were around for 50 years by this point so ... joke on her.   Eventually , Charlie Brown does get to talk to the mayor and suggest his help. The Pied Piper ,(Snoopy).
                                                   

                                The mayor has  a strict wear red and white policy/ Copyright Peanuts

 The desperate mayor agrees to have Snoopy (the Pied Piper) get to work he even signs Snoopy's contract.  (Politics at work?)  Snoopy plays his  Concertina and he leads the mice in a merry melody and leads the mice out of town.  (Though, apparently the city has a low cat population, darn it Bob Barker )  Then Charlie Brown , Snoopy , and some kids there to help Snoopy  all go the mayor to collect his reward. The mayor decides he  doesn't think he promised such a thing even  dis-owning that the contract is real and not even owning up to signing it. (In other words , he's a politician)
  Charlie Brown warns the mayor  that folks that don't pay a promise will pay in other ways.   Snoopy plays his instrument again  and the mayor and pals all get enamored and follow Snoopy out of town , never to be seen again. (Hey Snoopy , we have a job for you, we will keep our promise)   Charlie tells his sister  the moral of the story, to keep your promises.  Sally doesn't believe anything like that can happen in real life when  : Charlie Brown and Sally hear music outside and see Linus , Lucy, Peppermint Patty , and Franklin all dancing around Snoopy's dog house as he is playing his instrument.  Lucy begs Charlie Brown to make him stop.

  That's our look at this special , it's a quite interesting one , fun to see the Peanuts characters playing  an interesting story. (War and  Peace Peanuts would have rocked)   The music  in the special is a fun mixture of Irish sounding, country, anda few other sounds. It's  a nice special  based off the story.
                                         

Lookback: The Charlie Brown Lookback: Snoopy the Musical (tv version)

The Flashback   
Special Edition 

                                         

In a deviation of our normal pattern , we are doing extra Charlie Brown Lookbacks and we start with "Snoopy! the Musical" the TV version.
     I say, TV version because it was play , an actual play (cough musical , Jacob Two-two) , that  first started in 1975 in San Fransico, went off Broadway , was done in Canada , in London's West End.  But  in 1988 an animated version was made and aired on CBS for a full  50 minutes (with out commercials) release. It doesn't have a surround able plot instead a series of vignettes was how it was put together,    So that is how we will look at it.

 The first song is  "Don't be less than Everything  You can be": Where Linus , Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, and Sally sing about being the best you can be.

                                             
                         Don't be dog when you can be the house ... /copyright peanuts

   The 2nd song is  sung by Snoopy , after Lucy suggests Charlie Brown get a cat.( Why cat, when she meant wife is beyond me)

Peppermint Patty seems disgusted. 

   The Fourth  segment , Snoopy wonders what the kids do all day when they are school.   We say fourth because the third was not really a song it was just Woodstock's funny morning routine. Back to the fourth part.  A funny line is Linus telling Lucy she should have her mouth boarded up , when she asks should she have her ears pierced. ( He'll pay of that later) We see, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Linus, Charlie Brown , and Sally doing school things.  The Featured song is called "Edgar Allen  Poe" 

                       

                                                           

                                           I remember the year of 18 Charlie Brown- Linus / Copyright Peanuts

 The song is about them worrying that the teacher will call on them with a question about Edgar Allen Poe.
                           
                             This is the song/ copyright Peanuts
   The Fifth segment is called  "I know now" ,  the girls : Sally, Peppermint Patty, and Lucy tell us what they know. (Lucy calls Peppermint Patty , Patrica)
   They know that you can't bend crackers, your body isn't leaking when you cry (umm), Similes make lousy umbrellas and more. Also telling Snoopy to go home if they are infront of his house.   Listen to that song here
   The Sixth segment , introduced by Snoopy, is about Linus and the Great Pumpkin. It's called Vigil (The Great Pumpkin died?)  (you can listen to that song here)  Linus' song is about how he's waiting for the Great Pumpkin and making deadlines and moving them up. (Like my first lawyer)
 
more after the jump

A new 90's Nick block coming to TV

TV News  Retro TV 
   

    It started as a mystery as The 90's are all that twitter page was re branded as the Splat with the message #TheSplatiscoming . Rumors of new channel or block that will air 90's nick programming came out and now as offically announced  there will be a new 8 hour block on teennick , replacing the current 4 hour (2 hour replay)  of 90's are All That, starting October 5th at 10PMET

 from press release

*Follow "The Splat" on Twitter @thesplat, Instagram @thesplatgram, Facebook, YouTube, Vine, Tumblr and Pinterest.#TheSplatIsComing
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Millennials who crave the iconic Nickelodeon shows of their childhood, includingKenan & Kel, Rugrats, Hey Arnold! and more, can rejoice. Starting Monday, Oct. 5, Nickelodeon will throw back to the '90s every day with the launch of "The Splat," a new multiscreen content destination spanning television, seven social media platforms and a dedicated web site aggregating the most loved Nick content from the 1990s and beyond. "The Splat" will dive deep to create a retro experience filled with landmark Nickelodeon programs; classic programming stunts like Nick or Treat, U-Pick and Super Toy Run; the recreation of specific days of programming as they aired in the ‘90s; and original promos and interstitials, including the Doo-wop Dinosaurs and the Opera Lady. "The Splat" will roar to life across all platforms on Monday, Oct. 5, launching that night on television on TeenNick from 10 p.m. - 6 a.m. (ET/PT).
Celebrating the characters and shows that are definitional to millennials who grew up in the ‘90s, "The Splat" will consist of:
TV block - an eight-hour rotating TV lineup airing daily on TeenNick from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. (ET/PT);
TheSplat.com - a fan-driven site built around social conversations;
Emoji Keyboard - a fully integrated Splat-branded keyboard featuring emoticons, stickers and GIFs;
Social Media Community - a robust social presence on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine and YouTube.

They also announced some of the programming details

"The Splat's" rotating TV lineup on TeenNick will have weekly themes and monthly programming stunts featuring hit '90s animated and live-action series including All That, Angry Beavers, Are You Afraid of the Dark, CatDog, Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Arnold!, Hey Dude, Kenan & Kel, Ren & Stimpy, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Rocko's Modern Life, Rugrats, Salute Your Shorts and The Wild Thornberrys, with additional series rolling out throughout the year. At launch, "The Splat" will feature themed weeks and stunts like:
First Time for Everything (week of Oct. 5) - first two episodes of fan-favorite animated and live-action series and game shows;
Rugrats Reptar Takeover (week of Oct. 12) - best of Rugrats episodes featuring Reptar;
Hey Arnold! Live from the Stoop (week of Oct. 19) - Stoop Kid-centric episodes;
Nick or Treat (week of Oct. 26) - call-in event where lucky callers get 40 seconds to choose from six doors, collecting tricks and treats along the way, plus scary and spooky themed animation episodes.

 
source : http://www.viacom.com/news/Pages/newsdetails.aspx?RID=933091

Our 2015 Fall TV premiere calendar

ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, NBC  TV Look Fall 2015 

   As the new fall tv season is about to start  here at the start dates and times for the new fall season  of new shows and new seasons.   Note:  Networks being networks can change anything they want so changes may happen, if we catch a change we will try and change it.  Note 2 : This is for the broadcast networks.  

September 21st 

ABC
10PMET Castle (Season Premiere)

CBS
8PMET Big Bang Theory (Season Premiere )
8:30PMET Life in Pieces (Series premiere)
9PMET Scorpion (Season premiere)
10PMET NCIS: LA (Season Premiere)

FOX 

8PM ET Gotham (New Season )
9PMET Minority Report (New Series)

NBC

8PMET The Voice (New Season )
10PMET Blindspot (New Series )

September 22nd 

ABC
8PMET The Muppets (Series Premiere)
8:30pmet Fresh Off the Boat (Season Premiere)


CBS

8PMET NCIS (Season Premiere)
9PMET NCIS :New Orleans (new season)
10PMET Limitless (series premiere)

FOX 

8PMET Scream Queens (Two hour premiere)

September 23rd

ABC
8PMET The Middle (Season Premiere)
8:30PMET The Goldbergs (Season Premiere)
9PMET Modern Family (Season Premiere)
9:30pmet Black-ish (Season Premiere)
10PMET Nashville (Season Premiere)

CBS

8PMET Survivor
note : "Survivor" has as 90 minute premiere
9:30PMET Big Bother's Season Finale (90 minutes )

FOX 

8PMET Rosewood (New Series)
9PMET Empire (new season)

NBC
8PMET The Mystery of Laura (New Season )
9PMET Law and Order : SVU (2 hour season premiere)

more after the jump 

The lookback : Kids of Adult cartoons

The Flashback  Children's TV

      This time on the Lookback , we are looking at back at the kids of adult cartoons. Wait ,huh?
Oh well got an email   (which is not first)

     Hey Joshuaonline, 

    I like the lookback stuff your site does , but so far have not seen anything about  baby-feid  cartoons , you know the ones where famous characters are younger , like  Tom and Jerry Kids.  You should do that. 

     Yep, an email suggestion  which is nice , and thank you.  The point of this article is about those cartoons where  apparently  our favorite cartoons were given a younger make over. (Hollywood is always about age)
  1. Tom and Jerry Kids
  So, since  "Tom and Jerry Kids"  was already mentioned let's talk about that first.
   You know Tom and Jerry the cat and mouse who were trying to kill each other since the 40's  (longer than most cats and mice live). It was named in our Fox Kids piece  (which you can read here) but we didn't really in depth talk about it.   Well "Tom and Jerry Kids" was one of the many Tom and Jerry Movies and TV shows that came out over the years.
   Hannah and Barbera and Turner  got together (then Turner bought H&B in 1991, but that's another story)  and worked  together to make this series.  It was the last H&B series for Saturday Morning because they got purchased by Turner  and he used them to work for Cartoon Network.

                                
                              Tim and Harry Kids  / (c) 1990 H&B
        It was the First series to kick of the New Fox Kids block on Fox stations (most of them)  on September 8th ,1990 (once of the best dates in History)  The Series featured our favorite cat and mouse as well kids (though in our modern  90's times) it also featured the dogs from the Tom and Jerry Shorts,  Spike and Tyke , who like the regular series  they were still adult and puppy respectively (uhhhh). Also the series  even though called Tom and Jerry Kids had 3 segments that could make it seem like 3 different shows.  The First, was Tom and Jerry  kids , where you had the fun of Tom and Jerry chasing each other , though in kid form this time. (With less violence because it was the 90's  no violence on TV then) , Second , there was the Spike and Tyke segment  which was there to show family love. (or something) Third, we had Droopy dog   and he now had a kid ( nice he finally settled down and had a family).    The  series ran on Fox Kids from 1990 to 1993  with 4 seasons and the standard 65 episodes (because 65 is a good round number) , then repeats moved to Cartoon Network . (Ted Turner's personal cartoon channel )

  2.   The Flintstones Kids (Another show about Pebbles and Bam-bam?*, sigh)
    So , the Flintstones ever wonder how they would be as kids?  (No, I wanna see how the Jetsons were as kids)
        Hanna and Barbera ,owners of the Flintsones, made a new series for ABC (America's Biggest Channel)  in 1986.  "The Flintstone Kids".  We meet Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty, and also their  pet Dino. ( ummm a different dino or the same one meaning...?)
     As most cartoons had at the time , it had segments (kids couldn't handle 11 to 22 minute cartoons at the time ,attention spans were short in the 80's )   The Flintstone kids segment could be the whole show or a part (depending how much story they had)  it  was our main story.  Another segment (that was killed in season 2) is Flintstone Funnies  it was the characters dreams that we get to see.  Segment 3 , Captian Caveman and Son , was  a show with in the show , the characters of our show , watched them watch a show.  Also, Dino's Dilemmas  where we followed  Fred's pet, Dino.  

                        
                          Pocket sized Flintstones, can you catch them all? / Copyright HB
  The series ran  2 seasons of 34 episodes (shame, not even 65).

(*no wait , that was Cave kids)
more after the jump

"The Munsters" coming to COZI TV

Classics  

  Just in time for Halloween, the  classic TV show, The Munsters (1964-1966) is  coming to Classic TV network , COZI TV.  It hasn't been repeated on TV in few years.  It will air on Cozi ,starting October 5th at  5pmet  and in October it will air on COZI's Stunt  Sunday with 4 episodes each Sunday starting at 1PMET.  

Other Changes to COZI's line up  (from COZI's website)

Starting Saturdays beginning 10/3:
9:30AM/8:30c - Lassie replaces My Favorite Martian
Starting Sundays beginning 10/4:
9:30AM/8:30c - Lassie replaces My Favorite Martian
11AM/10c & 11:30AM/10:30c - My Favorite Martian replaces Maverick
12PM/11c & 12:30PM/1:30c - Dick Van Dyke replaces Maverick
Weekdays starting 10/5:
7AM/6c - Dick Van Dyle replaces Lassie
7:30AM/6:30AM - Here's Lucy replaces Lassie
5PM/4c - The Munsters replaces Dick Van Dyke
5:30PM/4:30c - The Munsters replaces Here's Lucy
COZI HALLOWEEN - 10/31
6AM/5c-10AM/9c - One Step Beyond
12PM/11c-12AM/11c - The Munsters Marathon
12AM/11c-5AM/4c - One Step Beyond

 If you want to know where COZI is where you are find out here.

MSNBC changes : Some more

MSNBC  Cable news 

This time in MSNBC changing 2015 news:   Mediaite's  Joe Concha (who has been dead right on these MSNBC change stories)  reports that MSNBC is going to be making some more changes.

Their morning  show , Morning Joe , will be expanding to 9AMET  , News Nation , currently anchored by Tamorn Hall will expand to to 2 hours starting at 10AMET, meaning that the current 9-11AMET Jose Diaz-Balart (who is also anchor at Telemundo) will be removed.   In the afternoon , NBC News correspondent  , Kate Snow is to receive the 3-5PMET  slot.

Here's a look at that line up  :
6AM now to 10AMET  Morning Joe
10AMET-12PMET  News Nation
12-1PMET  Andrea Mitchell Reports
1-3PMET  MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts
3-5PMET  Kate Snow  (currently MSNBC LIVE)
5-6PMET   Chuck Todd  (currently MSNBC Live)
6-7PMET  MSNBC  LIVE ( replacing Sharpton as of  9/8; future Program announced)

This year  has so far Seen MSNBC scrap 6 hours of programming between  1-7PMET as they try and drift away from Lean Forward to News.


Update   (9/4) Mediaite's Concha is reporting that Jose Diaz-Balart will still be at the network , just losing one hour of his show instead the whole 2.

ABC Family announces 13 nights of Halloween (2015) plans

ABC Family , Halloween 

ABC Family's  annual   13  Nights of Halloween schedule has been announced.  



Oct. 19
1:30 p.m. - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
5 p.m. - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
9 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
12 a.m. - Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

Oct. 20
4 p.m. - Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
6 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
9 p.m. - Stitchers 2015 Halloween Special
12 a.m. - Casper

Oct. 21
5 p.m. - Casper
7 p.m. - The Addams Family
9 p.m. - Addams Family Values
12 a.m. - I Know What You Did Last Summer

Oct. 22
4 p.m. - The Addams Family
6 p.m. - Addams Family Values
8 p.m. - The Hunger Games
12 a.m. - I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

Oct. 23
5:30 p.m. - The Hunger Games
8:30 p.m. - Sleepy Hollow
12 a.m. - Matilda

Oct. 24
7 a.m. - Matilda
9 a.m. - ParaNorman
11 a.m. - Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
1 p.m. - The Nightmare Before Christmas
2:30 p.m. - Casper
4:30 p.m. - The Addams Family
6:30 p.m. - Addams Family Values
8:30 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Monsters University
11 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story OF TERROR!
11:30 p.m. - Hocus Pocus

Oct. 25
7 a.m. - ParaNorman
9 a.m. - Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
11 a.m. - Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
12:30 p.m. - Casper
2:30 p.m. - The Addams Family
4:30 p.m. - Addams Family Values
6:30 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story OF TERROR!
7 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Monsters University
9:45 p.m. - Hocus Pocus

Oct. 26
5:30 p.m. - Sleepy Hollow
9 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story OF TERROR!
9:30 p.m. - Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
12 a.m. - Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie

Oct. 27
4:00 p.m. - Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie
6 p.m. - Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
7:30 p.m. - Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story OF TERROR!
9 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
12 a.m. - ParaNorman

Oct. 28
4 p.m. - ParaNorman
6 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
8:15 p.m. - Dark Shadows
12 a.m. - Casper

Oct. 29
5 p.m. - Casper
7 p.m. - The Addams Family
9 p.m. - Addams Family Values
12 a.m. - Hocus Pocus

Oct. 30
2:30 p.m. - The Addams Family
4:30 p.m. - Addams Family Values
6:30 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
8:30 p.m. - Poltergeist
12 a.m. - Poltergeist II: The Other Side

Oct. 31
7 a.m. - Batman
10 a.m. - Batman Returns
12:30 p.m. - Poltergeist
3 p.m. - Sleepy Hollow
5:30 p.m. - Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
7 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
9:15 p.m. - Hocus Pocus
11:30 p.m. - Sleepy Hollow

Press release after the Jump 

The Lookback : The Charlie Brown Lookback : There's No time For Love, Charlie Brown

The Flashback 

   Our lookback at  Peanuts specials continues as a little part in celebrating the Peanuts 65th Anniversary and also the 50th anniversary of the first ever Peanuts special "A Charlie Brown Christmas"   This special we look at is called "There's No Time for  Love , Charlie Brown" , which has nothing to do with Valentine's day. (Thank goodness because we are way past that and we couldn't review it in this series)    

                                               

                                               You know in my day ,  We always had time for love

    There's No time for Love , came out in  March of 1973 on CBS (there's a pattern there) , the first  8 minutes shows us the peanuts characters doing school work in clip style vignettes.  Then we get to a plot line , where Charlie Brown has to do well on a paper he does for a field trip to an art museum.   A note about this special , it's the first time we see Marcie in an animated  peanuts special.   Charlie Brown's school  is not the only one going to this art museum  , Peppermint Patty and Marcie's School is also there and they run into Charlie. (Though not literally)     All the other kids but Charlie, his Sister, Peppermint Patty and  Marice and Snoopy (though he's not a kid)  have left  and they run inside a supermarket  that was next door  mistaking it for the museum.
                               

                                 I can see how you can confuse the two , maybe/copyright peanuts

      They continue even inside to think that the supermarket is an art museum (though apparently , one in trouble)  , though Marcie even mentions that it's a supermarket , Peppermint Patty dismisses it.    We also  do see Linus and Lucy together at the real museum  so they are in the right spot at least.  Meanwhile  there is  a "Joe Cool" Snoopy scene  where  does some bay boying. (is that a word or verb? )  (Wait, he knows it's grocery store and didn't tell anyone?)  Peppermint was woken from her nap and she talks about  Chuck,  where she makes a comment "How can anybody ever be in love with boring ,dule , wishy washy ole Chuck?"  while is on the other side.  (Or where I come from we just yell it on the loud speaker so everyone can hear it)   Though on her part she feels really guilty about what she said as she apologizes to him.  On his way home , Marcie tells Chuck , that Peppermint patty kind of likes him.

                                                 

                                        Marcie then gives a passionate kiss/copyright Peanuts

      When Linus does a slide show (not on power point ,you sillies , this is old fashion way)  , Charlie Brown finds out that  he wasn't at the museum.  Though at the moment it's too late he already handed the paper in and he's worried about the result. (In other news Marice is always right)  Though luckily, the teacher liked his description and gives him an A. ( Wa wa wa wa wa) In fact , he gets the only A in the class.  Peppermint Patty formally apologizes and   states that it's  hard for girls to talk to boys. Then he does something stupid , brings up that little red headed girl.
   
   It's  a good special , with some good  jabs at modern art  , plus the Peppermint Patty love conflict is fun. Though it is nice to know that  someone being to Charlie Brown is just by a little nervousness and that Peppermint Patty has a likeness to him.

 Next time... Sally  gets back at  Peppermint Patty for her comments about her big brother. (this is a lie)  See  you next month,