A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET
This is a secular recommendation, though it won’t sound like one. Gather the family, especially the kids, around the TV set tonight at 8 ET on ABC, for an inspirational recitation of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 14. Those are the passages recited from memory by Linus, who takes the time, in this 1965 animated holiday classic, to explain the true meaning of Christmas. It’s the first Peanuts TV special, and still the best, and Charles M. Schulz’s story is still one of the most direct anti-commercialism messages in a season that threatens to drown us in commercialism, and commercials. Ignore the commercials on A Charlie Brown Christmas – but listen carefully to the show itself, and watch carefully, too. Thanks, Mr. Schulz. And thanks, Linus… By the way, I've been recommending this TV special for decades, literally, so my enthusiasm hardly counts as a New Testament.