Remembering 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'

Jennifer Rust : Nov 25, 2025
PJ Media

According to producer Lee Mendelson, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz asked a simple question: What would happen if the kids cooked Thanksgiving dinner?

[PJMedia.com] We're in the countdown to the Thanksgiving feast. Mothers, grandmothers, nay anyone in charge of the meal is busily prepping dishes for Thursday's big event, drying breadcrumbs on every counter for stuffing, and warning teenagers away from scarfing down the wrong food. Two days before the holiday is a bad time to wander into the kitchen. The latest meme has a family asking what's for dinner and mom yelling, "You'll eat Thursday!" (Screengrab image: via A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving /YouTube-Warner Bros)

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 20, 1973, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving aired for the first time on CBS. This 25-minute special has worked its way into the collective Gen X memory.

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This special is also known as the first holiday special to include the Peanuts crew's black friend, Franklin. In the early 2000s, some were arguing about whether the seating of Franklin on one side of the table indicated latent racism. Robin Reed, the young black actor who voiced Franklin, said that the scene represented inclusion "...through the innocent eyes of kids."

Brash Peppermint Patty sets up my favorite scene, when she says, "Before we're served, shouldn't we say grace?" Little philosopher Linus responds with thirty seconds that sum up the day:

"In the year 1621, the Pilgrims held their first Thanksgiving feast. They invited the great Indian chief Massasoit, who brought ninety of his brave Indians and a great abundance of food. Governor William Bradford and Captain Miles Standish were honored guests. Elder William Brewster, who was a minister, said a prayer that went something like this: 'We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice.'"... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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