Although this Christmas classic was created for TV it was based on characters from the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from 1950 to 2000. In "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which was the first Peanuts TV special and premiered in 1965, main character Charlie Brown has become disenchanted with the commercialism of Christmas. He's reminded of the true meaning of the season with the help of his friend Linus (whose famous speech horrified network executives at the time because of its religious content) and a tiny, needle-shedding Christmas tree.
