You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown – Review

November 2015 is shaping up to be a big month for the Peanuts comic franchise. It marks the 65th anniversary of the debut of the Peanuts comic strips, it marks the 50th anniversary of the classic Charlie Brown Christmas special, it marks the release of the Peanuts Movie, and there are so many occasions coming up that make me want to view Peanuts cartoons. So this month, I’m reviewing a Peanuts movie and TV special every day in November.

Since I didn’t have an opportunity to watch it on the first day of the month, which was the day after Halloween, I decided to review the classic 1966 TV special, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for yesterday. I didn’t realize until later that yesterday was Election Day, so today’s review, which was originally going to be on Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, is instead going to be on the 1972 TV special, You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown. What few people realized that this was adapted from a previous Peanuts comic with almost the same setup. In that comic, Linus runs for Student Body President with Charlie Brown as his running mate, and he blows it after he talks about the Great Pumpkin in his campaign speech. Though this special changes a few things from that comic, it successfully extends its story origin into a 25-minute special. It starts out with Charlie Brown learning about the upcoming Student Body President Election. His friends try to convince him to run, but he is doubtful of his chances of winning. Charlie is soon proven right, as Lucy reveals that he has zero chance of receiving any votes. Still interested in having one of their own in the race, the gang convinces Linus to run for Student Body President. He actually ends up with a great chance of winning, until it is almost jeopardized during the final debate, when he talks about the Great Pumpkin in his campaign speech. The funniest part is when Charlie Brown (not his running mate here, as none of the candidates have one) and Lucy both have a rare moment of mutual agreement as they yell “AAUGH!” at Linus’s Great Pumpkin speech.

What’s truly interesting about this special is the time period it came out in. The airing of this special coincided with the upcoming 1972 US Presidential Election. Richard Nixon ended up getting elected for a second term, which was publicly plagued by the Watergate scandals. Though there are no actions of illegal taping in the story, there are some moments of political satire that play out cleverly, especially in the end. Overall, it’s a great political-themed special and one of my favorites.

Play It Again, Charlie Brown – REVIEW

November 2015 is shaping up to be a big month for the Peanuts comic franchise. It marks the 65th anniversary of the debut of the Peanuts comic strips, it marks the 50th anniversary of the classic Charlie Brown Christmas special, it marks the release of the Peanuts Movie, and there are so many occasions coming up that make me want to view Peanuts cartoon. So this month, I’m reviewing a Peanuts movie and TV special every day in November.

To kick it off, I’m reviewing the 1971 TV special, Play It Again, Charlie Brown. Today, I happened to watch a lot of Peanuts specials. Yet I didn’t watch the Great Pumpkin special, even though yesterday was Halloween. So I decided to review this one for today. This one is a lot more centered around young piano prodigy, Schroeder. He spends a lot of time playing in the style of Beethoven, which attracts a few of his friends, especially Lucy. Since Schroeder has never returned the same feelings she has for him, Lucy tries to win him over by having him play at the PTA meeting. The catch is, he has to perform rock music in a band with Charlie Brown, Pigpen and Snoopy. Though the Peanuts rarely make pop culture references, this special has some clever commentary about musicians selling out in order to achieve wide recognition, and Schroeder decides to stick to his guns in the end. It’s a lesson that still feels relevant with today’s music industry.

Survivor Seasons From Best To Worst

1. Micronesia

2. Pearl Islands

3. Australian Outback

4. Heroes vs. Villains

5. Borneo

6. Marquesas

7. Philippines

8. Samoa

9. Guatemala

10. Redemption Island

The only reason I put it at this spot is because I wasn’t offended one time during this season, and frankly, I can’t find another season to rank above this one. Maybe the next couple of seasons will be great or another season from the past will improve better, but this is where it sits on the list for right now.

11. Caramoan

12. Africa

13. Tocantins

14. Thailand

Say what you will about the cast, and part of it’s true.

In my eyes, however, the reason why I actually like this season was because of the tribe that I bet the house on. I was rooting for the Chuay Gahn tribe from the beginning, so when they did awesome, that was good news for me. I even have to admit that I enjoyed Robb’s disqualification in that challenge for choking Clay based off those reasons, and it was especially awesome when the merge didn’t happen in Episode 7, because it gave them a chance to get the upper hand for when it finally occurred 2 weeks later. Not many people can deny the fact that Brian was the best player. Even though he wasn’t the person I wanted to win in the final Tribal Council, I still liked him and thought he deserved the win. Once some of the haters quit being uptight, they knew that Brian was the most underrated winner of all time.

It definitely isn’t the best season ever (then again, could it have ever been?), but it shouldn’t be the worst.

15. Vanuatu

16. Gabon

17. Panama

18. One World

19. Palau

Never expected to rank this higher than I thought it would, but time heals all wounds.

20. Amazon

21. South Pacific

While Redemption Island divided the fans, the crew couldn’t get enough of this project, so they carried it into the next season. South Pacific still kept the Redemption Island twist, with a few changes. Plus, they got two new veterans to come back into the game: Ozzy Lusth and Coach Wade. Going into this season, I was rather intrigued by the pairing, since these two were the most polarizing men to ever come from the show. They never played together, but they couldn’t be more similar. The first half was actually compelling, with tribal power going back and forth each week, and that hasn’t been like that seen since season 1. Would’ve ranked higher if Redemption Island hadn’t became the Ozzy show.

22. Nicaragua

At least it ended better than most of the awful seasons, with NaOnka and Kelly S. quitting and Fabio winning. As long as NaOnka didn’t win, that was fine by me.

23. Cook Islands

This season ranks high for most fans, but very low for me. However, I will start off by pointing out the good things about this season, because I’m a very kind person. First, I actually stuck through nearly all of the season, only skipping the finale. May not have been a healthy choice for me, but there were some moments in the season that were actually enjoyable. Second, if this season didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have been introduced to Parvati, Candice, and Penner, who were very pivotal players in later seasons, and Ozzy Lusth, whom I loved to hate all the time. Lastly, the bloodbath between Aitu and Raro wasn’t too bad. My favorite tribe, Raro, did win two immunities out there, and at least one of the Raros was still in the game when the finale aired. Bet you didn’t know that, huh? Chances are, you don’t. Because the tribe that was very dominant had been dubbed them as the underdogs, which was the main problem for me.

Cook Islands began, in my opinion, the Terrible Trilogy, where there were 3 terrible seasons in a row, which continued on with Fiji and China. Yet out of the three winners in this trilogy, Yul was the only one that deserved the win. He took advantage of what was given to him, while the other 3 Aitus (ESPECIALLY OZZY LUSTH) rode on his coattails.

24. China

The third and final season to come in the Terrible Trilogy. Slightly better than its predecessor, but anyone could’ve called the outcome from a million miles.

25. All-Stars

On their own, most of these All-Stars were the best of the best. As an ensemble, however, this was a terrible cast. Some of these people just don’t go together too well.

All-Stars was not a terrible idea. Yet, it was way ahead of its time. They only had 7 seasons in a 4-year span. Big Brother and The AmazIng Race each waited about 6 years before their All-Star seasons. So did The Real World before they created the Challenge. The timing for Survivor: All-Stars put the real All-Stars at a disadvantage. If Richard Hatch did Heroes vs. Villains instead of this, you would’ve had a harder time getting him out within the first 6 weeks. Rob Cesternino could’ve went on Fans vs. Favorites and did a lot better than episode 4.

26. Fiji

Public Humiliation: BREAKING NEWS

A long time ago, television news was the most trust-worthy outlet of programming for viewers all around the world. Nowadays, the news just isn’t what it used to be anymore. Gone are the days of hard-hitting national and international events, and they have been replaced by journalists getting in embarrassing accidents.

Our Top Story For Tonight

Spider attacks a space shuttle, then attacks our scaredy-cat news anchors.

Now We’ll Talk About The Tragedy In Russia Today

There was a tremendous downpour in Russia. The rain flooded the streets all around, reaching about 5 feet and 10 inches, as observed by this local swimmer. More on this story as it develops.

In The Meantime, Let’s Go To Linda Carson For Eyewitness News

“I’m here at a local animal farm interviewing a goat who loves to eat my pants. The goat says that he prefers his pants sunny side up. Back to you, Warren.”

Thank You, Linda. Now We Got Breaking News From Up In The Air.

A pilot was flying an airplane when he passed out during his demonstration. He died tragically as the plane went down and crashed into the tree nearby.

And Now For The Weather

In Baltimore, they are experiencing 14 to 22 inches of snow, while our weatherman is experiencing 14 to 22 inches of withdrawals from marijuana.

Time For The Sports 

The Kentucky Derby took place this weekend. Seabiscuit won the race by crossing the dude who was serving as the finish line.

One Last Thing Before We Sign Off

There was an angry protest tonight in Ankara, Turkey. Reports say that these protesters were complaining about dweeby journalists in Turkey speaking English. Officials sent out water cannons to hose him out of the country.