DVD Tuesday: Mister Ed, Peanuts Specials

Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.

Out today from Shout! Factory is Mister Ed: The Complete Third Season, containing all 26 episodes from the 1962-1963 season. I’m surprised at how quickly this was released; the second season came out in February. At this rate, the remaining seasons could be released by the middle of 2011, although no announcements have been made about when the fourth season will come to DVD. Also out today, from Warner Home Video, is Peanuts: 1970’s Collection, Vol. 2. Volume 1, which came out in October of 2009, included six Peanuts specials aired between 1971 and 1974. Volume 2 contains another six specials originally broadcast between 1975 and 1979:

“Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown”
“You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown”
“It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown”
“It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown
“What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!”
“You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown”

I forgot to mention last week that Alpha Video released several new single disc sets, all of which feature programs in the public domain: Lights Out, Volume 7, The People’s Choice – Volume 1, Roy Rogers With Dale Evans, Volume 16 and Frontier Doctor, Volume 5. You can usually purchase these at Amazon.com but at the moment most are unavailable. You may also find them in bargain bins at a variety of stores.


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3 Replies to “DVD Tuesday: Mister Ed, Peanuts Specials”

  1. It has always puzzled me that ever since ABC took over broadcasting the ‘Charlie Brown’ / ‘Peanuts’ libraries, they have relied upon encores of only a handful of the holiday-themed specials, ignoring the vast bulk of specials produced (55 in total).

    CBS made much better use of ‘Charlie Brown’ and ‘Peanuts’, scheduling them masterfully, always to high Nielsens. And they were very deliberate in adding a few fresh specials into the mix each season, one for every conceivable holiday or seasonal theme. ABC has commissioned only a few additional specials, the last being ‘He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown’ back in 2006.

    The six ’70s-premiered specials on this DVD all garnered excellent Nielsens on their original airdates, and each earned hefty numbers in encores as well:

    ‘Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown’ OAD: Jan.28, 1975 23.4HH/35%
    ‘You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown’ OAD: Oct.28, 1975 28.4HH/43%
    ‘It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown’ OAD: Mar.16, 1976 21.2HH/31%
    ‘It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown’ OAD: Oct.24, 1977 27.7HH/42%
    ‘What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!’ OAD: Feb.23, 1978 21.4HH/34%
    ‘You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown’ OAD: March 19, 1979 24.1HH/36%

  2. Look, if you were Disney/ABC, and you wanted to “neutralize” your competition, wouldn’t YOU schedule as few “Peanuts” specials as possible, ignoring the majority of them, focusing on the “evergreens” in the library instead?

  3. “It’s Your First Kiss” is notable for how on the repeat telecast, they took out a couple lines that viewers had complained about and with good reason. For some reason, Charlie Brown was accused of “goofing up” for missing a football kick in the big game when the fault was Lucy for pulling it away and the complaints were so heavy that Lee Mendelsohn and Charles Schulz agreed the following year to dub out the “You goofed up!” lines. I’m assuming the DVD version is the original.

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