One of the ways I once knew it was Halloween season, other than the changing leaves, was the annual showing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on TV. In the days before VCRs and DVDs and TiVo and On Demand, you had one chance to see it every year, and so whenever it was on, I was there to watch it. And most of the kids I knew were the same way.
I don’t know when it’s shown on TV anymore, but I have to imagine that it’s on one of the networks at least once every year. But the ability to watch it any time has changed the experience, somehow. Not so much for me, but certainly for my two daughters. In a few days Halloween will be over, and I hope we’ll sit down to watch it once. And If we do, it will only be because I begged and pleaded for it to happen.
There’s also a Charlie Brown exhibit opening this week at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It won’t be the same as it was watching TV back in the 1970s, but hopefully it will be enough.
