A Charlie Brown Christmas: The 2021 television schedule

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The beloved special returns

The good news is that the animated Peanuts Christmas special will be available to watch on TV this year. It will only be for one night, unlike network television where it aired twice in the last few years. Cox Cable offered it for a fee in 2017 which I believe was an insult because it had always been free. A Charlie Brown Christmas will air in 2021 on Sunday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET on PBS and PBS Kids.

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The bad news

You know when and where to watch but the thing is to remember to actually watch the holiday classic. When this special aired on network television there were constant reminders. Both CBS and ABC would run commercials telling you not to forget when the Peanuts gang could be seen. I missed both It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving this year even though I wrote articles telling others the date they would air.

Don't forget to tune in to the holiday classic

PBS is not a network that I watch on a regular basis so if they run ads I would not know it. CBS and ABC are networks that I have been watching since childhood when along with ABC they were the "Big Three." I no longer have cable television so I could not program the DVR box in advance in case I missed it and I know I am not the only one. I have absolutely no way to remind myself to watch my favorite holiday program and that troubles me.

I could tell my children to remind me or perhaps set my phone to ring at 7:55 on the evening of December 19. I can put it on the refrigerator but none of these ideas appeal to me. I am 63 and opinionated and stuck in my ways. I should be able to turn on ABC or CBS and see the reminder multiple times until the 19th arrives but that will not happen.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was a staple in my home and my mother loved the little tree. When she began using a small tree she would call it her Charlie Brown tree. My brother Bill loved when the gan was singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and they held their heads up high and all their mouths were open really wide. He also misunderstood Lucy when she said she was the Christmas queen and he thought she said she was the Christmas queer. He said he thought Lucy was saying she was going to be the odd one that holiday season. My brother and I both got a kick out of it when the Peanuts gang shouts "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" and Chuck is amazed at his little tree.

My favorite moment is when Linus says "Light's please" and reads the first Christmas story from Luke chapter 2 in the Bible. I recall a Christmas play at church where we had to recite that entire chapter and I was able to and so proud. I still say it aloud with Linus often with tears in my eyes. That long-term memory is a blessing but I will walk in a room and forget why I went in there. I recall one year I could not watch the Christmas special because I was driving my children to and from church for the holiday pageant. I was so frustrated to miss this show that I had watched every year since it first aired in 1966.

Please click on the above link to take a look at the individuals who did the voices in this holiday favorite. This year as you watch consider enjoying your own find memories from Christmas past. A Charlie Brown Christmas turns 55 this year and it is so hard to believe. A lot has changed during the past 5 and 1/2 decades but the Peanuts gang is still beloved. If you subscribe to Apple TV you can watch the special for as long as it is available. Apple offers a free 7 days but after that, you will have to pay $4.99 to continue.