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Over the past half-century, no TV show has become more a part of the holidays in America than "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

"Christmastime does not begin — the season does not officially start — until you have watched" the animated special, Tom Hanks told Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show a couple of years ago.

To say that the special's executive producer didn't anticipate just how much the American public would take the show to heart would be an understatement.

"When the show was finished, [producer/animator] Bill Melendez and I thought that we had ruined Charlie Brown, that the show was too slow," executive producer Lee Mendelson told The Salt Lake Tribune. "We took it to the network and they hated it."

The public, however, loved it from the very first airing Dec. 9, 1965.

"Remember, back then there were just three networks. And we got a 50 share — half the country tuned in," Mendelson said. "And the man at CBS who didn't like the show called back on Monday and said, 'We're going to order four more, but my aunt in New Jersey didn't like it, either.'

"So he was going to go down with trumpets blaring with his opinion."

A minority opinion, to be sure. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" won an Emmy and a Peabody Award in 1966. In 2007, the music track was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2011 it was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, declared "culturally, historically or aesthetically important."

"It's become part of the Christmas fabric," Mendelson said.

Sure, there are other classics in the TV Christmas special genre — "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and more. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a holiday special more beloved than "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

It was, believe it or not, a rather risky proposition for "Peanuts" creator/cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, among others.

"When we first met to do the outline of the show, Charles Schulz said, I'm going to have Linus read from the Bible,' " Mendelson said. "And [animator] Bill Melendez and I looked at each other and said, 'Well, there goes our career.'

"I said, 'I don't know if we can do that on television with animated characters.' [Schulz] said, 'Well, if we don't do it, who will?' "

In "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the title character is depressed by the overcommercialization of the holiday.

Frustrated during an out-of-control rehearsal for a Christmas play, Charlie Brown throws up his hands and exclaims, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

Linus takes the stage and recites from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 8-14, including:

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men."

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown," Linus says.

And, while Mendelson, Melendez and some CBS executives expected blowback from the religious message, it didn't happen.

"We went ahead and did it and it was noncontroversial," Mendelson said. "And it was certainly one of the main parts of the show."

But there's so much else in that half hour:

• The Peanuts characters skating while singing "Christmastime Is Here" — written by Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi specifically for the program.

• Guaraldi's Grammy-nominated jazz score.

• Charlie Brown visiting Lucy's psychiatry booth, paying 5 cents for her advice.

• Schroeder playing Beethoven on his toy piano.

• Pig-Pen raising a cloud of dust on a frozen pond.

• Sally's letter to Santa Claus, in which she tells him to "just send money. How about 10s and 20s?"

• Aluminum Christmas trees.

• Snoopy winning the decorating competition for his doghouse.

• And, of course, Charlie Brown's sad little Christmas tree — which has become a byword for any less-than-perfect-looking tree in the real world.

The animation is somewhat crude, even for 1965 — the result, Mendelson said, of a "very small budget" and tight deadlines. Acting on a proposal from an advertising executive at McCann-Erickson — the real-life firm featured in "Mad Men" — Mendelson and Schulz put together an outline for the episode in a day.

Coke said yes, but wanted it to air less than six months later, meaning the animation had to be done quickly.

Somehow, the look not only worked but holds up half a century later. Unpretentious and charming, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" finds new viewers every year on ABC — which acquired the rights in 2001 — as well as DVD and Blu-ray.

"The characters of Charlie Brown are so eternal," Mendelson said. "They were relevant 50 years ago and they're relevant today."

He attributed much of "A Charlie Brown Christmas' " endurance to its title character.

"I think we all identify with Charlie Brown," Mendelson said. "We all have problems every day that we have to endure. And I think we love the fact that he keeps trying. No matter how many times he gets knocked down, he gets up again."

For 50 years, Charlie Brown has taken abuse from Violet and Lucy, struggled with the meaning of Christmas, struggled with his pathetic little tree — "I've killed it!" — and come back to enchant viewers all over again.

For the golden anniversary, ABC has produced an accompanying hourlong special — "It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown." Kristen Bell hosts, and performers include Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Morrison, Sarah McLachlan, Boyz II Men, Pentatonix, David Benoit and The All-American Boys Chorus.

"It's going to be quite a big deal," said Mendelson. "And this is more than I ever expected.

"We thought that after one broadcast, ['A Charlie Brown Christmas'] would bomb, and I would go back to making documentaries."

Twitter: @ScottDPierce —

On TV

P ABC will celebrate the golden anniversary of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with two airings — Monday, Nov. 30, and Thursday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. on Ch. 4. Both nights, the 1965 special will be preceded at 7 p.m. by the hourlong special "It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown."