Television: Security Is a Good Show

December is the gruelingest month, the time when there seem to be more seasonal “specials” than regular shows on TV. But this Thursday (7:30 p.m., E.S.T.), CBS will carry a special that really is special. For one thing, the pro gram is unpretentious; for another, it is unprolonged (30 minutes). Finally, it represents the overdue TV debut of the comic strip Peanuts.

A Charlie Brown Christmas stars all the familiar Charles Schulz cartoon characters, faithfully animated by ex-Disney Artist Bill Melendez. The par able, too, is pure Schulz. Christmas is coming, but “good oF wishy-washy” Charlie Brown doesn’t “feel the way I’m supposed to feel.” “Look, Charlie Brown, let’s face it,” explains Lucy.

“We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know.” Even Snoopy knows. He has entered a “home lighting and display contest,” which, its advertisement promises, will help him “find the true meaning of Christmas.”

Snoopy, who upstages the rest of the company every time he is onscreen, wins first prize with his doghouse deco rations. Nice Guy Charlie Brown natu rally finishes last— he can’t even find a decent Christmas tree. “You’ve been dumb before, Charlie Brown,” snorts Lucy, “but this time you really did it.”

Then Linus saves Charlie’s day by narrating the story of the first Christmas and by telling him: “It’s not a bad little tree, really. It just needs love.” So Linus props it up with his security blanket, and Lucy and the rest of the kids provide Charlie with ornaments— and a little one-day-a-year love. The voices of the characters, dubbed by real rather than stage kids, are occasionally amateurish but contribute to the refreshingly low-key tone. In any case, listeners will grow accustomed to the voices. Three more Peanuts programs are on the drawing boards, and A Charlie Brown Christmas is one children’s special this season that bears repeating.