Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Almost Wasn’t Made

For so many families, A Charlie Brown Christmas is an essential part of the holidays. This has been true since the special first aired on December 9, 1965, when more than half of all American households tuned in to see the first-ever televised Peanuts adventure.

But getting Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang to the small screen was a struggle. In fact, this classic Christmas special almost never made it to the air — and even after it was made, the network anticipated that the show would be a failure with viewers, due to its jazz score, lack of a laugh track, and use of actual children as actors.