TV Guide revelation
- By : Nat
- Category : Classic finds
The latest addition to the AAUGH.com reference library is a TV Guide from February, 1980, which features an article about Peanuts, written by Schulz himself. In it, he discusses why some things work in the strip that don’t work in the animated specials, and he manages to do so in a way that is surprisingly down on television for someone who is intending to promote the new special She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown.
It’s good to have Schulz writing about Peanuts, but to a large degree, I bought this for just half a paragraph out of the four pages of text.
There’s a couple issues at stake here. One is that at times, there has been some debate about the date of the first appearance of Woodstock. Because Woodstock went unnamed for the first few years of his existence, and because other birds had appeared in the strip, there was contention over which strip was his first appearance. This quote locks it in: Woodstock was one of two baby birds who hatched on Snoopy’s stomach, so he was first seen in the March 4, 1966 strip.
But that other part, about Woodstock not being originally male? Schulz goes on to explain that when he established the bird as Snoopy’s secretary, he perceived the bird as female, as most secretaries at the time were. This may seem like a trivial note to you, but those who look for trans icons now have another name on their list.
There were a couple other things in the TV Guide which made me happy. One was just this single markup in the TV show listings
Some people like used items that pass as perfectly new, but I like finding that something had a bit of a life, even if it’s just making sure that Mom watches the latest installment of the BBC miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson.
The other was finding this ad just a few pages from the Peanuts article
A black gentleman named Frank Armstrong, fourteen years before we would learn that Armstrong was Franklin’s last name. Not a deeply meaningful coincidence, but still kinda cool. Well, to geeky ol’ me.
