May 13, 2025 • 56 mins
After years of hearing Sally’s philosophies, Charlie Brown comes up with one of his own. Rerun and Snoopy have a lot of fun together, even if they don’t know what they’re doing. And the gang takes on perhaps the weirdest Peanuts strip of them all… or maybe it’s just an ad. Plus: Crybaby Boobie, we hardly knew ye.
Transcript available at UnpackingPeanuts.com
Unpacking Peanuts is copyright Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz, and Liz Sumner. Produced and edited by Liz Sumner. Music by Michael Cohen. Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show follow @unpackpeanuts on Instagram and Threads, and @unpackingpeanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky, and YouTube. For more about Jimmy, Michael, and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Thanks for listening.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
VO (00:02):
Welcome to Unpacking Peanuts, the podcast where three cartoonists.
Take a in-depth look at the greatest comic strip of all time, Peanuts by Charles M.
Schulz.
Jimmy (00:18):
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the show.
This is Unpacking Peanuts, the world's foremost and only board-certified Beatles, Tolkien, Salinger, James Joyce, Laurel, and Hardy.
It's a wonderful life, Quentin Tarantino and REM themed podcast that occasionally mentions Peanuts.
I'll be your host for the proceedings.
(00:40):
My name is Jimmy Gownley.
I'm also a cartoonist.
I did things like Amelia Rolls, Seven Good Reasons Not to Grow Up and The Dumbest Idea Ever.
Joining me as always are my pals, co-hosts, and fellow cartoonists.
He's a playwright and a composer both for the band, Complicated People, as well as for this very podcast.
He's the co-creator of the original comic book price guide, the original editor for Amelia Rules, and the creator of such great strips as Strange Attractors, A Gathering Spells, and Tangled River.
(01:04):
It's Michael Cohen.
Michael (01:05):
Say hey.
Jimmy (01:07):
He's the executive producer and writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a former vice president of Archie Comics, and the creator of the Instagram sensation Sweetest Beasts, Harold Buchholz.
Harold (01:17):
Hello.
Jimmy (01:18):
Making sure everything runs smoothly is producer and editor, Liz Sumner.
Liz (01:23):
Ciao.
Jimmy (01:25):
Well, guys, listen, I have some old business that's been eating away at me that I have to talk about before we start.
So as I mentioned in our little intro, we're a full-service podcast.
We cover a lot of topics.
And last episode, I was thrilled.
A listener wrote in and said that, because I'm a big REM fan, as you may not remember, that Charlie Brown's favorite REM album would be Automatic for the People, which I heartily agreed to.
(01:54):
We remember that.
I still agree with that, but I should have mentioned at the time, REM has written the most Charlie Brown song ever written.
And it's the one everybody knows.
Losing My Religion is the most, it's about a guy standing in a corner with a crush on someone that he can't talk to and doesn't even know if they know he is alive.
(02:18):
So Losing My Religion, I would like to maintain as the most, or a Charlie Brown song that's ever been Charlie Brown.
So if anyone else has any other suggestions out there, let us know.
Michael (02:29):
Okay, well, what is the most Charlie Brown Beatles song?
Jimmy (02:32):
Oh, I'm a Loser.
Michael (02:33):
I'm a Loser.
Yeah.
We can do that for every character.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Jimmy (02:41):
Of course.
Harold (02:43):
There's no business like old business.
Jimmy (02:49):
So I just wanted to start with that.
But here we are in 1997, getting ever closer to the end.
So if you want to follow along, the first thing you got to do is sign up for the great Peanuts reread over at unpackingpeanuts.com.
That'll get you one email a month letting you know what strips we're covering.
Then just go over to Go Comics and you're going to have to fork over $4.99.
(03:13):
Sorry, people got to eat.
So anyway, you could find the strips over on Go Comics or you could buy one of the FantaGraphics books, or if you're clever, find it elsewhere, and then you could follow along with us.
But right now, let's get to it.
1997, January 1st.
Charlie Brown and Linus are standing outside and Charlie Brown proudly presents Linus with a baseball.
(03:38):
He's just purchased, and he says to Linus, see, it's an autographed Joe Shlebotnik baseball.
Linus takes it and examines it closely and says, I don't think so, Charlie Brown.
This isn't Joe's signature.
It's a forgery.
And Charlie Brown says, good grief.
Then he leans up against a tree saying, they cheated a little kid, an innocent, trusting, hero-worshipping little kid.
(04:01):
Me.
I wanted to talk about this sequence.
This is a little sequence where Charlie Brown, and I believe it started last year.
Well, obviously it started last year.
This is January 1st.
But the Charlie Brown goes to a mall sports memorabilia show and gets an autograph show, Shabbat, Nick Ball.
And I have to confess, do you guys remember in the 90s, this was huge, like the fake autographs at mall stands?
Liz (04:27):
Wasn't OJ part of that?
Jimmy (04:30):
He was actually signing it.
I have a Cindy Crawford framed photo that was absolutely definitely not signed by Cindy Crawford.
It just somebody scribbled on it and then someone else gave it to me for Christmas.
But they were rampant in the 90s.
Harold (04:44):
So it was, I didn't realize it was the scandal that you're saying it was that many people were just like cranking out fake autographs.
Jimmy (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, because you could go from one mall to the other and the autograph, they would have similar photos for a lot because there was all the same celebrities and signatures didn't match at all.
Michael (05:05):
I never understood this, this autograph business.
How do you authenticate it?
I mean, it's just too easy to forge.
Harold (05:13):
I think you go, you go ask the guy at the Orange Julius.
This strip I picked very first strip of the year, right in the middle of this.
The thing that I thought was just hilarious is here's Josh LeBotnik, who nobody considers a worthy hero to worship except Charlie Brown.
Michael (05:38):
But apparently Linus knows what his signature looks like.
Harold (05:41):
Well, that's it.
How on earth is Linus, even though he's an expert on a lot of things, how is he an expert on Josh LeBotnik's signature?
Look at those hilarious.
Schulz needs somebody to set it up and so well, it's got to be Linus.
Jimmy (05:54):
It's got to be Linus, right?
It would seem reasonable.
Harold (05:59):
Joe signs with a curlicue at the end.
Liz (06:03):
Peppermint Patty might know what Joe's signature looks like.
Jimmy (06:06):
Yeah, I could see that.
Harold (06:08):
That could have been it.
Michael (06:09):
Well, she's not going to be interested in the loser.
Jimmy (06:14):
Actually, here's how you would see it.
Harold (06:15):
Well, she likes Charlie Brown.
Jimmy (06:16):
All right, in our regular segment of fixing the work of geniuses, he could have spelled Shlabotnik wrong.
Ah, that's it.
Michael (06:27):
All right, once again, we improve on Charles Schulz.
Harold (06:30):
Yeah, if that's true, I guess if Linus knew how that was spelled, but I suppose that's much more likely, right?
Michael (06:36):
Yeah.
Harold (06:36):
Yeah, I mean, it should be S-C-H is probably an easy mistake.
Just like Schulz, right?
Schulz, yeah, there you go.
People will always misspell his name.
My gosh, he was so famous and there was a TZ in many newspapers years into this strip.
Jimmy (06:53):
This continues and here on January 2nd, Charlie Brown goes back to the card show and he's brought Snoopy along.
He hands the ball over to the guy behind the counter and says, yes sir, I think you sold me a forgery.
This is not Joe Shlabotnik's signature.
The guy apparently reacts and says to Charlie Brown something that makes Charlie Brown say, get lost, you sell me a fake autograph and then tell me to get lost?
(07:17):
What am I going to do about it?
And then he points to Snoopy and says, let me introduce you to my world famous attack dog.
And Snoopy is getting ready to throw hands.
Oh man, that picture Snoopy cracked me up.
And that I'm sure is the reaction you would get if you go to one of those things and ask for your money back.
(07:43):
I think it's a buyer beware situation.
Harold (07:46):
Yeah, the tag on your baseball that has the disclaimer, no refunds.
Jimmy (07:52):
I did buy a legitimate baseball.
Steve Carlton, who was a famous pitcher for the Phillies, Hall of Fame pitcher, came to the mall nearest and autographed stuff for a day.
And I didn't get to go for whatever reason.
I was sick, I think.
But we went to the store later that week and they had him sign a whole bunch of baseballs that you could just buy.
(08:16):
But I was a little kid and I didn't know what I was doing, so I just took it and then drew over the signature because I wanted it to look bolder, thereby completely ruining it.
January 3rd, so now in the middle of the scene, a little kid comes up who's wearing a visor as if he's an accountant or in an old 30s movie for the mob or maybe someone who works at a casino.
(08:44):
He comes over and he says, hey kid, do you want a job?
Charlie Brown says, a what?
He says, come on, I'll show you.
My hand is killing me from all that autographing.
Charlie Brown says, you mean?
And they follow him back and there is a whole stack of baseballs wherever this kid has taken them.
And he says, sure, I have to autograph all this stuff.
See, are you a good speller?
(09:05):
The kid continues, yesterday somebody wanted a Joe Shlubotnik or something.
Give me a break.
To which Charlie Brown says, I can spell Shlubotnik.
I like that Charlie Brown seems like he's going to consider this for a while.
But I think he's just interested in seeing the inner workings.
Harold (09:22):
He's on the inside, yeah, how this all plays out.
Liz (09:27):
Well, he needs money to buy gloves.
Michael (09:29):
That's true.
Well, he needs money to buy Joe Shlubotnik's signed baseball.
Jimmy (09:35):
At a more reputable stand down the other end of the mall.
Harold (09:40):
I like how it looks like Charlie Brown is just standing still in front of the guy who sold the thing, who's just called him out, and this guy, you want a job, kid?
Keep your enemies close.
Jimmy (09:57):
So yeah, so that is the end really of that sequence.
He shows him the things that he's going to be autographing then Charlie Brown leaves.
Michael (10:04):
So we never see Snoopy beating up the guy, do we?
Jimmy (10:07):
No, that would have been an amazing sequence though.
Him cracking his knuckles and getting ready for action is just, I love it.
He's so cute.
I have to say too, and maybe it's me, but there seems to be points in, I think what it is, I come talking about the tremor and sometimes I do not even notice it.
(10:30):
So much of the time, it's a Charlie Brown strip because he nails those heads.
Those unbelievably difficult round heads are always crisp and clear.
Harold (10:44):
Yeah, I really don't get that.
I don't know how he's doing that, everything else that we're seeing here.
Seriously, how does he do it?
Jimmy (10:52):
No, I don't know.
It's a mystery.
Harold (10:55):
I mean, the only thing that it could possibly be is speed, but then speed works against you sometimes with a dip pen and I don't know.
Well, it's remarkable.
Jimmy (11:06):
Maybe those are also, and I don't know that this would work, but maybe these are also the marks he's making where he's holding his right hand with his left hand and then the shape of it works.
Harold (11:17):
But whenever you're drawing a curved line, because for people who are artists or cartoonists who do this sort of a thing, your hand moves in a certain arc, right?
Yeah.
And at some point, that perfect arc runs out, you know?
Jimmy (11:36):
Yeah, because you have to start turning it the other way, really.
Harold (11:39):
It's maybe only 60 degrees of a curve, and then either it's super risky to keep going because it's not natural and it's not going to follow the actual curve, or you've got to do something else.
Turn the page or whatever.
If you're using a brush, it's a little different because you're using your, well, this is another thing.
(12:01):
Some people say an artist who's working with brush in particular is drawing from the shoulder.
They're holding the wrist and everything.
Jimmy (12:11):
Yeah.
Harold (12:12):
It's the shoulder and a little bit of elbow action.
And so that's why you can get a really smooth line because it's not the fine turning of a wrist which has a very small radius.
Jimmy (12:26):
Although the advantage Schulz has with a pen is that he's able to put the pen on the paper and feel that resistance.
I think if he was using a brush and had to have no resistance on the paper, the line would be out of control all the time, I think.
Harold (12:42):
Yeah.
I have no idea given the situation he was dealing with what that would look like.
You know, would you just lock your wrist, literally tape your wrist down or wherever that tremor is.
Jimmy (12:53):
Yeah.
Harold (12:53):
And then you move everything above where the tremor exists.
I don't know.
I don't know what it would look like if he was trying to work with a brush.
But knowing what his tool is, this is a miracle that he's getting this over and over again.
Jimmy (13:10):
January 25th, Snoopy is atop the dog house, lying there just enjoying the day.
And Lucy comes over and says, You are of no importance.
Did you know that?
She continues, You're only the tiniest speck in an enormous universe.
And then she leaves and Snoopy contemplates it for a moment, then lies back down and thinks, that I might as well go back to sleep.
Liz (13:34):
Did you pick this, Michael?
Michael (13:35):
Yes, I did.
Harold (13:36):
Brilliant.
Jimmy (13:42):
You like that one?
Michael (13:43):
Well, this is kind of a timeless peanut strip.
This could have come in any period.
Jimmy (13:48):
Absolutely.
And your theme of sleeping again.
Michael (13:52):
Yeah, sleeping, very important.
Jimmy (13:54):
Very important in the world of peanuts.
Harold (13:56):
You like that picture of Snoopy in the second panel where he's kind of just looking up thoughtfully into the universe.
Jimmy (14:03):
Oh my God.
The thoughtful look thing.
I was watching a little YouTube video about Marlon Brando.
And they talk about how his signature look of kind of looking up and contemplating things before the next line is him looking for the cue cards.
And this goes all the way back to on the waterfront.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
(14:24):
It looks like even The Godfather looks like an episode of Saturday Night Live once you start realizing.
Harold (14:29):
Oh, no.
Jimmy (14:33):
It's wild.
Harold (14:35):
That's hilarious.
Wow.
That's like Curly.
Curly would do his little face slaps and running up and down because he couldn't remember the next line.
And the three stooges.
It's amazing how some things we love most come from the most unexpected places.
Michael (14:56):
Really?
I'm going to throw in a little topical reference I read today.
All right.
I'm just going to make a statement here.
Please give Dick Van Dyke an honorary Academy Award.
Harold (15:08):
Let's do it.
Michael (15:09):
He said today that's the only thing I left on his bucket list.
Jimmy (15:13):
Are you kidding?
Michael (15:15):
He's 99.
Jimmy (15:16):
Oh, man.
Michael (15:16):
Just give it to him.
Jimmy (15:18):
Give it to him.
Michael (15:19):
Anybody out there on the award committee, just give it to him.
Jimmy (15:23):
Yeah, we got to do this.
We love Dick Van Dyke.
By God, that channel, I watch it too much.
Like the Aldick Van Dyke channel.
I keep waiting for the episode where it's buddies bar mitzvah, but they never show it.
Michael (15:39):
Oh, wow.
Jimmy (15:39):
Zarell Mannenboy.
Liz (15:41):
I don't understand why Fitzwillie isn't a Christmas movie that gets watched every year.
Jimmy (15:46):
Fitzwillie?
Liz (15:49):
You don't know Fitzwillie?
Michael (15:51):
No.
Did we all celebrate Christmas?
Liz (15:55):
A pleasure for you guys next December.
Jimmy (15:58):
Get out of town.
All right.
I want to know this.
It's a Dick Van Dyke Christmas movie?
Liz (16:03):
Yes.
Get out.
Oh, golly.
What's 99's name?
Barbara Felden.
Michael (16:08):
What's her name?
Liz (16:09):
Barbara Felden.
Michael (16:09):
Yeah.
Jimmy (16:10):
I think that we have, I would know that.
I'm sorry.
You must be mistaken.
That would be my favorite thing in the world.
Oh, my God.
That's amazing.
Harold (16:18):
I saw it a couple of years ago on someone's recommendation.
Jimmy (16:21):
Really?
It's like Christmas early.
I'm going to watch it.
I love 99.
Liz (16:28):
What was your opinion of it?
Harold (16:30):
I was okay.
It was all right.
Yeah, I enjoyed it.
Good.
Jimmy (16:37):
All right.
Well, I'm going to check that out.
Because I love 99.
She was no Batgirl, but she was close.
Harold (16:43):
Okay.
When we're getting into weird Dick Van Dyke movies, I just want to throw in one question if you guys have seen this.
There's a film in the late 60s where he chooses to grow a beard.
He lives in New York City, and everybody thinks of him as this hippie beatnik.
It's the strangest movie.
(17:03):
The whole world blows up because he grows a beard.
Nope, never saw that one.
It's some kind of a nut.
It is just the strangest 1969 movie, and Angie Dickinson is in it.
That's the whole premise, is he chooses to grow a Van Dyke beard and everything.
Liz (17:22):
Oh, that's not the one where everybody quit smoking, is it?
Harold (17:25):
No, that's a cold turkey.
Liz (17:27):
Oh, okay.
Harold (17:28):
He was in a lot of odd films.
Liz (17:31):
Hmm, maybe we're finding out why he hasn't gotten his Oscar.
Jimmy (17:35):
Maybe not.
Harold (17:39):
We're going to have to look at the-
Liz (17:39):
Emmy, Emmy, Lifetime Achievement Emmy.
Jimmy (17:41):
But my Lord, he's got 99.
Police Woman in two movies, that is a double feature, my friends, right there.
Wow.
Well, there you go, Dick Van Dyke.
Michael (17:53):
All right, that's our next podcast.
Jimmy (17:56):
All right, we're doing it.
But right now, it's January 29th, and Charlie Brown is giving a presentation to the front of his class, and of course, he has brought his dog, Snoopy.
That is what he's giving a presentation about.
And he says to the class, and I conclude my report by offering this suggestion.
(18:16):
As soon as a child is born, he or she should be issued a dog and a banjo.
Snoopy's ears go straight up, and Charlie Brown looks to his teacher and says, ma'am, that's right, a family of eight, eight dogs and eight banjos.
Yes, ma'am, we're talking happiness here.
Harold (18:36):
Does this seem like Charlie Brown to you?
This would be a thing?
Michael (18:40):
Isn't this a Mark Twain quote?
Jimmy (18:42):
No, this is a Schulz quote, and it's like hugely famous.
If you type in right now, I bet, if you typed in Google right now, famous Charles Schulz quote, I bet this would be the first one.
But anyway, it's very famous among people who like that sort of thing.
Harold (18:59):
I mean, it's interesting that you say this is 1997, and I get the sense that almost everything I'm seeing here lives within this strip, nothing broke into the culture that I know of.
Jimmy (19:11):
That's what I'm saying.
There were posters with this on it.
When I was at the TV station, I knew someone who had it hanging up in their cubicle.
Harold (19:21):
Wow.
That's cool.
This was a new one to me.
Jimmy (19:24):
Now, they bought it at the mall and it was autographed.
Harold (19:27):
Oh, no.
There you go.
Michael (19:30):
Well, I have a banjo hanging on the wall.
It doesn't make me happy.
Jimmy (19:33):
Well, it's because you don't have the dog.
Michael (19:35):
No, it's not the dog.
I look at it and I go, I really can't play the banjo where you are.
Liz (19:40):
But if you had been giving it at birth, maybe it's true.
Harold (19:42):
That's true.
You wouldn't have to think of those things.
It was just a part of who you were.
Jimmy (19:47):
I would certainly love to have been issued a banjo at any point in life.
That would be amazing.
Michael (19:52):
You're an only child.
My sister would have been playing the banjo, which would have been very crazy.
Liz (19:58):
She was playing the bassoon instead.
Michael (20:00):
The three.
Harold (20:00):
Yeah.
But yeah, when I saw this, I was like, this is interesting.
He's constantly hearing Sally come up with all of these life philosophies.
And then I guess he's done it a little bit before in the past.
I'm trying to think of what it was, but this was a little bit of a surprise that he's found something he wants to share with the world.
(20:25):
He's got a way of seeing things that needs to be shared.
Jimmy (20:31):
I also get the feeling that behind the scenes, Schulz was very proud.
He said that at some point and was very proud of it.
Harold (20:42):
I can see that.
Michael (20:43):
I think this was said by Schulz before this trip.
Jimmy (20:47):
Absolutely.
That's how I feel too.
Wrote it, made a little note going, oh yeah, I want to use something.
Liz (20:55):
Maybe it should have been a two panel strip though.
Jimmy (21:00):
Yeah, maybe.
Liz (21:01):
The family of eight dogs and eight banjos.
Harold (21:08):
Now, let me get this straight.
So the Dionne quintuplets.
Jimmy (21:16):
That's a lot of banjos.
All right, so this continues January 30th, Charlie Brown and Snoopy are snuggling up in the old beanbag chair watching TV.
Sally says, some kid at school today said, as soon as we're born, we should be issued a dog and a banjo.
Charlie Brown says, that was me.
Sally says, all my friends think you're crazy.
(21:36):
Charlie Brown says, you don't have any friends.
And then Sally says, if I had any friends, they'd all think you were crazy.
Harold (21:43):
And then it struck me.
I never thought of this.
Sally really doesn't have any friends.
Jimmy (21:48):
She had that friend with the long hair and the hat.
The margarine container hat?
Liz (21:56):
Yes.
Jimmy (21:57):
Yeah, she's gone.
Liz (21:58):
From camp.
Harold (21:59):
Yeah.
And now she's on her own.
And yeah, I mean, she's got her sweet baboo who puts up with her because he's lying to us.
But yeah, she doesn't have any friends.
I'm like, oh my gosh, Sally.
Jimmy (22:11):
Poor Sally.
Harold (22:13):
You're just living life on your own terms all by yourself.
And every once in a while, you have a sounding board and your brother and that's kind of sad.
Jimmy (22:22):
Yeah.
Well, we love Sally, so she has us as her friends.
February 2nd.
It's a Sunday and it starts off with Woodstock cleaning the birdbath with the Zamboni for ice hockey.
And in the second panel, the birds and Snoopy are standing at attention because some song is playing, which we assume is the National Anthem.
(22:48):
And then the action starts in the next tier and Snoopy has the puck and birds are flying everywhere.
And then the birds get the puck back and Snoopy goes flying.
And then of course, it's between periods.
So the Zamboni has to come out, clean the ice again.
And then we're back at it and the birds go flying everywhere and Snoopy's attacking.
(23:09):
And then of course, it's time to clean with the Zamboni.
And then we got three more panels of Rock'em Sock'em birdbath hockey.
And then in the last panel, the Disheveled Birds and Snoopy Missing Some Teeth says, best game we've ever had.
Michael (23:25):
The birds are missing some teeth and they don't have to.
Jimmy (23:28):
They are.
Harold (23:29):
If you have to be missing teeth, you got to have some to start with in the first place.
Michael (23:34):
Well, this is actually a really good strip.
I mean, he's done that little smile with broken teeth before.
Liz (23:43):
I never would have understood this strip at all, if it weren't for your description.
Jimmy (23:48):
Oh, really?
Michael (23:50):
Never.
Jimmy (23:53):
Well, good.
I have done a service today.
I love the little zambonis.
So cute.
Michael (24:01):
He sure gets his money's worth out of zamboni.
I had never heard of a zamboni till I started reading Peanuts.
Jimmy (24:09):
I'm assuming I still wouldn't know what a zamboni is, if it wasn't for Peanuts.
I don't watch hockey.
Harold (24:14):
If it didn't have a cool name, I wonder if you'd ever brought it up.
Jimmy (24:17):
No, never.
Never, I don't think.
Harold (24:20):
Well, I do recommend to our listeners who are listening and not looking at the strips, this is one worth checking out.
February 2nd, 1997.
Especially if you can find it in color.
Jimmy (24:32):
Yeah, the color looks great.
Liz (24:34):
But Jimmy's description was pretty darn wonderful.
Harold (24:38):
Hopefully, that what's your interest.
Jimmy (24:40):
Yeah.
February 13th, Linus is back in school with Lydia and he has made her a Valentine.
He turns around and says, here, I made you a Valentine.
She looks at it closely as Linus says, see, I wrote a little poem and then I drew some hearts around it.
To which Lydia says, it's in black and white.
Michael (25:00):
I picked this just because I haven't seen Lydia in a while.
This is probably the least funny Lydia joke.
Liz (25:10):
I think it's wonderfully funny.
Jimmy (25:11):
Are you kidding?
I love it.
Oh my God.
I think it speaks to a certain type of modern young person that cannot contemplate things in black and white.
Harold (25:23):
Yeah.
It just makes you think TV shows and movies and comic strips in black and white.
But I love Linus' commitment in the first panel.
He is completely turned around on his desk with his knees facing the back of his seat.
He's not just like tossing this over his shoulder.
Jimmy (25:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Harold (25:44):
He's both hands presenting it to Lydia, and it's rejected based on lack of color.
Jimmy (25:54):
If any of our listeners want to give a shot of what Linus' poem might have been, I'd like to hear that.
Harold (26:00):
The thing that struck me on this Lydia one was it seemed the roughest.
Of course, that might make sense given what we know Schulz is going up against with his drawing styles.
But Lydia always has seemed to have this very clean, put-together look with the hair and the, maybe it's in how he's coloring the hair, but she seems a little more disheveled.
(26:24):
A little more jangly.
Jimmy (26:26):
Definitely, yeah, the blacks are jangly.
Harold (26:29):
Maybe the grunge influence is hitting.
Michael (26:31):
To refer to the poem, what rhymes with Lydia?
I really pity you.
Jimmy (26:37):
Pity you, Cass Crouchall?
Harold (26:39):
Yeah, ask Jeff Crouchall, Marks will tell you.
Liz (26:41):
Chlamydia.
Jimmy (26:42):
Oh, God.
That's not a flower.
There was a sign in every dorm when I was in college that said, Chlamydia is not a flower.
And then the phone number and address of the health care center.
Harold (26:58):
Wow.
Yeah, look that one up.
Jimmy (27:02):
Hey, after 12 years of Catholic school, I was like, all right, what kind of place is this?
February 16th, Snoopy is decked out as the Revolutionary War Patriot.
And it's Valley Forge.
It's obviously winter.
You can see his feet are all wrapped up like the classic American story.
(27:27):
And he's warming himself at a fire.
And then he walks away and says, I have to know.
And we see him now trudging with his musket in his little tricorder hat.
And he says, here's the world famous Patriot soldier at Valley Forge.
I must see General Washington.
I have to know.
He's trudging across the snow to get there.
(27:47):
And then finally, he arrives at the cabin of Washington.
He drops to his knees and says, tell me, sir, I have to know.
Did the mail arrive?
Did I get any valentines?
Were they have been sending valentines in the revolutionary period?
I don't know.
Harold (28:07):
These drawings of Snoopy in the revolutionary outfit with the, yeah, like almost like the bandaged feet.
There's something about them that he's so covered except for the face, that the costume plays a huge part in the artwork.
More so, I think, than even like the World War Flying Age thing.
(28:29):
You really feel like Snoopy is this war veteran in the revolutionary war period.
It's a little bit jarring that he's actually speaking to George Washington.
There's one strip we didn't pick where he literally gets thrown out when he asks George Washington.
He has some great idea for the troops and he's tossed out.
(28:53):
That's like, oh wow.
Schulz is having George Washington throw Snoopy.
Jimmy (29:00):
I like the world or the revolutionary war outfit.
I was always a big fan of this period when I was a kid, like reading about it and stuff like that.
I may have had a Tri-Corner hat that I tried to wear around the neighborhood once, then left it in my room wisely for the rest of summer.
Harold (29:19):
Didn't go over as you expected.
Jimmy (29:21):
I remember Marnie Marquette looking at me blankly and then me just kind of going inside.
Liz (29:26):
Good for Marnie.
Harold (29:29):
Yeah, it's usually hats come, they rotate interest in cycles and that's one that hasn't really come back.
Jimmy (29:36):
It's not coming back.
Harold (29:36):
We could bring it back.
Jimmy (29:37):
We could try.
Harold (29:39):
Yeah, we could give it a go.
Liz (29:41):
Because we have so much influence.
Jimmy (29:43):
We have it, maybe, especially in the sartorial world.
Harold (29:47):
Everyone knows.
Jimmy (29:48):
That's us.
Harold (29:48):
We could put out an imprinted Unpacking Peanuts three-cornered hat.
Liz (29:54):
That's it.
Jimmy (29:54):
Well, you could get a choice.
You could get that or the Coonskin one.
Yes.
All right.
Well, how about we take a break there and come back, check the mail, et cetera, and finish the rest of the strips.
Does that sound good?
Liz (30:11):
Sounds great.
Jimmy (30:12):
Fabulous.
We'll be right back.
Liz (30:14):
Hi, everyone.
You've heard us rave about the Estabrook Radio 914, and one episode would be complete without mention of the Fab Four.
Now, you can wear our obsessions proudly with Unpacking Peanuts t-shirts.
We have a Be of Good Cheer pen nib design, along with the four of us crossing Abbey Road, and of course, Michael, Jimmy, and Harold at the Thinkin Wall.
(30:39):
Collect them all, trade them with your friends, order your t-shirts today at unpackingpeanuts.com/store.
Jimmy (30:48):
And we are back.
Hey, Liz, I'm hanging out in the mailbox.
Do we got anything?
Liz (30:52):
We do.
We heard from a couple of people on YouTube today.
All right.
So first from Ice Cream Hero 2375, writes, how I understand the cartoon logic in Peanuts.
The plots should be mostly realistic most of the time, except in It's Magic Charlie Brown.
(31:14):
The adults are sometimes there off screen and sometimes not there at all.
Snoopy can do pretty much anything the plot needs him to do.
Sometimes they can read Snoopy's thoughts and sometimes they can't.
Snoopy uses Charlie Brown's parents' credit card.
That is my headcanon.
The kids can do absurd site gags like Snoopy, but every so often they don't quite go to Looney Tunes levels.
(31:41):
School buildings can talk.
Jimmy (31:43):
All right.
This is in response to us doing the peanuts poetics thing.
Liz (31:47):
Yes.
Jimmy (31:48):
Can I tell you, we want to talk about being creeped out.
Just to explain the setup I have here, it's my drafting table flattened.
I got the laptop in front of me and the microphone on that.
Then I have propped up my iPad and that's what I read the strips off of.
The iPad is not recording anything.
It's just me reading the strips off of it.
(32:09):
So when we were doing that discussion and we're talking about, oh, we should come up with it, what is it called?
The poetics?
Is that the right word?
Is that the right word?
Later that afternoon, I just went on YouTube, recommended for me the first thing, what are poetics?
It's a Harvard lecture.
Understand it was the poetics of something or another.
(32:29):
It actually really does explain that I should give us a link.
I'm like, oh, that was really helpful in a totalitarian spy.
Michael (32:38):
Well, you're saying these computers are listening when they're not on?
Jimmy (32:42):
It was on.
It was on.
Liz (32:43):
Yeah.
Michael (32:43):
Hello?
Good evening.
Jimmy (32:48):
I don't like it even though it was helpful information.
Michael (32:51):
That is scary.
Liz (32:52):
That is very scary.
Wow.
Ice Cream Hero continues by saying, you asked if Calvin and Hobbes ever violated the rule that Hobbes is only alive to Calvin.
It never did, but in the arc where they push the car out of the driveway, you can see Hobbes running after it out the window when Calvin's mom's back is turned to the window.
Jimmy (33:14):
Oh, cute.
Well, first of, I love window humor.
I've done that in Amelia where the things going on in the background and the serious stuff.
I love that.
That never doesn't work.
Harold (33:22):
So that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You've had at least one defenestration.
Liz (33:26):
Yeah.
Jimmy (33:27):
At least one.
Oh, speaking of weird things I've done, in that poetics discussion, Michael's example was, well, could you put a talking cat in Amelia and we had like a thoughtful discussion.
Perhaps it's a situation.
I had a talking polar bear in Amelia, and I didn't even remember.
Liz (33:49):
One other comment also on YouTube from Steven Edwards, who gives us his term for what we were discussing.
And he says, codifying the narrative logic of Peanuts.
Jimmy (34:01):
Oh, that sounds pretty fancy.
I like that.
Yeah.
Michael (34:05):
HD thesis.
Jimmy (34:06):
Yeah, that definitely is.
Liz (34:08):
So that's it from the mail.
Jimmy (34:10):
Thank you all for commenting and writing and calling.
If you want to do that, you can write us at unpackingpeanuts.gmail.com.
And if you want to leave a message on the hotline or just send a text, it's 717-219-4162, and we'd love to hear from you, because remember when I don't hear, I worry.
(34:31):
How about we get back to the strips?
Liz (34:33):
All right.
Jimmy (34:34):
February 21st.
Charlie Brown looks like he's back at the same place that sold him the badge, Josh Lobotnik ball, but I guess it's a sporting goods store in the mall.
And he says, yes, sir, I'd like to see a new baseball glove.
Could I try that one there?
As he points to one in the cabinet, and then he tries it and this one sends him spinning.
He like flips in the air.
(34:54):
It feels so good on his hand.
And he says, I'll take it.
Michael (34:59):
Whoa, you read that completely different than I did.
Jimmy (35:02):
Oh, OK.
Michael (35:04):
I was thinking, yeah, well, it didn't really make sense to me.
I thought because every time he's on the mound, he gets knocked over by a ball.
Jimmy (35:14):
Right.
Michael (35:15):
And so he tried out being knocked over by the ball with that glove on.
Jimmy (35:20):
I think you're probably right.
Harold (35:22):
Yeah, I think you're right, too.
It took me a long time to get there.
This was a huge head scratcher.
Jimmy (35:27):
I thought it was my way until, while you were saying that, I looked, yeah, he's not smiling upside down.
So I think you're right, Michael.
Michael (35:36):
And why did you pick it?
Jimmy (35:40):
I have no idea why I picked it.
I must have picked it by accident, but.
Harold (35:46):
I think I might have picked it because it was such a head scratcher I wanted to hear to hear you guys' thoughts on it.
But I agree with you, Michael.
I think that is what Schulz was going for, but I think he's asking a lot of his readers.
Yeah.
This one.
Jimmy (36:01):
Well, I've read like thousands of them aloud and I didn't get it.
Like some sort of hedge fund manager in Hoboken who sees it two seconds for his breakfast, I don't think is going to be able to figure out what that is.
But I think Michael is 100 percent right.
Harold (36:19):
That is what it is.
Michael (36:22):
Moving on.
Jimmy (36:25):
March 1st.
So Snoopy is setting up a camera to take a group picture of his bird friends and he looks annoyed.
There are like what?
Two dozen birds on this little tree.
Michael (36:38):
Twenty-six.
Jimmy (36:39):
Snoopy says, in the back row there, let's take the cap off.
Then when we look over at the tree, we do see one tiny little bird wearing a backwards baseball cap, which is also very 90s.
That's cute.
Liz (36:54):
That's adorable.
Harold (36:57):
None of them are smiling.
Michael (36:58):
No.
Jimmy (36:59):
All very stoically waiting for their photo.
Liz (37:02):
Why don't we worry about dime a dozen birds, though same way we worry about dime a dozen Snoopies?
Michael (37:07):
Well, I don't like it when he keepens his characters by having too many of them exactly the same.
Jimmy (37:16):
Well, what about the birds, though?
Michael (37:18):
Don't like it.
Jimmy (37:19):
You don't like the multiple birds?
Michael (37:21):
Well, they're all Woodstock.
SPEAKER_2 (37:23):
All right.
Michael (37:25):
What about this one?
Woodstock a dime a dozen, which I don't like.
He's supposed to be exceptionally small.
Harold (37:30):
So is this Woodstock's family tree, literally?
Jimmy (37:35):
I would love to have drawn this.
Do you know when you're doing something and eventually it just loses all meaning?
You're right.
You say the same word too many times and it just becomes sound.
By the time you've drawn the 13th, one of these weird bird drawings, I mean, really zoom in and look at those birds.
(37:57):
It would be almost meditative in its abstractions, I think.
Michael (38:02):
Yeah, but you're just copying Peanuts.
Jimmy (38:04):
Yeah, right.
These days, absolutely.
Harold (38:05):
Well, it looks like he's burning through these and you get a variety of looks that you normally don't get in this strip if he's got the Beagle Scouts or just Woodstock.
This is quite a range of wonky looking little birds within the structure of a Woodstock drawing, which is kind of interesting.
Jimmy (38:27):
Nice Zip-a-Tone on the tree.
Because it's a skinny little tree to Zip-a-Tone.
Liz (38:32):
A skinny little tree.
Jimmy (38:36):
March 16th, Schroeder is pounding away at the piano and Snoopy is listening and this is Sunday Strip.
And Lucy is in the next panel.
She's laying on the piano in her classic position and Schroeder is looking at what looks like sheet music.
And Lucy says to him, what was that you were playing?
(38:57):
And Schroeder says, it's called Peanuts Gallery.
And Lucy says, what is?
A new piece composed by Ellen Taffe Zwilich.
We're all in it.
What do you mean we're all in it?
Says Lucy.
And Schroeder says, it has a great beginning.
Schroeder's Beethoven fantasy.
Then there's Lullaby for Linus, Snoopy does the Samba and Charlie Brown's Lament.
(39:19):
Then there's Lucy Freaks Out and Peppermint Patty and Marcy lead the parade.
Lucy's just taking this in and then Schroeder hands the sheet music to Lucy and says, the world premiere will be at Carnegie Hall.
Here, look at it yourself.
And she looks at it and says, my part should be longer.
Michael (39:37):
Let me make a comment about this strip.
Sometimes I question why somebody picked a strip like that last one.
Why did you pick that strip?
My question here is Jimmy, why didn't you pick this strip?
This is like the most out there concept he's ever done.
(39:57):
And yet Harold and I picked it.
Yet Jimmy, you somehow did not notice that this is like one of the weirdest.
Jimmy (40:03):
I'm sorry, Michael.
SPEAKER_2 (40:05):
I didn't know.
Jimmy (40:06):
I guess I was tired.
Yeah, I don't know why I didn't pick it.
I like it.
I certainly like it.
Michael (40:10):
I don't like it.
Jimmy (40:11):
I know you don't like it because it mentions them as characters.
It drives you crazy.
I'm sure you were up at night.
Michael (40:18):
This is so far out of the rules.
Jimmy (40:20):
Michael staring off his balcony.
Hello, darkness, my old friend.
Michael (40:24):
Yeah.
Well, but I wanted to open a discussion on cartoon or comic books where the characters realize they're in cartoons or comic books, which happens.
It's never happened in Peanuts.
I think there might have been one reference.
Jimmy (40:41):
Yeah, there is.
Michael (40:42):
Where they're aware that they're in a comic.
Jimmy (40:45):
There's at least one where Schroeder asked to be transferred to a different comic strip.
There's one where Charlie Brown says Lucy's eyes look like little dots of India ink.
Michael (40:54):
Yeah.
But this one's way, way, way out there.
Jimmy (40:58):
Well, this is an ad.
Harold (41:00):
Yeah.
Michael (41:01):
This is an ad, but it can't fit in the universe.
I mean, are they famous?
Harold (41:11):
Yeah.
It's interesting, Michael, you don't like having cartoon characters recognizing their cartoon characters.
Michael (41:17):
No.
But it's a part of the world if they do.
Harold (41:22):
Yeah.
You're right.
I like it because there's so much you can do with the characters realizing their cartoon characters.
It does change the rules, but all of a sudden, there's a lot of things you can explore.
My sweetest beasts, in my mind, my cartoon characters know they are cartoon characters.
(41:45):
They're living in their world and they don't mind being cartoon characters and doesn't usually make a big difference, but they are aware.
It does give it a different dynamic that I think is rich.
I like it.
Michael (41:59):
Yeah.
I think that Bloom County, something like Bloom County, I'm not sure, but I think he probably would have been able to have the characters refer to themselves as being in the newspaper.
Jimmy (42:10):
Well, they do.
Harold (42:11):
Yeah.
Well, there's that strip I mentioned where Bloom County's artist was on vacation and so they'd hired the guy, the cartoonist who'd done lots of gag cartoons for like Parrot World.
Jimmy (42:22):
Yeah.
Harold (42:23):
To a totally different style.
Then the very last panel, you got Opus peeling up the bottom corner of the panel and apologizing.
Michael (42:36):
Yeah.
For me, this is really jarring.
Let me give an example of somebody who did it in a way that it works as part of the world.
May I refer you to Fantastic Four number 10, 1963.
Jimmy (42:53):
I'm certain it's going to hold up to modern readers.
Michael (42:56):
Well, Fantastic Four are reading a Fantastic Four comic.
But in the story, they posit that Lee and Kirby are actually characters in this story, and they have a comic book.
They're producing a comic book based on the Fantastic Four, which is what the Fantastic Four are reading.
Harold (43:22):
Right.
It's not them, it's a comic book about them.
We happen to be reading a comic book about them, reading a comic book about them.
That's not the comic book that we're reading.
We're reading them actually living their lives.
Michael (43:33):
Yeah.
And then Dr.
Doom comes in to visit Lee and Kirby.
Liz (43:36):
Well, in one of my favorite comics is Stranger Tractors, where they have spicy speed stories.
Right.
Jimmy (43:43):
Which is the most meta-referencing comics that affect the real world out there.
Michael (43:49):
It's meta, intentionally.
I hope it was intentionally.
Talking about the world of comics and the world of reality.
But Peanuts is not.
Jimmy (43:57):
Well, no.
But here's the thing.
And we have a few more episodes to try to fit this square peg in a round hole.
But I think what the issue is, is Peanuts is not a universe that has a consistent world from beginning to end.
So to keep saying that it violates the world is pointless because the world will change the next day.
(44:17):
The rules will reset because some fiction draws attention to the fact that it is unreal.
And that's not a mistake.
Harold (44:26):
It's what they're doing on purpose.
Jimmy (44:28):
I mean, Schulz knows that this breaks the reality, but he's broken the reality a hundred thousand times and doesn't care.
He's not doing something and going, Oh crap, now they can't figure out how to get to Mordor because it doesn't matter.
It's not a world.
It's not even a little bit of a world.
It's like four lines, four right angles make up the entire Peanuts universe, really.
Michael (44:52):
Yeah, but I think there is some consistency in the 17,000 strips.
Jimmy (44:58):
I don't think there is because I think he's a helicopter when he needs to be and he's not a helicopter when he doesn't.
Michael (45:05):
I don't like it when they have it.
Jimmy (45:06):
But whether you like it or not, doesn't-
Harold (45:08):
Yeah, but there is consistency in personality and inconsistencies.
Michael (45:15):
Yeah.
Jimmy (45:15):
He said it a million times.
They're a repertory company that I can use in any setting I want.
If I want to make it a horror story, I can make it a horror story.
If I want to make it a pioneer epic, I can do that.
That's what he is doing.
That's what he means to do, so it can't be a mistake.
Harold (45:32):
Well, that's a really interesting way to look at it.
He is casting his characters every day in whatever story he wants to make.
If we look at it through that lens, he can change the rules for that given strip.
He has to make those decisions for people like Michael, who are saying, well, okay, but you got to have some level of consistency for us to be able to live in this world.
(46:00):
Do the characters' personalities change 180 degrees every time they take on a rule?
Jimmy (46:04):
Yeah, it's like the Looney Tunes.
Bugs Bunny is consistently Bugs Bunny, whether he's in the Old West or in outer space.
Michael (46:12):
Yeah, but this is not that kind of humor.
I mean, imagine, okay, you have the consistency of characters is one thing.
I mean, if he had a strip, like a Sunday page where all of a sudden, Lucy was surrounded by admirers who are giving her flowers and telling her she's the most beautiful girl in the world.
(46:33):
That wouldn't work.
Jimmy (46:34):
Well, yeah, lots of things won't work.
Michael (46:36):
Yeah, well, I think this doesn't work because you read this and you go, what world did someone write?
Jimmy (46:43):
There is no world.
Michael (46:43):
A piece of music about them.
Jimmy (46:45):
This is an ad for this show.
And yeah, Schulz is intentionally making it an ad for this show.
Michael (46:50):
It's not a world.
It doesn't belong in the strip then.
Harold (46:54):
All right.
Michael (46:55):
I can see it as an ad.
I mean, because clearly in the ad, they're selling products.
Harold (47:00):
And for those of you who are wondering what we're talking about with the ad, so this composer, Ellen Willis showed up earlier in the strip when Peppermint Patty and Marcy were at one of the Tiny Tots concerts.
And I think Marcy mentions this piece is by Ellen Willis, who happens to be a woman.
Basically, it's kind of the setup for that.
(47:22):
And then she contacted Schulz, they became friends.
When she got an opportunity to write a piece for Carnegie Hall, and it was supposed to be children's music, she thought, hey, Peanuts.
So she got in touch with Schulz and said, is it okay if I do this, inspired by your characters?
And he was thrilled.
And so to support her, yeah, that's what he's doing.
Jimmy (47:44):
All right.
Well, anyway, I'm going to listen to good old Lucy Freaks Out.
That's going to be my pick.
Liz (47:51):
It should be longer.
Michael (47:53):
To sum up, I'm glad we discussed this because I think this strip certainly is worth talking about.
Jimmy (47:59):
Oh, absolutely.
Michael (48:01):
Yeah.
Jimmy (48:03):
And speaking of things worth talking about, March 10th, the final appearance of Crybaby Boobie.
Crybaby Boobie is playing against Snoopy out in the tennis court, and she's yelling, I won, I won, I'm the champion, I won.
Hey, mom, I won.
And then we just hard cut to disgruntled and annoyed Snoopy walking away.
(48:26):
And then in the last panel, for the only time we see Crybaby Boobie's face and a little pain line generating from her leg.
And she says, mom, I think that dog kicked me.
Michael (48:38):
Yeah, who knew she looked exactly like Charlie Brown?
Jimmy (48:41):
She's Charlie Brown in a wig, too.
I kind of like that messed up hair.
Yeah, I think that I kind of like that look.
Liz (48:48):
I talked to my hairdresser about that back in the 90s.
Jimmy (48:51):
But you wanted to get that, the Courtney love?
Harold (48:56):
Crybaby Boobie Shag.
That's not what I was expecting.
I was thinking more of a Sally.
Yeah.
But we normally see Crybaby Boobie with her head straight up.
You see her nostrils, gigantic mouth and this crazy hair all around the head.
And yeah, she looks very deflated in that.
Liz (49:19):
Does she have a really gigantic right ear?
Jimmy (49:24):
Yes, she does.
Harold (49:24):
Well, you know what, though?
Jimmy (49:25):
So do I.
Harold (49:26):
So I don't.
Jimmy (49:28):
My ears don't match.
It has vexed me my whole life.
Liz (49:32):
Just like Stephen Colbert.
Michael (49:33):
Yeah, right.
Jimmy (49:34):
Yeah, exactly.
Same hair.
Michael (49:35):
Yeah.
And so we bid a fond farewell to Crybaby Boobie.
Harold (49:40):
We're going to be saying this a lot, aren't we?
Jimmy (49:42):
Yeah.
It's a bummer.
It's nice that we get to lose people like Crybaby Boobie first.
Michael (49:49):
They're dropping like flies.
Jimmy (49:51):
But we've probably already seen the last of five and three and four.
Our new episode's up about the strange death of tapioca pudding.
March 19th, Charlie Brown is atop the pitcher's mound and Schroeder is out there with him.
And Charlie Brown says, do me a favor.
Go ask Pigpen why he doesn't wear a baseball cap.
(50:14):
Then Schroeder goes to Pigpen and says, the manager wants to know why you don't wear a cap.
And then Schroeder comes back to the mound and says, he said he doesn't want to mess up his hair.
Why did he do it this way?
Why?
Isn't it weird?
Harold (50:28):
Like, why would he have...
Jimmy (50:29):
I understand, like, the joke is good and it's perfect for Pigpen.
But why didn't Charlie Brown just ask him directly?
He could have done it the exact same way.
Harold (50:41):
I think it's funnier somehow.
That the manager of the baseball team is asking the catcher to ask some random player.
And then Schroeder doesn't say Charlie Brown wants to know.
Jimmy (50:54):
No, he just says the manager.
Michael (50:55):
Well, isn't the catcher often the captain?
Jimmy (50:58):
Hmm.
I don't know about that.
Michael (51:01):
Well, the manager generally doesn't play.
So there's usually a captain on the team that is the one who does the dirty work.
Harold (51:11):
No, it would be Pigpen.
Jimmy (51:12):
Yeah, I don't know they're necessarily always the catcher because I know like, you know, center fielder is like the captain of the outfield.
But I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's a weird way to do it.
Harold (51:22):
If I had a bad hand tremor, I think I would have been leaning heavily into Pigpen.
Jimmy (51:26):
Pigpen, 100%.
He would be the star of the show.
And he kind of is because here he comes back March 20th.
Pigpen sitting on the bench next to Lucy and Lucy says, Pigpen, why can't you look neat like the other players?
And then Pigpen says, last year, I batted 712.
And he picks up the bat and says to Lucy, Neatness doesn't bat 712.
Harold (51:50):
He's a little miff there.
Michael (51:51):
Yeah.
That fits in with our theory of who the best player is.
Jimmy (51:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Harold (51:57):
He's been holding it.
Liz (51:58):
But John Marullo said that it was Shermie.
Jimmy (52:01):
Well, John's wrong.
Michael (52:02):
No, he can't bat higher than 712.
That's impossible.
Jimmy (52:06):
That would be hard.
Harold (52:07):
It would be hard.
Michael (52:09):
First of all, it implies a lot of at-bats because that's a weird fraction.
So it means he's hitting consistently.
Liz (52:17):
Yep.
Jimmy (52:19):
March 26th.
OK, so after the first game of the season, of course, the gang loses.
And we're back at Charlie Brown's house and Sally's on the phone.
She says, yes, I heard you lost the first game of the season.
I've never seen my big brother so depressed.
Sure, I'll tell him.
And then she comes back and sees Charlie Brown in the living room, sitting there holding Linus' blanket in classic thumb and blanket position.
(52:43):
And Sally says, Linus says to keep the blanket as long as you want.
Very sweet of Linus.
Harold (52:50):
A little forlorn hat.
So even the brim is kind of sad.
Jimmy (52:54):
Yeah, the forlorn hat really has become a baseball staple in Peanuts.
Harold (53:03):
Again, well, that's also another strip where there's this indirection with somebody talking through somebody.
Jimmy (53:10):
Yeah.
Harold (53:11):
He seems to enjoy playing with that.
Jimmy (53:14):
Does it look like Sally gained a little weight there in panel two?
She has a giant head and her arm is huge.
Liz (53:22):
Could be an allergic reaction.
Jimmy (53:24):
It could be.
April 15th, Charlie Brown is in the beanbag chair watching TV and Sally comes up behind him and says, I have another new philosophy.
She says, what did you expect?
A medal.
And then she leans up against the beanbag chair opposite Charlie Brown and says, some philosophy take a thousand years.
(53:44):
I think of them in two minutes.
Michael (53:46):
I'm not sure it is a philosophy.
Jimmy (53:49):
What did you expect?
A medal?
Michael (53:51):
Yeah.
Is it?
Jimmy (53:52):
Can be.
Michael (53:54):
That's a good catchphrase.
Harold (53:55):
Like how Charlie Brown's feet kind of go up in the third panel.
It's just a mild shot.
Michael (54:06):
All right.
Jimmy (54:06):
And wrapping up this week, April 19th, Lucy comes out to the pitcher's mound holding a hockey stick.
And she says, just checking in, manager, just letting you know, everything is taken care of out in right field.
And then Charlie Brown says, I absolutely refuse to ask what that's all about.
Michael (54:24):
I just laughed.
Yay.
I'm going to put a little star next to this.
SPEAKER_2 (54:31):
Michael laughed.
Jimmy (54:32):
Is it the first time ever?
No.
Michael (54:34):
Well, not in a long time.
Jimmy (54:36):
Oh, there you go.
Michael (54:37):
And, you know, I read it like yesterday, but-
Jimmy (54:39):
Oh, so it was my performance that really made you laugh.
There you go.
Michael (54:43):
It's always the case.
No, the script writer is nothing.
It's the actors.
Jimmy (54:47):
Nothing.
It's all the actors.
Well, guys, that brings us to the end of this episode.
As always, I had a blast.
It's my favorite day of the week, getting to hang out with my pals and talk Peanuts and comics.
So if you want to keep this conversation going, well, there's a couple of ways you can do it.
The first thing, as you know, is you got to go over to unpackingpeanuts.com, and you got to sign up for the great Peanuts reread.
(55:12):
And that will get you one email a month that will tell you what we're going to be covering.
And then you'll be able to read ahead and read along with us.
You can also call us if you want, if you want to leave a voicemail or just text us.
The number is 717-219-4162.
Or of course, you can follow us on good old social media.
(55:33):
We're at Unpack Peanuts on Instagram and threads and at Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
And remember, when I don't hear from you, I worry.
So don't make me worry.
Until next week, from Michael, Harold and Liz, this is Jimmy saying, be of good cheer.
Liz (55:49):
Yes.
Be of good cheer.
Unpacking Peanuts is copyrighted Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz and Liz Sumner.
Produced and edited by Liz Sumner.
Music by Michael Cohen.
Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show, follow Unpack Peanuts on Instagram and threads.
(56:10):
Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
For more about Jimmy, Michael and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for listening.
Jimmy (56:22):
Hello darkness, my old friend.
Welcome to Unpacking Peanuts, the podcast where three cartoonists.
Take a in-depth look at the greatest comic strip of all time, Peanuts by Charles M.
Schulz.
Jimmy (00:18):
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the show.
This is Unpacking Peanuts, the world's foremost and only board-certified Beatles, Tolkien, Salinger, James Joyce, Laurel, and Hardy.
It's a wonderful life, Quentin Tarantino and REM themed podcast that occasionally mentions Peanuts.
I'll be your host for the proceedings.
(00:40):
My name is Jimmy Gownley.
I'm also a cartoonist.
I did things like Amelia Rolls, Seven Good Reasons Not to Grow Up and The Dumbest Idea Ever.
Joining me as always are my pals, co-hosts, and fellow cartoonists.
He's a playwright and a composer both for the band, Complicated People, as well as for this very podcast.
He's the co-creator of the original comic book price guide, the original editor for Amelia Rules, and the creator of such great strips as Strange Attractors, A Gathering Spells, and Tangled River.
(01:04):
It's Michael Cohen.
Michael (01:05):
Say hey.
Jimmy (01:07):
He's the executive producer and writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a former vice president of Archie Comics, and the creator of the Instagram sensation Sweetest Beasts, Harold Buchholz.
Harold (01:17):
Hello.
Jimmy (01:18):
Making sure everything runs smoothly is producer and editor, Liz Sumner.
Liz (01:23):
Ciao.
Jimmy (01:25):
Well, guys, listen, I have some old business that's been eating away at me that I have to talk about before we start.
So as I mentioned in our little intro, we're a full-service podcast.
We cover a lot of topics.
And last episode, I was thrilled.
A listener wrote in and said that, because I'm a big REM fan, as you may not remember, that Charlie Brown's favorite REM album would be Automatic for the People, which I heartily agreed to.
(01:54):
We remember that.
I still agree with that, but I should have mentioned at the time, REM has written the most Charlie Brown song ever written.
And it's the one everybody knows.
Losing My Religion is the most, it's about a guy standing in a corner with a crush on someone that he can't talk to and doesn't even know if they know he is alive.
(02:18):
So Losing My Religion, I would like to maintain as the most, or a Charlie Brown song that's ever been Charlie Brown.
So if anyone else has any other suggestions out there, let us know.
Michael (02:29):
Okay, well, what is the most Charlie Brown Beatles song?
Jimmy (02:32):
Oh, I'm a Loser.
Michael (02:33):
I'm a Loser.
Yeah.
We can do that for every character.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Jimmy (02:41):
Of course.
Harold (02:43):
There's no business like old business.
Jimmy (02:49):
So I just wanted to start with that.
But here we are in 1997, getting ever closer to the end.
So if you want to follow along, the first thing you got to do is sign up for the great Peanuts reread over at unpackingpeanuts.com.
That'll get you one email a month letting you know what strips we're covering.
Then just go over to Go Comics and you're going to have to fork over $4.99.
(03:13):
Sorry, people got to eat.
So anyway, you could find the strips over on Go Comics or you could buy one of the FantaGraphics books, or if you're clever, find it elsewhere, and then you could follow along with us.
But right now, let's get to it.
1997, January 1st.
Charlie Brown and Linus are standing outside and Charlie Brown proudly presents Linus with a baseball.
(03:38):
He's just purchased, and he says to Linus, see, it's an autographed Joe Shlebotnik baseball.
Linus takes it and examines it closely and says, I don't think so, Charlie Brown.
This isn't Joe's signature.
It's a forgery.
And Charlie Brown says, good grief.
Then he leans up against a tree saying, they cheated a little kid, an innocent, trusting, hero-worshipping little kid.
(04:01):
Me.
I wanted to talk about this sequence.
This is a little sequence where Charlie Brown, and I believe it started last year.
Well, obviously it started last year.
This is January 1st.
But the Charlie Brown goes to a mall sports memorabilia show and gets an autograph show, Shabbat, Nick Ball.
And I have to confess, do you guys remember in the 90s, this was huge, like the fake autographs at mall stands?
Liz (04:27):
Wasn't OJ part of that?
Jimmy (04:30):
He was actually signing it.
I have a Cindy Crawford framed photo that was absolutely definitely not signed by Cindy Crawford.
It just somebody scribbled on it and then someone else gave it to me for Christmas.
But they were rampant in the 90s.
Harold (04:44):
So it was, I didn't realize it was the scandal that you're saying it was that many people were just like cranking out fake autographs.
Jimmy (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, because you could go from one mall to the other and the autograph, they would have similar photos for a lot because there was all the same celebrities and signatures didn't match at all.
Michael (05:05):
I never understood this, this autograph business.
How do you authenticate it?
I mean, it's just too easy to forge.
Harold (05:13):
I think you go, you go ask the guy at the Orange Julius.
This strip I picked very first strip of the year, right in the middle of this.
The thing that I thought was just hilarious is here's Josh LeBotnik, who nobody considers a worthy hero to worship except Charlie Brown.
Michael (05:38):
But apparently Linus knows what his signature looks like.
Harold (05:41):
Well, that's it.
How on earth is Linus, even though he's an expert on a lot of things, how is he an expert on Josh LeBotnik's signature?
Look at those hilarious.
Schulz needs somebody to set it up and so well, it's got to be Linus.
Jimmy (05:54):
It's got to be Linus, right?
It would seem reasonable.
Harold (05:59):
Joe signs with a curlicue at the end.
Liz (06:03):
Peppermint Patty might know what Joe's signature looks like.
Jimmy (06:06):
Yeah, I could see that.
Harold (06:08):
That could have been it.
Michael (06:09):
Well, she's not going to be interested in the loser.
Jimmy (06:14):
Actually, here's how you would see it.
Harold (06:15):
Well, she likes Charlie Brown.
Jimmy (06:16):
All right, in our regular segment of fixing the work of geniuses, he could have spelled Shlabotnik wrong.
Ah, that's it.
Michael (06:27):
All right, once again, we improve on Charles Schulz.
Harold (06:30):
Yeah, if that's true, I guess if Linus knew how that was spelled, but I suppose that's much more likely, right?
Michael (06:36):
Yeah.
Harold (06:36):
Yeah, I mean, it should be S-C-H is probably an easy mistake.
Just like Schulz, right?
Schulz, yeah, there you go.
People will always misspell his name.
My gosh, he was so famous and there was a TZ in many newspapers years into this strip.
Jimmy (06:53):
This continues and here on January 2nd, Charlie Brown goes back to the card show and he's brought Snoopy along.
He hands the ball over to the guy behind the counter and says, yes sir, I think you sold me a forgery.
This is not Joe Shlabotnik's signature.
The guy apparently reacts and says to Charlie Brown something that makes Charlie Brown say, get lost, you sell me a fake autograph and then tell me to get lost?
(07:17):
What am I going to do about it?
And then he points to Snoopy and says, let me introduce you to my world famous attack dog.
And Snoopy is getting ready to throw hands.
Oh man, that picture Snoopy cracked me up.
And that I'm sure is the reaction you would get if you go to one of those things and ask for your money back.
(07:43):
I think it's a buyer beware situation.
Harold (07:46):
Yeah, the tag on your baseball that has the disclaimer, no refunds.
Jimmy (07:52):
I did buy a legitimate baseball.
Steve Carlton, who was a famous pitcher for the Phillies, Hall of Fame pitcher, came to the mall nearest and autographed stuff for a day.
And I didn't get to go for whatever reason.
I was sick, I think.
But we went to the store later that week and they had him sign a whole bunch of baseballs that you could just buy.
(08:16):
But I was a little kid and I didn't know what I was doing, so I just took it and then drew over the signature because I wanted it to look bolder, thereby completely ruining it.
January 3rd, so now in the middle of the scene, a little kid comes up who's wearing a visor as if he's an accountant or in an old 30s movie for the mob or maybe someone who works at a casino.
(08:44):
He comes over and he says, hey kid, do you want a job?
Charlie Brown says, a what?
He says, come on, I'll show you.
My hand is killing me from all that autographing.
Charlie Brown says, you mean?
And they follow him back and there is a whole stack of baseballs wherever this kid has taken them.
And he says, sure, I have to autograph all this stuff.
See, are you a good speller?
(09:05):
The kid continues, yesterday somebody wanted a Joe Shlubotnik or something.
Give me a break.
To which Charlie Brown says, I can spell Shlubotnik.
I like that Charlie Brown seems like he's going to consider this for a while.
But I think he's just interested in seeing the inner workings.
Harold (09:22):
He's on the inside, yeah, how this all plays out.
Liz (09:27):
Well, he needs money to buy gloves.
Michael (09:29):
That's true.
Well, he needs money to buy Joe Shlubotnik's signed baseball.
Jimmy (09:35):
At a more reputable stand down the other end of the mall.
Harold (09:40):
I like how it looks like Charlie Brown is just standing still in front of the guy who sold the thing, who's just called him out, and this guy, you want a job, kid?
Keep your enemies close.
Jimmy (09:57):
So yeah, so that is the end really of that sequence.
He shows him the things that he's going to be autographing then Charlie Brown leaves.
Michael (10:04):
So we never see Snoopy beating up the guy, do we?
Jimmy (10:07):
No, that would have been an amazing sequence though.
Him cracking his knuckles and getting ready for action is just, I love it.
He's so cute.
I have to say too, and maybe it's me, but there seems to be points in, I think what it is, I come talking about the tremor and sometimes I do not even notice it.
(10:30):
So much of the time, it's a Charlie Brown strip because he nails those heads.
Those unbelievably difficult round heads are always crisp and clear.
Harold (10:44):
Yeah, I really don't get that.
I don't know how he's doing that, everything else that we're seeing here.
Seriously, how does he do it?
Jimmy (10:52):
No, I don't know.
It's a mystery.
Harold (10:55):
I mean, the only thing that it could possibly be is speed, but then speed works against you sometimes with a dip pen and I don't know.
Well, it's remarkable.
Jimmy (11:06):
Maybe those are also, and I don't know that this would work, but maybe these are also the marks he's making where he's holding his right hand with his left hand and then the shape of it works.
Harold (11:17):
But whenever you're drawing a curved line, because for people who are artists or cartoonists who do this sort of a thing, your hand moves in a certain arc, right?
Yeah.
And at some point, that perfect arc runs out, you know?
Jimmy (11:36):
Yeah, because you have to start turning it the other way, really.
Harold (11:39):
It's maybe only 60 degrees of a curve, and then either it's super risky to keep going because it's not natural and it's not going to follow the actual curve, or you've got to do something else.
Turn the page or whatever.
If you're using a brush, it's a little different because you're using your, well, this is another thing.
(12:01):
Some people say an artist who's working with brush in particular is drawing from the shoulder.
They're holding the wrist and everything.
Jimmy (12:11):
Yeah.
Harold (12:12):
It's the shoulder and a little bit of elbow action.
And so that's why you can get a really smooth line because it's not the fine turning of a wrist which has a very small radius.
Jimmy (12:26):
Although the advantage Schulz has with a pen is that he's able to put the pen on the paper and feel that resistance.
I think if he was using a brush and had to have no resistance on the paper, the line would be out of control all the time, I think.
Harold (12:42):
Yeah.
I have no idea given the situation he was dealing with what that would look like.
You know, would you just lock your wrist, literally tape your wrist down or wherever that tremor is.
Jimmy (12:53):
Yeah.
Harold (12:53):
And then you move everything above where the tremor exists.
I don't know.
I don't know what it would look like if he was trying to work with a brush.
But knowing what his tool is, this is a miracle that he's getting this over and over again.
Jimmy (13:10):
January 25th, Snoopy is atop the dog house, lying there just enjoying the day.
And Lucy comes over and says, You are of no importance.
Did you know that?
She continues, You're only the tiniest speck in an enormous universe.
And then she leaves and Snoopy contemplates it for a moment, then lies back down and thinks, that I might as well go back to sleep.
Liz (13:34):
Did you pick this, Michael?
Michael (13:35):
Yes, I did.
Harold (13:36):
Brilliant.
Jimmy (13:42):
You like that one?
Michael (13:43):
Well, this is kind of a timeless peanut strip.
This could have come in any period.
Jimmy (13:48):
Absolutely.
And your theme of sleeping again.
Michael (13:52):
Yeah, sleeping, very important.
Jimmy (13:54):
Very important in the world of peanuts.
Harold (13:56):
You like that picture of Snoopy in the second panel where he's kind of just looking up thoughtfully into the universe.
Jimmy (14:03):
Oh my God.
The thoughtful look thing.
I was watching a little YouTube video about Marlon Brando.
And they talk about how his signature look of kind of looking up and contemplating things before the next line is him looking for the cue cards.
And this goes all the way back to on the waterfront.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
(14:24):
It looks like even The Godfather looks like an episode of Saturday Night Live once you start realizing.
Harold (14:29):
Oh, no.
Jimmy (14:33):
It's wild.
Harold (14:35):
That's hilarious.
Wow.
That's like Curly.
Curly would do his little face slaps and running up and down because he couldn't remember the next line.
And the three stooges.
It's amazing how some things we love most come from the most unexpected places.
Michael (14:56):
Really?
I'm going to throw in a little topical reference I read today.
All right.
I'm just going to make a statement here.
Please give Dick Van Dyke an honorary Academy Award.
Harold (15:08):
Let's do it.
Michael (15:09):
He said today that's the only thing I left on his bucket list.
Jimmy (15:13):
Are you kidding?
Michael (15:15):
He's 99.
Jimmy (15:16):
Oh, man.
Michael (15:16):
Just give it to him.
Jimmy (15:18):
Give it to him.
Michael (15:19):
Anybody out there on the award committee, just give it to him.
Jimmy (15:23):
Yeah, we got to do this.
We love Dick Van Dyke.
By God, that channel, I watch it too much.
Like the Aldick Van Dyke channel.
I keep waiting for the episode where it's buddies bar mitzvah, but they never show it.
Michael (15:39):
Oh, wow.
Jimmy (15:39):
Zarell Mannenboy.
Liz (15:41):
I don't understand why Fitzwillie isn't a Christmas movie that gets watched every year.
Jimmy (15:46):
Fitzwillie?
Liz (15:49):
You don't know Fitzwillie?
Michael (15:51):
No.
Did we all celebrate Christmas?
Liz (15:55):
A pleasure for you guys next December.
Jimmy (15:58):
Get out of town.
All right.
I want to know this.
It's a Dick Van Dyke Christmas movie?
Liz (16:03):
Yes.
Get out.
Oh, golly.
What's 99's name?
Barbara Felden.
Michael (16:08):
What's her name?
Liz (16:09):
Barbara Felden.
Michael (16:09):
Yeah.
Jimmy (16:10):
I think that we have, I would know that.
I'm sorry.
You must be mistaken.
That would be my favorite thing in the world.
Oh, my God.
That's amazing.
Harold (16:18):
I saw it a couple of years ago on someone's recommendation.
Jimmy (16:21):
Really?
It's like Christmas early.
I'm going to watch it.
I love 99.
Liz (16:28):
What was your opinion of it?
Harold (16:30):
I was okay.
It was all right.
Yeah, I enjoyed it.
Good.
Jimmy (16:37):
All right.
Well, I'm going to check that out.
Because I love 99.
She was no Batgirl, but she was close.
Harold (16:43):
Okay.
When we're getting into weird Dick Van Dyke movies, I just want to throw in one question if you guys have seen this.
There's a film in the late 60s where he chooses to grow a beard.
He lives in New York City, and everybody thinks of him as this hippie beatnik.
It's the strangest movie.
(17:03):
The whole world blows up because he grows a beard.
Nope, never saw that one.
It's some kind of a nut.
It is just the strangest 1969 movie, and Angie Dickinson is in it.
That's the whole premise, is he chooses to grow a Van Dyke beard and everything.
Liz (17:22):
Oh, that's not the one where everybody quit smoking, is it?
Harold (17:25):
No, that's a cold turkey.
Liz (17:27):
Oh, okay.
Harold (17:28):
He was in a lot of odd films.
Liz (17:31):
Hmm, maybe we're finding out why he hasn't gotten his Oscar.
Jimmy (17:35):
Maybe not.
Harold (17:39):
We're going to have to look at the-
Liz (17:39):
Emmy, Emmy, Lifetime Achievement Emmy.
Jimmy (17:41):
But my Lord, he's got 99.
Police Woman in two movies, that is a double feature, my friends, right there.
Wow.
Well, there you go, Dick Van Dyke.
Michael (17:53):
All right, that's our next podcast.
Jimmy (17:56):
All right, we're doing it.
But right now, it's January 29th, and Charlie Brown is giving a presentation to the front of his class, and of course, he has brought his dog, Snoopy.
That is what he's giving a presentation about.
And he says to the class, and I conclude my report by offering this suggestion.
(18:16):
As soon as a child is born, he or she should be issued a dog and a banjo.
Snoopy's ears go straight up, and Charlie Brown looks to his teacher and says, ma'am, that's right, a family of eight, eight dogs and eight banjos.
Yes, ma'am, we're talking happiness here.
Harold (18:36):
Does this seem like Charlie Brown to you?
This would be a thing?
Michael (18:40):
Isn't this a Mark Twain quote?
Jimmy (18:42):
No, this is a Schulz quote, and it's like hugely famous.
If you type in right now, I bet, if you typed in Google right now, famous Charles Schulz quote, I bet this would be the first one.
But anyway, it's very famous among people who like that sort of thing.
Harold (18:59):
I mean, it's interesting that you say this is 1997, and I get the sense that almost everything I'm seeing here lives within this strip, nothing broke into the culture that I know of.
Jimmy (19:11):
That's what I'm saying.
There were posters with this on it.
When I was at the TV station, I knew someone who had it hanging up in their cubicle.
Harold (19:21):
Wow.
That's cool.
This was a new one to me.
Jimmy (19:24):
Now, they bought it at the mall and it was autographed.
Harold (19:27):
Oh, no.
There you go.
Michael (19:30):
Well, I have a banjo hanging on the wall.
It doesn't make me happy.
Jimmy (19:33):
Well, it's because you don't have the dog.
Michael (19:35):
No, it's not the dog.
I look at it and I go, I really can't play the banjo where you are.
Liz (19:40):
But if you had been giving it at birth, maybe it's true.
Harold (19:42):
That's true.
You wouldn't have to think of those things.
It was just a part of who you were.
Jimmy (19:47):
I would certainly love to have been issued a banjo at any point in life.
That would be amazing.
Michael (19:52):
You're an only child.
My sister would have been playing the banjo, which would have been very crazy.
Liz (19:58):
She was playing the bassoon instead.
Michael (20:00):
The three.
Harold (20:00):
Yeah.
But yeah, when I saw this, I was like, this is interesting.
He's constantly hearing Sally come up with all of these life philosophies.
And then I guess he's done it a little bit before in the past.
I'm trying to think of what it was, but this was a little bit of a surprise that he's found something he wants to share with the world.
(20:25):
He's got a way of seeing things that needs to be shared.
Jimmy (20:31):
I also get the feeling that behind the scenes, Schulz was very proud.
He said that at some point and was very proud of it.
Harold (20:42):
I can see that.
Michael (20:43):
I think this was said by Schulz before this trip.
Jimmy (20:47):
Absolutely.
That's how I feel too.
Wrote it, made a little note going, oh yeah, I want to use something.
Liz (20:55):
Maybe it should have been a two panel strip though.
Jimmy (21:00):
Yeah, maybe.
Liz (21:01):
The family of eight dogs and eight banjos.
Harold (21:08):
Now, let me get this straight.
So the Dionne quintuplets.
Jimmy (21:16):
That's a lot of banjos.
All right, so this continues January 30th, Charlie Brown and Snoopy are snuggling up in the old beanbag chair watching TV.
Sally says, some kid at school today said, as soon as we're born, we should be issued a dog and a banjo.
Charlie Brown says, that was me.
Sally says, all my friends think you're crazy.
(21:36):
Charlie Brown says, you don't have any friends.
And then Sally says, if I had any friends, they'd all think you were crazy.
Harold (21:43):
And then it struck me.
I never thought of this.
Sally really doesn't have any friends.
Jimmy (21:48):
She had that friend with the long hair and the hat.
The margarine container hat?
Liz (21:56):
Yes.
Jimmy (21:57):
Yeah, she's gone.
Liz (21:58):
From camp.
Harold (21:59):
Yeah.
And now she's on her own.
And yeah, I mean, she's got her sweet baboo who puts up with her because he's lying to us.
But yeah, she doesn't have any friends.
I'm like, oh my gosh, Sally.
Jimmy (22:11):
Poor Sally.
Harold (22:13):
You're just living life on your own terms all by yourself.
And every once in a while, you have a sounding board and your brother and that's kind of sad.
Jimmy (22:22):
Yeah.
Well, we love Sally, so she has us as her friends.
February 2nd.
It's a Sunday and it starts off with Woodstock cleaning the birdbath with the Zamboni for ice hockey.
And in the second panel, the birds and Snoopy are standing at attention because some song is playing, which we assume is the National Anthem.
(22:48):
And then the action starts in the next tier and Snoopy has the puck and birds are flying everywhere.
And then the birds get the puck back and Snoopy goes flying.
And then of course, it's between periods.
So the Zamboni has to come out, clean the ice again.
And then we're back at it and the birds go flying everywhere and Snoopy's attacking.
(23:09):
And then of course, it's time to clean with the Zamboni.
And then we got three more panels of Rock'em Sock'em birdbath hockey.
And then in the last panel, the Disheveled Birds and Snoopy Missing Some Teeth says, best game we've ever had.
Michael (23:25):
The birds are missing some teeth and they don't have to.
Jimmy (23:28):
They are.
Harold (23:29):
If you have to be missing teeth, you got to have some to start with in the first place.
Michael (23:34):
Well, this is actually a really good strip.
I mean, he's done that little smile with broken teeth before.
Liz (23:43):
I never would have understood this strip at all, if it weren't for your description.
Jimmy (23:48):
Oh, really?
Michael (23:50):
Never.
Jimmy (23:53):
Well, good.
I have done a service today.
I love the little zambonis.
So cute.
Michael (24:01):
He sure gets his money's worth out of zamboni.
I had never heard of a zamboni till I started reading Peanuts.
Jimmy (24:09):
I'm assuming I still wouldn't know what a zamboni is, if it wasn't for Peanuts.
I don't watch hockey.
Harold (24:14):
If it didn't have a cool name, I wonder if you'd ever brought it up.
Jimmy (24:17):
No, never.
Never, I don't think.
Harold (24:20):
Well, I do recommend to our listeners who are listening and not looking at the strips, this is one worth checking out.
February 2nd, 1997.
Especially if you can find it in color.
Jimmy (24:32):
Yeah, the color looks great.
Liz (24:34):
But Jimmy's description was pretty darn wonderful.
Harold (24:38):
Hopefully, that what's your interest.
Jimmy (24:40):
Yeah.
February 13th, Linus is back in school with Lydia and he has made her a Valentine.
He turns around and says, here, I made you a Valentine.
She looks at it closely as Linus says, see, I wrote a little poem and then I drew some hearts around it.
To which Lydia says, it's in black and white.
Michael (25:00):
I picked this just because I haven't seen Lydia in a while.
This is probably the least funny Lydia joke.
Liz (25:10):
I think it's wonderfully funny.
Jimmy (25:11):
Are you kidding?
I love it.
Oh my God.
I think it speaks to a certain type of modern young person that cannot contemplate things in black and white.
Harold (25:23):
Yeah.
It just makes you think TV shows and movies and comic strips in black and white.
But I love Linus' commitment in the first panel.
He is completely turned around on his desk with his knees facing the back of his seat.
He's not just like tossing this over his shoulder.
Jimmy (25:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Harold (25:44):
He's both hands presenting it to Lydia, and it's rejected based on lack of color.
Jimmy (25:54):
If any of our listeners want to give a shot of what Linus' poem might have been, I'd like to hear that.
Harold (26:00):
The thing that struck me on this Lydia one was it seemed the roughest.
Of course, that might make sense given what we know Schulz is going up against with his drawing styles.
But Lydia always has seemed to have this very clean, put-together look with the hair and the, maybe it's in how he's coloring the hair, but she seems a little more disheveled.
(26:24):
A little more jangly.
Jimmy (26:26):
Definitely, yeah, the blacks are jangly.
Harold (26:29):
Maybe the grunge influence is hitting.
Michael (26:31):
To refer to the poem, what rhymes with Lydia?
I really pity you.
Jimmy (26:37):
Pity you, Cass Crouchall?
Harold (26:39):
Yeah, ask Jeff Crouchall, Marks will tell you.
Liz (26:41):
Chlamydia.
Jimmy (26:42):
Oh, God.
That's not a flower.
There was a sign in every dorm when I was in college that said, Chlamydia is not a flower.
And then the phone number and address of the health care center.
Harold (26:58):
Wow.
Yeah, look that one up.
Jimmy (27:02):
Hey, after 12 years of Catholic school, I was like, all right, what kind of place is this?
February 16th, Snoopy is decked out as the Revolutionary War Patriot.
And it's Valley Forge.
It's obviously winter.
You can see his feet are all wrapped up like the classic American story.
(27:27):
And he's warming himself at a fire.
And then he walks away and says, I have to know.
And we see him now trudging with his musket in his little tricorder hat.
And he says, here's the world famous Patriot soldier at Valley Forge.
I must see General Washington.
I have to know.
He's trudging across the snow to get there.
(27:47):
And then finally, he arrives at the cabin of Washington.
He drops to his knees and says, tell me, sir, I have to know.
Did the mail arrive?
Did I get any valentines?
Were they have been sending valentines in the revolutionary period?
I don't know.
Harold (28:07):
These drawings of Snoopy in the revolutionary outfit with the, yeah, like almost like the bandaged feet.
There's something about them that he's so covered except for the face, that the costume plays a huge part in the artwork.
More so, I think, than even like the World War Flying Age thing.
(28:29):
You really feel like Snoopy is this war veteran in the revolutionary war period.
It's a little bit jarring that he's actually speaking to George Washington.
There's one strip we didn't pick where he literally gets thrown out when he asks George Washington.
He has some great idea for the troops and he's tossed out.
(28:53):
That's like, oh wow.
Schulz is having George Washington throw Snoopy.
Jimmy (29:00):
I like the world or the revolutionary war outfit.
I was always a big fan of this period when I was a kid, like reading about it and stuff like that.
I may have had a Tri-Corner hat that I tried to wear around the neighborhood once, then left it in my room wisely for the rest of summer.
Harold (29:19):
Didn't go over as you expected.
Jimmy (29:21):
I remember Marnie Marquette looking at me blankly and then me just kind of going inside.
Liz (29:26):
Good for Marnie.
Harold (29:29):
Yeah, it's usually hats come, they rotate interest in cycles and that's one that hasn't really come back.
Jimmy (29:36):
It's not coming back.
Harold (29:36):
We could bring it back.
Jimmy (29:37):
We could try.
Harold (29:39):
Yeah, we could give it a go.
Liz (29:41):
Because we have so much influence.
Jimmy (29:43):
We have it, maybe, especially in the sartorial world.
Harold (29:47):
Everyone knows.
Jimmy (29:48):
That's us.
Harold (29:48):
We could put out an imprinted Unpacking Peanuts three-cornered hat.
Liz (29:54):
That's it.
Jimmy (29:54):
Well, you could get a choice.
You could get that or the Coonskin one.
Yes.
All right.
Well, how about we take a break there and come back, check the mail, et cetera, and finish the rest of the strips.
Does that sound good?
Liz (30:11):
Sounds great.
Jimmy (30:12):
Fabulous.
We'll be right back.
Liz (30:14):
Hi, everyone.
You've heard us rave about the Estabrook Radio 914, and one episode would be complete without mention of the Fab Four.
Now, you can wear our obsessions proudly with Unpacking Peanuts t-shirts.
We have a Be of Good Cheer pen nib design, along with the four of us crossing Abbey Road, and of course, Michael, Jimmy, and Harold at the Thinkin Wall.
(30:39):
Collect them all, trade them with your friends, order your t-shirts today at unpackingpeanuts.com/store.
Jimmy (30:48):
And we are back.
Hey, Liz, I'm hanging out in the mailbox.
Do we got anything?
Liz (30:52):
We do.
We heard from a couple of people on YouTube today.
All right.
So first from Ice Cream Hero 2375, writes, how I understand the cartoon logic in Peanuts.
The plots should be mostly realistic most of the time, except in It's Magic Charlie Brown.
(31:14):
The adults are sometimes there off screen and sometimes not there at all.
Snoopy can do pretty much anything the plot needs him to do.
Sometimes they can read Snoopy's thoughts and sometimes they can't.
Snoopy uses Charlie Brown's parents' credit card.
That is my headcanon.
The kids can do absurd site gags like Snoopy, but every so often they don't quite go to Looney Tunes levels.
(31:41):
School buildings can talk.
Jimmy (31:43):
All right.
This is in response to us doing the peanuts poetics thing.
Liz (31:47):
Yes.
Jimmy (31:48):
Can I tell you, we want to talk about being creeped out.
Just to explain the setup I have here, it's my drafting table flattened.
I got the laptop in front of me and the microphone on that.
Then I have propped up my iPad and that's what I read the strips off of.
The iPad is not recording anything.
It's just me reading the strips off of it.
(32:09):
So when we were doing that discussion and we're talking about, oh, we should come up with it, what is it called?
The poetics?
Is that the right word?
Is that the right word?
Later that afternoon, I just went on YouTube, recommended for me the first thing, what are poetics?
It's a Harvard lecture.
Understand it was the poetics of something or another.
(32:29):
It actually really does explain that I should give us a link.
I'm like, oh, that was really helpful in a totalitarian spy.
Michael (32:38):
Well, you're saying these computers are listening when they're not on?
Jimmy (32:42):
It was on.
It was on.
Liz (32:43):
Yeah.
Michael (32:43):
Hello?
Good evening.
Jimmy (32:48):
I don't like it even though it was helpful information.
Michael (32:51):
That is scary.
Liz (32:52):
That is very scary.
Wow.
Ice Cream Hero continues by saying, you asked if Calvin and Hobbes ever violated the rule that Hobbes is only alive to Calvin.
It never did, but in the arc where they push the car out of the driveway, you can see Hobbes running after it out the window when Calvin's mom's back is turned to the window.
Jimmy (33:14):
Oh, cute.
Well, first of, I love window humor.
I've done that in Amelia where the things going on in the background and the serious stuff.
I love that.
That never doesn't work.
Harold (33:22):
So that's cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You've had at least one defenestration.
Liz (33:26):
Yeah.
Jimmy (33:27):
At least one.
Oh, speaking of weird things I've done, in that poetics discussion, Michael's example was, well, could you put a talking cat in Amelia and we had like a thoughtful discussion.
Perhaps it's a situation.
I had a talking polar bear in Amelia, and I didn't even remember.
Liz (33:49):
One other comment also on YouTube from Steven Edwards, who gives us his term for what we were discussing.
And he says, codifying the narrative logic of Peanuts.
Jimmy (34:01):
Oh, that sounds pretty fancy.
I like that.
Yeah.
Michael (34:05):
HD thesis.
Jimmy (34:06):
Yeah, that definitely is.
Liz (34:08):
So that's it from the mail.
Jimmy (34:10):
Thank you all for commenting and writing and calling.
If you want to do that, you can write us at unpackingpeanuts.gmail.com.
And if you want to leave a message on the hotline or just send a text, it's 717-219-4162, and we'd love to hear from you, because remember when I don't hear, I worry.
(34:31):
How about we get back to the strips?
Liz (34:33):
All right.
Jimmy (34:34):
February 21st.
Charlie Brown looks like he's back at the same place that sold him the badge, Josh Lobotnik ball, but I guess it's a sporting goods store in the mall.
And he says, yes, sir, I'd like to see a new baseball glove.
Could I try that one there?
As he points to one in the cabinet, and then he tries it and this one sends him spinning.
He like flips in the air.
(34:54):
It feels so good on his hand.
And he says, I'll take it.
Michael (34:59):
Whoa, you read that completely different than I did.
Jimmy (35:02):
Oh, OK.
Michael (35:04):
I was thinking, yeah, well, it didn't really make sense to me.
I thought because every time he's on the mound, he gets knocked over by a ball.
Jimmy (35:14):
Right.
Michael (35:15):
And so he tried out being knocked over by the ball with that glove on.
Jimmy (35:20):
I think you're probably right.
Harold (35:22):
Yeah, I think you're right, too.
It took me a long time to get there.
This was a huge head scratcher.
Jimmy (35:27):
I thought it was my way until, while you were saying that, I looked, yeah, he's not smiling upside down.
So I think you're right, Michael.
Michael (35:36):
And why did you pick it?
Jimmy (35:40):
I have no idea why I picked it.
I must have picked it by accident, but.
Harold (35:46):
I think I might have picked it because it was such a head scratcher I wanted to hear to hear you guys' thoughts on it.
But I agree with you, Michael.
I think that is what Schulz was going for, but I think he's asking a lot of his readers.
Yeah.
This one.
Jimmy (36:01):
Well, I've read like thousands of them aloud and I didn't get it.
Like some sort of hedge fund manager in Hoboken who sees it two seconds for his breakfast, I don't think is going to be able to figure out what that is.
But I think Michael is 100 percent right.
Harold (36:19):
That is what it is.
Michael (36:22):
Moving on.
Jimmy (36:25):
March 1st.
So Snoopy is setting up a camera to take a group picture of his bird friends and he looks annoyed.
There are like what?
Two dozen birds on this little tree.
Michael (36:38):
Twenty-six.
Jimmy (36:39):
Snoopy says, in the back row there, let's take the cap off.
Then when we look over at the tree, we do see one tiny little bird wearing a backwards baseball cap, which is also very 90s.
That's cute.
Liz (36:54):
That's adorable.
Harold (36:57):
None of them are smiling.
Michael (36:58):
No.
Jimmy (36:59):
All very stoically waiting for their photo.
Liz (37:02):
Why don't we worry about dime a dozen birds, though same way we worry about dime a dozen Snoopies?
Michael (37:07):
Well, I don't like it when he keepens his characters by having too many of them exactly the same.
Jimmy (37:16):
Well, what about the birds, though?
Michael (37:18):
Don't like it.
Jimmy (37:19):
You don't like the multiple birds?
Michael (37:21):
Well, they're all Woodstock.
SPEAKER_2 (37:23):
All right.
Michael (37:25):
What about this one?
Woodstock a dime a dozen, which I don't like.
He's supposed to be exceptionally small.
Harold (37:30):
So is this Woodstock's family tree, literally?
Jimmy (37:35):
I would love to have drawn this.
Do you know when you're doing something and eventually it just loses all meaning?
You're right.
You say the same word too many times and it just becomes sound.
By the time you've drawn the 13th, one of these weird bird drawings, I mean, really zoom in and look at those birds.
(37:57):
It would be almost meditative in its abstractions, I think.
Michael (38:02):
Yeah, but you're just copying Peanuts.
Jimmy (38:04):
Yeah, right.
These days, absolutely.
Harold (38:05):
Well, it looks like he's burning through these and you get a variety of looks that you normally don't get in this strip if he's got the Beagle Scouts or just Woodstock.
This is quite a range of wonky looking little birds within the structure of a Woodstock drawing, which is kind of interesting.
Jimmy (38:27):
Nice Zip-a-Tone on the tree.
Because it's a skinny little tree to Zip-a-Tone.
Liz (38:32):
A skinny little tree.
Jimmy (38:36):
March 16th, Schroeder is pounding away at the piano and Snoopy is listening and this is Sunday Strip.
And Lucy is in the next panel.
She's laying on the piano in her classic position and Schroeder is looking at what looks like sheet music.
And Lucy says to him, what was that you were playing?
(38:57):
And Schroeder says, it's called Peanuts Gallery.
And Lucy says, what is?
A new piece composed by Ellen Taffe Zwilich.
We're all in it.
What do you mean we're all in it?
Says Lucy.
And Schroeder says, it has a great beginning.
Schroeder's Beethoven fantasy.
Then there's Lullaby for Linus, Snoopy does the Samba and Charlie Brown's Lament.
(39:19):
Then there's Lucy Freaks Out and Peppermint Patty and Marcy lead the parade.
Lucy's just taking this in and then Schroeder hands the sheet music to Lucy and says, the world premiere will be at Carnegie Hall.
Here, look at it yourself.
And she looks at it and says, my part should be longer.
Michael (39:37):
Let me make a comment about this strip.
Sometimes I question why somebody picked a strip like that last one.
Why did you pick that strip?
My question here is Jimmy, why didn't you pick this strip?
This is like the most out there concept he's ever done.
(39:57):
And yet Harold and I picked it.
Yet Jimmy, you somehow did not notice that this is like one of the weirdest.
Jimmy (40:03):
I'm sorry, Michael.
SPEAKER_2 (40:05):
I didn't know.
Jimmy (40:06):
I guess I was tired.
Yeah, I don't know why I didn't pick it.
I like it.
I certainly like it.
Michael (40:10):
I don't like it.
Jimmy (40:11):
I know you don't like it because it mentions them as characters.
It drives you crazy.
I'm sure you were up at night.
Michael (40:18):
This is so far out of the rules.
Jimmy (40:20):
Michael staring off his balcony.
Hello, darkness, my old friend.
Michael (40:24):
Yeah.
Well, but I wanted to open a discussion on cartoon or comic books where the characters realize they're in cartoons or comic books, which happens.
It's never happened in Peanuts.
I think there might have been one reference.
Jimmy (40:41):
Yeah, there is.
Michael (40:42):
Where they're aware that they're in a comic.
Jimmy (40:45):
There's at least one where Schroeder asked to be transferred to a different comic strip.
There's one where Charlie Brown says Lucy's eyes look like little dots of India ink.
Michael (40:54):
Yeah.
But this one's way, way, way out there.
Jimmy (40:58):
Well, this is an ad.
Harold (41:00):
Yeah.
Michael (41:01):
This is an ad, but it can't fit in the universe.
I mean, are they famous?
Harold (41:11):
Yeah.
It's interesting, Michael, you don't like having cartoon characters recognizing their cartoon characters.
Michael (41:17):
No.
But it's a part of the world if they do.
Harold (41:22):
Yeah.
You're right.
I like it because there's so much you can do with the characters realizing their cartoon characters.
It does change the rules, but all of a sudden, there's a lot of things you can explore.
My sweetest beasts, in my mind, my cartoon characters know they are cartoon characters.
(41:45):
They're living in their world and they don't mind being cartoon characters and doesn't usually make a big difference, but they are aware.
It does give it a different dynamic that I think is rich.
I like it.
Michael (41:59):
Yeah.
I think that Bloom County, something like Bloom County, I'm not sure, but I think he probably would have been able to have the characters refer to themselves as being in the newspaper.
Jimmy (42:10):
Well, they do.
Harold (42:11):
Yeah.
Well, there's that strip I mentioned where Bloom County's artist was on vacation and so they'd hired the guy, the cartoonist who'd done lots of gag cartoons for like Parrot World.
Jimmy (42:22):
Yeah.
Harold (42:23):
To a totally different style.
Then the very last panel, you got Opus peeling up the bottom corner of the panel and apologizing.
Michael (42:36):
Yeah.
For me, this is really jarring.
Let me give an example of somebody who did it in a way that it works as part of the world.
May I refer you to Fantastic Four number 10, 1963.
Jimmy (42:53):
I'm certain it's going to hold up to modern readers.
Michael (42:56):
Well, Fantastic Four are reading a Fantastic Four comic.
But in the story, they posit that Lee and Kirby are actually characters in this story, and they have a comic book.
They're producing a comic book based on the Fantastic Four, which is what the Fantastic Four are reading.
Harold (43:22):
Right.
It's not them, it's a comic book about them.
We happen to be reading a comic book about them, reading a comic book about them.
That's not the comic book that we're reading.
We're reading them actually living their lives.
Michael (43:33):
Yeah.
And then Dr.
Doom comes in to visit Lee and Kirby.
Liz (43:36):
Well, in one of my favorite comics is Stranger Tractors, where they have spicy speed stories.
Right.
Jimmy (43:43):
Which is the most meta-referencing comics that affect the real world out there.
Michael (43:49):
It's meta, intentionally.
I hope it was intentionally.
Talking about the world of comics and the world of reality.
But Peanuts is not.
Jimmy (43:57):
Well, no.
But here's the thing.
And we have a few more episodes to try to fit this square peg in a round hole.
But I think what the issue is, is Peanuts is not a universe that has a consistent world from beginning to end.
So to keep saying that it violates the world is pointless because the world will change the next day.
(44:17):
The rules will reset because some fiction draws attention to the fact that it is unreal.
And that's not a mistake.
Harold (44:26):
It's what they're doing on purpose.
Jimmy (44:28):
I mean, Schulz knows that this breaks the reality, but he's broken the reality a hundred thousand times and doesn't care.
He's not doing something and going, Oh crap, now they can't figure out how to get to Mordor because it doesn't matter.
It's not a world.
It's not even a little bit of a world.
It's like four lines, four right angles make up the entire Peanuts universe, really.
Michael (44:52):
Yeah, but I think there is some consistency in the 17,000 strips.
Jimmy (44:58):
I don't think there is because I think he's a helicopter when he needs to be and he's not a helicopter when he doesn't.
Michael (45:05):
I don't like it when they have it.
Jimmy (45:06):
But whether you like it or not, doesn't-
Harold (45:08):
Yeah, but there is consistency in personality and inconsistencies.
Michael (45:15):
Yeah.
Jimmy (45:15):
He said it a million times.
They're a repertory company that I can use in any setting I want.
If I want to make it a horror story, I can make it a horror story.
If I want to make it a pioneer epic, I can do that.
That's what he is doing.
That's what he means to do, so it can't be a mistake.
Harold (45:32):
Well, that's a really interesting way to look at it.
He is casting his characters every day in whatever story he wants to make.
If we look at it through that lens, he can change the rules for that given strip.
He has to make those decisions for people like Michael, who are saying, well, okay, but you got to have some level of consistency for us to be able to live in this world.
(46:00):
Do the characters' personalities change 180 degrees every time they take on a rule?
Jimmy (46:04):
Yeah, it's like the Looney Tunes.
Bugs Bunny is consistently Bugs Bunny, whether he's in the Old West or in outer space.
Michael (46:12):
Yeah, but this is not that kind of humor.
I mean, imagine, okay, you have the consistency of characters is one thing.
I mean, if he had a strip, like a Sunday page where all of a sudden, Lucy was surrounded by admirers who are giving her flowers and telling her she's the most beautiful girl in the world.
(46:33):
That wouldn't work.
Jimmy (46:34):
Well, yeah, lots of things won't work.
Michael (46:36):
Yeah, well, I think this doesn't work because you read this and you go, what world did someone write?
Jimmy (46:43):
There is no world.
Michael (46:43):
A piece of music about them.
Jimmy (46:45):
This is an ad for this show.
And yeah, Schulz is intentionally making it an ad for this show.
Michael (46:50):
It's not a world.
It doesn't belong in the strip then.
Harold (46:54):
All right.
Michael (46:55):
I can see it as an ad.
I mean, because clearly in the ad, they're selling products.
Harold (47:00):
And for those of you who are wondering what we're talking about with the ad, so this composer, Ellen Willis showed up earlier in the strip when Peppermint Patty and Marcy were at one of the Tiny Tots concerts.
And I think Marcy mentions this piece is by Ellen Willis, who happens to be a woman.
Basically, it's kind of the setup for that.
(47:22):
And then she contacted Schulz, they became friends.
When she got an opportunity to write a piece for Carnegie Hall, and it was supposed to be children's music, she thought, hey, Peanuts.
So she got in touch with Schulz and said, is it okay if I do this, inspired by your characters?
And he was thrilled.
And so to support her, yeah, that's what he's doing.
Jimmy (47:44):
All right.
Well, anyway, I'm going to listen to good old Lucy Freaks Out.
That's going to be my pick.
Liz (47:51):
It should be longer.
Michael (47:53):
To sum up, I'm glad we discussed this because I think this strip certainly is worth talking about.
Jimmy (47:59):
Oh, absolutely.
Michael (48:01):
Yeah.
Jimmy (48:03):
And speaking of things worth talking about, March 10th, the final appearance of Crybaby Boobie.
Crybaby Boobie is playing against Snoopy out in the tennis court, and she's yelling, I won, I won, I'm the champion, I won.
Hey, mom, I won.
And then we just hard cut to disgruntled and annoyed Snoopy walking away.
(48:26):
And then in the last panel, for the only time we see Crybaby Boobie's face and a little pain line generating from her leg.
And she says, mom, I think that dog kicked me.
Michael (48:38):
Yeah, who knew she looked exactly like Charlie Brown?
Jimmy (48:41):
She's Charlie Brown in a wig, too.
I kind of like that messed up hair.
Yeah, I think that I kind of like that look.
Liz (48:48):
I talked to my hairdresser about that back in the 90s.
Jimmy (48:51):
But you wanted to get that, the Courtney love?
Harold (48:56):
Crybaby Boobie Shag.
That's not what I was expecting.
I was thinking more of a Sally.
Yeah.
But we normally see Crybaby Boobie with her head straight up.
You see her nostrils, gigantic mouth and this crazy hair all around the head.
And yeah, she looks very deflated in that.
Liz (49:19):
Does she have a really gigantic right ear?
Jimmy (49:24):
Yes, she does.
Harold (49:24):
Well, you know what, though?
Jimmy (49:25):
So do I.
Harold (49:26):
So I don't.
Jimmy (49:28):
My ears don't match.
It has vexed me my whole life.
Liz (49:32):
Just like Stephen Colbert.
Michael (49:33):
Yeah, right.
Jimmy (49:34):
Yeah, exactly.
Same hair.
Michael (49:35):
Yeah.
And so we bid a fond farewell to Crybaby Boobie.
Harold (49:40):
We're going to be saying this a lot, aren't we?
Jimmy (49:42):
Yeah.
It's a bummer.
It's nice that we get to lose people like Crybaby Boobie first.
Michael (49:49):
They're dropping like flies.
Jimmy (49:51):
But we've probably already seen the last of five and three and four.
Our new episode's up about the strange death of tapioca pudding.
March 19th, Charlie Brown is atop the pitcher's mound and Schroeder is out there with him.
And Charlie Brown says, do me a favor.
Go ask Pigpen why he doesn't wear a baseball cap.
(50:14):
Then Schroeder goes to Pigpen and says, the manager wants to know why you don't wear a cap.
And then Schroeder comes back to the mound and says, he said he doesn't want to mess up his hair.
Why did he do it this way?
Why?
Isn't it weird?
Harold (50:28):
Like, why would he have...
Jimmy (50:29):
I understand, like, the joke is good and it's perfect for Pigpen.
But why didn't Charlie Brown just ask him directly?
He could have done it the exact same way.
Harold (50:41):
I think it's funnier somehow.
That the manager of the baseball team is asking the catcher to ask some random player.
And then Schroeder doesn't say Charlie Brown wants to know.
Jimmy (50:54):
No, he just says the manager.
Michael (50:55):
Well, isn't the catcher often the captain?
Jimmy (50:58):
Hmm.
I don't know about that.
Michael (51:01):
Well, the manager generally doesn't play.
So there's usually a captain on the team that is the one who does the dirty work.
Harold (51:11):
No, it would be Pigpen.
Jimmy (51:12):
Yeah, I don't know they're necessarily always the catcher because I know like, you know, center fielder is like the captain of the outfield.
But I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's a weird way to do it.
Harold (51:22):
If I had a bad hand tremor, I think I would have been leaning heavily into Pigpen.
Jimmy (51:26):
Pigpen, 100%.
He would be the star of the show.
And he kind of is because here he comes back March 20th.
Pigpen sitting on the bench next to Lucy and Lucy says, Pigpen, why can't you look neat like the other players?
And then Pigpen says, last year, I batted 712.
And he picks up the bat and says to Lucy, Neatness doesn't bat 712.
Harold (51:50):
He's a little miff there.
Michael (51:51):
Yeah.
That fits in with our theory of who the best player is.
Jimmy (51:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Harold (51:57):
He's been holding it.
Liz (51:58):
But John Marullo said that it was Shermie.
Jimmy (52:01):
Well, John's wrong.
Michael (52:02):
No, he can't bat higher than 712.
That's impossible.
Jimmy (52:06):
That would be hard.
Harold (52:07):
It would be hard.
Michael (52:09):
First of all, it implies a lot of at-bats because that's a weird fraction.
So it means he's hitting consistently.
Liz (52:17):
Yep.
Jimmy (52:19):
March 26th.
OK, so after the first game of the season, of course, the gang loses.
And we're back at Charlie Brown's house and Sally's on the phone.
She says, yes, I heard you lost the first game of the season.
I've never seen my big brother so depressed.
Sure, I'll tell him.
And then she comes back and sees Charlie Brown in the living room, sitting there holding Linus' blanket in classic thumb and blanket position.
(52:43):
And Sally says, Linus says to keep the blanket as long as you want.
Very sweet of Linus.
Harold (52:50):
A little forlorn hat.
So even the brim is kind of sad.
Jimmy (52:54):
Yeah, the forlorn hat really has become a baseball staple in Peanuts.
Harold (53:03):
Again, well, that's also another strip where there's this indirection with somebody talking through somebody.
Jimmy (53:10):
Yeah.
Harold (53:11):
He seems to enjoy playing with that.
Jimmy (53:14):
Does it look like Sally gained a little weight there in panel two?
She has a giant head and her arm is huge.
Liz (53:22):
Could be an allergic reaction.
Jimmy (53:24):
It could be.
April 15th, Charlie Brown is in the beanbag chair watching TV and Sally comes up behind him and says, I have another new philosophy.
She says, what did you expect?
A medal.
And then she leans up against the beanbag chair opposite Charlie Brown and says, some philosophy take a thousand years.
(53:44):
I think of them in two minutes.
Michael (53:46):
I'm not sure it is a philosophy.
Jimmy (53:49):
What did you expect?
A medal?
Michael (53:51):
Yeah.
Is it?
Jimmy (53:52):
Can be.
Michael (53:54):
That's a good catchphrase.
Harold (53:55):
Like how Charlie Brown's feet kind of go up in the third panel.
It's just a mild shot.
Michael (54:06):
All right.
Jimmy (54:06):
And wrapping up this week, April 19th, Lucy comes out to the pitcher's mound holding a hockey stick.
And she says, just checking in, manager, just letting you know, everything is taken care of out in right field.
And then Charlie Brown says, I absolutely refuse to ask what that's all about.
Michael (54:24):
I just laughed.
Yay.
I'm going to put a little star next to this.
SPEAKER_2 (54:31):
Michael laughed.
Jimmy (54:32):
Is it the first time ever?
No.
Michael (54:34):
Well, not in a long time.
Jimmy (54:36):
Oh, there you go.
Michael (54:37):
And, you know, I read it like yesterday, but-
Jimmy (54:39):
Oh, so it was my performance that really made you laugh.
There you go.
Michael (54:43):
It's always the case.
No, the script writer is nothing.
It's the actors.
Jimmy (54:47):
Nothing.
It's all the actors.
Well, guys, that brings us to the end of this episode.
As always, I had a blast.
It's my favorite day of the week, getting to hang out with my pals and talk Peanuts and comics.
So if you want to keep this conversation going, well, there's a couple of ways you can do it.
The first thing, as you know, is you got to go over to unpackingpeanuts.com, and you got to sign up for the great Peanuts reread.
(55:12):
And that will get you one email a month that will tell you what we're going to be covering.
And then you'll be able to read ahead and read along with us.
You can also call us if you want, if you want to leave a voicemail or just text us.
The number is 717-219-4162.
Or of course, you can follow us on good old social media.
(55:33):
We're at Unpack Peanuts on Instagram and threads and at Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
And remember, when I don't hear from you, I worry.
So don't make me worry.
Until next week, from Michael, Harold and Liz, this is Jimmy saying, be of good cheer.
Liz (55:49):
Yes.
Be of good cheer.
Unpacking Peanuts is copyrighted Jimmy Gownley, Michael Cohen, Harold Buchholz and Liz Sumner.
Produced and edited by Liz Sumner.
Music by Michael Cohen.
Additional voiceover by Aziza Shukralla Clark.
For more from the show, follow Unpack Peanuts on Instagram and threads.
(56:10):
Unpacking Peanuts on Facebook, Blue Sky and YouTube.
For more about Jimmy, Michael and Harold, visit unpackingpeanuts.com.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for listening.
Jimmy (56:22):
Hello darkness, my old friend.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!