Writer of Pop Culture

1973: Charlie Brown Serves Up Thanksgiving

On this day in 1973, CBS aired A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special for the first time. It played every year on that network until 2000 where it moved to ABC and continued until 2020 when Apple+ TV purchased the rights to the special.

This was Charles Schulz’s tenth TV special, but over the years it has risen to become one of the more popular ones. It was the first TV special to feature Snoopy’s fine feathered friend, Woodstock and Franklin, the first African American character in the series. While some praised Schulz for adding diversity to the cartoon, others pointed fault that Franklin had to sit by himself during dinner! He shouldn’t feel too bad though. Lucy apparently wasn’t even invited. (Image: Apple TV+)

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1976: ‘Rocky’ Comes to Theaters

Before this day in 1976, Sylvester Stallone’s only leading role was in the movie, The Lords of Flatbush (1974) which was a flop. He turned to writing in an effort to provide better roles for him to play.

Stallone has said that he wrote the script for Rocky in only three and a half days. He sold the script to producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff on the condition that he would be able to play the now-famous boxer. However, the producers wanted someone with a higher profile like James Caan, Burt Reynolds or Ryan O’Neal. Surprisingly, a deal was made, and Stallone began training for six hours a day for five months before filming.

Rocky was shot just under a month on a $1 million budget and directed by John Avildsen. Movie critics either loved it or hated it, but the film ended up making Stallone a rich and valuable star. At the 1977 Academy Awards, Rocky was nominated for 10 awards and won for Best Picture, Director, and Film Editing.

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