The greatest story ever told (involving cartoon characters)
I think anyone who's covered television for more than about six minutes has written about the making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," possibly the most beloved TV holiday special ever made. I took a crack at it nine Christmases back for the paper and got to hear Lee Mendelson telling all the great stories he'd perfected over the years about the making of the show, including the legend of how it got sold:
"Coca-Cola called on a Thursday and said, 'We're looking for a new Christmas special,' " recalls Mendelson. "I lied and said we'd been working on one for months. After I hung up I called Schulz and said, 'I think I just sold them "A Charlie Brown Christmas." ' He said, 'What's that?' And I said,'I don't know yet, but they need it Monday.'"
Now it's Jim Benson's turn. Benson, of the TV Time Machine podcast, sat down with Mendelson to talk about the circumstances by which he and the late Bill Melendez came to be in business with Charles Schulz, and how the voices were cast and the creative decisions that were made over the objections of CBS nimrods and, last but not least, Mendelson's involvement in the DVD set.
