The classic, Emmy-nominated springtime special, IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN, along with CHARLIE BROWN ALL STARS -- back on network television for the first time since 1982 -- will air as a one-hour PEANUTS special, Tuesday, April 7 (8-9 p.m., ET) on ABC.
In IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN, a holiday is coming up for the "PEANUTS" pals, and that means there's a lot to do. Charlie, Sally, Lucy and Marcie get ready for the big day by making several unsuccessful attempts to prepare eggs for coloring -- by frying, waffle-ironing, toasting, roasting and finally making soup out of them -- while Linus insists no preparation is necessary. Not to worry, the Easter Beagle steps in to take care of everything!
In CHARLIE BROWN ALL STARS, Charlie Brown's team walks out on him after losing their 999th game in a row, but hope arrives in the form of an offer for a team sponsor and an opportunity to be in a real league with real uniforms. Unfortunately he learns that his sandlot crew can't play in the real league because his players include a dog and several girls. Rather than breaking the news, he hopes that if they can win just one game, he'll be back in business and the team won't care about uniforms. For a while it looks as though Charlie's Brown's team might tie the score in the last of the ninth and go on to win. But when he tries to steal home, as Snoopy successfully did before him, he snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. To make things worse, he has to tell the gang that they aren't going to get uniforms after all. But when the gang learns why Charlie Brown couldn't get them their uniforms, they use Linus' blanket to make one for him, and he winds up the hero after all.
The cast of IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN includes Todd Barbee as Charlie Brown, Melanie Kohn as Lucy, Stephen Shea as Linus, Linda Ercoli as Peppermint Patty, Lynn Mortensen as Sally and James Ahrens as Marcie. The special was created and written by Charles M. Schulz, exec produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Phil Roman. The music was composed and performed by Vince Guaraldi.
CHARLIE BROWN ALL STARS stars Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Sally Dryer as Lucy, Chris Shea as Linus, Anne Altieri as Frieda, Kip DeFaria as Shermy and the umpire, Glenn Mendelson as Schroeder, Karen Mendelson as Violet, Jeff Ornstein as Pigpen, Cathy Steinberg as Sally and Lynn Vanderlip as Patty. Lee Mendelson was exec producer and Bill Melendez was the director. The original score was composed and conducted by Vince Guaraldi.
