The cover of the complete series DVD release
The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show (1983-1985) was a CBS Saturday-Morning Cartoon based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. It was produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, who were behind the franchise of television specials based on the strip. Episodes of the series featured several segments, mostly directly adapting individual strips or sequences (the format would be duplicated by the 2016 French Peanuts series). While the show's ratings were lower than expected — it initially was scheduled directly opposite Alvin and the Chipmunks' first season on NBC — CBS reran it the following TV season, and in 1985 ordered a second and final season consisting of five episodes (as opposed to Season One's 13).In 2021, Apple TV+ did a revival of the series in the form of The Snoopy Show.
The series contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: All of Snoopy's thought bubble speeches are absent from the series, as with the television specials. Instead, human characters fill in the blanks for Snoopy's lines or his original lines are narrated by said characters.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed for Snoopy in the segment "The Manager" ("Snoopy: Team Manager"). In the comic arc on which it was based (being March 4 to 23, 1968), Snoopy was an outward abusive manager, kicking any of his teammates for screwing up or talking smack about him, and was even worse when they lost a game with him kicking all of his teammates. Here, the worst Snoopy does his just yell at them, though, and when they lose, Snoopy instead takes his frustration on the equipment only.
- Adaptational Name Change: For Charlie Brown's team umpire in the segment "The Lost Ballfield" ("The Lost Ballpark"). In the comic arc on which it was based (being July 26 to August 28, 1982), their umpire was named Mr. Martin whereas in the animated version, he's renamed Mr. Melendez.
- Animated Adaptation: Most of the shorts specifically adapt comic arcs from the 1960s through early '80s, plus a few from the 1950s.
- Covers Always Lie: The show's title sequence and theme song includes Snoopy's sister Belle, but she's never actually featured in any episodes.
- A Day in the Limelight: The segment "Giant" ("Snoopy and the Giant") focuses entirely on Snoopy and Woodstock, with none of the other members appearing in the segment.
- Depending on the Artist: The show's animation - rather than being animated in-house like the specials - was outsourced to other countries, and the quality varies depending on the country/studio.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
- In the short "Rerun" ("Snoopy and the Giant"), there's a skit surrounding Rerun and jack-in-the-boxes, each of which plays the show's theme song.
- In another skit, Snoopy plays an organ grinder playing the theme tune as well.
- In a skit from the short "Sweet Babboo!" ("Sally's Sweet Babboo"), Linus whistles the theme tune while patting a snowball.
- Framing Device: The segment "The Play" ("Sally's Sweet Babboo") is framed from Charlie Brown writing an essay about the previous Christmas when the entire gang took part in a rather disjointed Christmas play.
- Inconsistent Coloring: Downplayed. While the show keeps a semi-consistent color scheme like the specials, it is guilty of some examples. One episode segment has Linus' blanket colored green instead of light blue, and is Hand Waved by a voice-over of Lucy at the start saying, "Linus has a stupid new green blanket!"
- I Take Offense to That Last One: In the short "Snoopy's Robot", Linus makes a video game featuring Snoopy, Woodstock and Lucy as characters. He ends up beaten up by his older sister when she finds out which one is the villain...
- Off-Model: The short "Sweet Babboo!" ("Sally's Sweet Babboo") looks far worse in quality than any of the other shorts in the episode (if not the entire series!). Characters are drawn much more sloppily and smaller, with less quality detail and some jarring cuts.
- School Play: The segment "The Play" ("Sally's Sweet Babboo") has the gang putting up a Christmas school play at an ice rink, with Lucy practicing a skating number with Snoopy, Linus having to sing "Jingle Bells" for the show, Charlie Brown needing to raise the funds among other things that happen. Neadless to say, it goes about as well as your expect. With Charlie Brown even mentioning in his essay his school newspaper calling it the strangest Christmas play ever.
- Short-Runners: Only ran two seasons for eighteen episodes total.
- Title Montage: Season One's intro used clips from previous Peanuts specials for its opening. Season Two recycled the intro to the documentary It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown, except for a part at the end where Charlie Brown and Snoopy bring up the title.
- Three Shorts: Season Two episodes hold to this format, while Season One episodes typically had segments varying from less than a minute long to as long as six.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: At the end of "Giant" ("Snoopy and the Giant"), Woodstock attempts to go back to farming, and Snoopy - after dealing with the beanstalk and having to save Woodstock from the Giant - pulls the key from Woodstock's tractor and goes back to sleep, leaving Woodstock furious.
- Who's on First?: In the short "Sally at School" ("Chaos in the Classroom"), Linus comes over when Sally is learning to write, but he struggles to understand what Sally means because Y sounds like Why, and O like Oh.Sally: I'm practicing my Y's.Linus: Why?Sally: No, Y's! I did a whole row of them.Linus: Oh.Sally: Not O's, Y's!Linus: I see.Sally: I C? Who said anything about I's and C's? These are Y's! Don't you ever listen?Linus: Gee!Sally: Not G! Y's!! Now pay attention... these are U's...Linus: They don't look like me at all...[Sally throws her papers and pen at Linus]
