Children's programming on CBS: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:42, 7 January 2025

Revision as of 05:42, 8 January 2025

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===Animated primetime holiday specials===

CBS was the original broadcast network home of the animated primetime holiday specials based on the ''[[Peanuts]]'' comic strip, beginning with ''[[A Charlie Brown Christmas]]'' in 1965. Over 30 holiday Peanuts specials (each for a specific holiday such as [[Halloween]]) were broadcast on CBS from that time until 2000, when the broadcast rights were acquired by ABC. CBS also aired several prime time animated specials based on the works of [[Dr. Seuss]], beginning with ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' in 1966, as well as several specials based on the ''Garfield'' comic strip during the 1980s (which led to Garfield getting his own Saturday morning cartoon on the network, Garfield and Friends, in 1988). Two animated specials by the [[Rankin/Bass]] studio, the [[stop motion]] classic ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)|Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]],'' and the traditionally animated ''[[Frosty the Snowman (TV programspecial)|Frosty Thethe Snowman]]'' have been annual holiday staples on CBS respectively since 1972 (Rudolph) (eight years after the special originally debuted on NBC) and 1969 (Frosty) (when it debuted on CBS). {{As of|2023}}, ''Rudolph'' and ''Frosty'' are the only two pre-1990 animated specials that continue to air on CBS on an annual basis (since 2019, they have also aired on [[Freeform (TV channel)|Freeform]]); the broadcast rights to the ''Peanuts'' specials are now held by [[Apple TV+]] while ''How The Grinch Stole Christmas'' is broadcast by NBC, its streaming sister [[Peacock (streaming service)|Peacock]] and [[Warner Bros. Discovery]] outlets; the ''Garfield'' specials aren't currently shown. In the 21st century, ''Rudolph'' and ''Frosty'' have been joined by a series of newer specials that air on a semi-regular basis, including such entries as ''[[Frosty Returns]]'', the ''[[Robbie the Reindeer]]'' shorts, ''[[The Flight Before Christmas (2008 film)|The Flight Before Christmas]]'' and ''[[The Story of Santa Claus]]''.

All of these animated specials, from 1973 to 1992, began with a fondly remembered seven-second animated opening sequence, in which the words "A CBS Special Presentation" were displayed in a colorful [[ITC Avant Garde]] typeface. The word "SPECIAL", in all caps and repeated multiple times in multiple colors, slowly zoomed out from the frame in a spinning counterclockwise motion against a black background, and rapidly zoomed back into frame as a single word, in white, at the end; the sequence was accompanied by a jazzy though majestic up-tempo fanfare with dramatic horns and percussion (believed to be edited incidental music from the CBS crime drama ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'', titled "Call to Danger" on the [[Capitol Records]] soundtrack LP). This opening sequence – presumably designed by, or under the supervision of, longtime CBS creative director [[Lou Dorfsman]] (who oversaw print and on-air graphics for CBS for nearly 30 years, replacing [[William Golden (graphic designer)|William Golden]] following his death in 1959) – also appeared immediately before other CBS specials of the period (such as the annual presentations of the [[Miss USA]] pageant and the [[Kennedy Center Honors]]).