If you're a fan of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," "Charlie Brown's All-Stars" will not disappoint. It has the heart and warmth of the other two, a sweet story and the feel of Charles Shultz's comic strip, a quality that seemed to diminish after the first three episodes. Maybe it's just me, but everything after "The Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown specials seemed forced and lightweight.

I watched "All Stars" with my family last night when it was paired with "The Easter Beagle." Nobody sat still during Easter Beagle, but all were seated and laughing during All-Stars.

For me, everything came together for the first three specials; a sweet and solid story with a nice message, great Vince Guaraldi jazz and voices that suited the Peanuts characters wonderfully; particularly the voices of Charlie Brown and Linus. I read that one of the producers had heard Peter Robbins' voice in a mall and knew immediately that he would be perfect for Charlie Brown. They credit his voice and characterization as one of the reasons the Christmas special was so effective.

Charlie Brown playing baseball must have been established with this program.

I always wondered why toy figures of Charlie Brown had him in a baseball cap.

I remember this program, and likewise, I remember the accompanying storybook (Charlie Brown and Linus on the pitcher's mound in the rain at the end was effective).

Lately, ABC has realized that airing new Christmas or Valentines Day specials simply makes fans go 'what happened to the old one?' so now they air Charlie Brown as a full hour, the old one accompanying the new one.

Works for me.

I hadnt seen the Easter one in DECADES, do you hear me!!! All Stars aired in connection with the old Easter one, so I sat and watched it.

It seemed incredibly crudely done, but as I watched it, I realized which one it was.

From there, I was then very amazed by the story.

Charlie Brown wasn't as easily defeated here (which was the way he sort of began in the comic strips, kind of like Sluggo to Lucy's Nancy, or Tubby to Lucy's Little Lulu).

This time, he took the slings and arrows from his 'friends' with a bit more endurance.

What makes this one so funny is they were really sending some ammunition his way! Lucy: "Don't expect us to be doing all that cheering from the outfield. 'Yay, Charlie Brown! You can do it! You're a great pitcher, Charlie Brown!' -- Fact is, you can't do it, Charlie Brown, and you aren't that good a pitcher. That makes us hypocrites. You wouldn't want us to be hypocrites, would you, Charlie Brown?" Sherman: "I don't like being on a losing team, Charlie Brown. It's depressing. You're different. You seem to get some satisfaction from losing." Something like that.

I remember many of the situations and jokes from the comics.

"Slide, Charlie Brown, Slide" was actually the title of one of the reprint books.

Yet this episode was made wholly unique when Charlie Brown got a store to sponsor the team with uniforms, then was told he would have to remove the girls and Snoopy from the team.

Charlie Brown couldn't do it and the team turned on him.

Only later did they learn why and feel utterly crushed.

I don't think at any time Charlie Brown has made such a supreme sacrifice for his ungrateful friends and likewise they in turn sought to make amends to the ol' blockhead.

Which then brought us to the ending.

Devotion.

That's what you can say about our boy named Charlie Brown.

Devotion.

In this second ever Peanuts TV special Charlie Brown is in the bad books of the rest of the gang (as if he's ever in their good books) for being utterly hopeless at baseball and losing every game. He's a curse on their team and they'd all rather spend summer doing their own individual thing.

But when he arranges to have personalized shirts made for the team they come back, though he neglects to tell them it's on the condition that Snoopy and the girls get kicked out.

He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Old Blockhead just can't do anything right. For a 1966 effort the colors and sound in this one were surprisingly good. It may not have the lasting appeal of the seasonal specials, but it's still worth watching.