With baseball season underway, I revisited one of Charlie Brown’s lesser-known shows: “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars.” I had high expectations for a sports-themed Charlie Brown special. However, this was just as disappointing as the Thanksgiving special.
The opening scene features Charlie Brown chasing down a fly ball, which he eventually drops, much to his teammates’ disappointment. This becomes repetitive in the show; Charlie Brown is constantly heckled for his poor baseball skills. Nobody was ever nice to Charlie Brown until the end of the show.
Early in the show, Linus rattles off statistics about Charlie Brown’s team, which becomes distracting. Their team is horrible, but it could have been shown differently. Linus states they have played 999 games, which seems unreasonable. We don’t know Charlie Brown’s exact age, but he is between 6 and 8 years old at this time.
I realized that although Charlie Brown stinks at baseball, he is a great manager and coach. He cares about the game a lot and has more value as a coach than a player.
The rest of his team quits because they blame Charlie Brown for their losing streak. The team wants to spend the summer swimming, skateboarding and jump roping.
Snoopy made a feature in the show, and it did not disappoint. He showcases his baseball skills by catching a ball with his food bowl and later surfs in a pool. Snoopy shows us that you can find joy in the little things in life, and great things can happen no matter your circumstances.
Charlie Brown gets a surprise sponsor for his team, offering real uniforms for a real league. He excitedly recruits his old teammates with this news. However, a phone call from the sponsor ruins everything. He is told that to play in the league, he must kick Snoopy and the girls off the team. Charlie Brown sticks up for his teammates and his dog. He is not sexist or dogist.
Charlie Brown keeps the bad news about the league and uniforms a secret. He focuses on winning the next game, hoping his team will forget about it if they win. Linus is sent to do a scouting report but scouts his team instead of the opponent. I think Linus is the team’s downfall, not Charlie Brown.
During the game, Charlie Brown gets an adrenaline rush and steals second and third base after hitting a single, but he fails when he tries to steal home. His teammates yell at him for costing them the game, and Charlie Brown reveals they won’t be getting jerseys for the league.
Linus reveals to the girls and Snoopy that Charlie Brown is standing up to the sexist and dogist standards held by the league. He comments on their harsh treatment of Charlie Brown.
The girls destroy Linus’s blanket to make Charlie Brown a uniform. While thinking of Charlie Brown’s feelings, they crush another person’s feelings.
At the show’s end, we see a confused Charlie Brown standing in the rain with his uniform for the next game. He is so passionate about the game that he doesn’t see the weather as an obstacle.
This show was very repetitive for the 25 minutes it ran. The constant bullying of Charlie Brown made it seem longer than it was. I had high hopes; this had the potential to be my favorite Charlie Brown. I would rather watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” than “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars.”