It's A Strange Story, Charlie Brown

This Halloween—as on the day itself, October 31, 2013, ABC will present the Halloween classic, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown—and paired with it, a Peanuts bonus cartoon, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, in which Linus runs for class president. This special presents one of the strangest stories in the annals of Peanuts televsion, for when it was first brodacst by CBS on October 29, 1972, it was entitled You're Elected, Charlie Brown. Since Charlie Brown is not, in fact, elected (he doesn't even run), viewers complained that the title was frustratingly misleading and made no sense.  When the show was repeated, the title was changed (even though the lyrics of the special's theme song explicitly states, "You're Elected, Charlie Brown"). Today, some Peanuts fans cannot believe that the special ever had a different title; in fact, most Peanuts animation histories never mention this oddity. For those who are unaware of the original title below is the proof—the TV Guide ad from the special's debut. Does this strange piece of Charlie Brown history have anything to do with Countdown to Halloween 2013? Yes, for in the special, Linus almost loses the election by replacing his campaign speech with an impassioned preachment about the Great Pumpkin.