Charlie Brown enlists Linus' assistance to help him find a pretty little girl he spotted in the crowd in a televised football game. The key problem with this particular Peanuts romp is that it unfortunately lacks the sweet warmth and sharp wit of your standard Peanuts outing. Instead some of the humor comes across as rather mean-spirited (one particular gag involving a homely buck-toothed girl seems downright cruel). Moreover, Charlie's obsession and infatuation with the girl is more creepy and unnerving than funny and appealing. Linus stealing said girl away from Charlie at the end also leaves a really foul aftertaste in one's mouth. Fortunately, the always entertaining comic antics of Snoopy and Woodstock prevent this show from being a total wash-out, with Snoopy facing up to a nasty and fearsome bobcat rating as the definite gut-busting highlight. Moreover, Charlie's chronic shyness makes him fairly likable and one can certainly identify with his awkwardness when it comes to dealing with the ladies. The jaunty score by Ed Bogas and Judy Munsen keeps things bouncing along, the whole program moves at a quick pace, and the lightweight tone ensures that this TV special overall sizes up as a decent enough diversion. Okay, but could have been a lot better.
5 Reviews
Good Grief, Charlie Brown
Better_Sith_Than_Sorry30 May 2023
"Someday You'll Find Her" has to be among the strangest and most bizarre of the Peanuts specials. The only one that rivals it in weirdness is probably "Play It Again, CB," but the 'creep factor' in this one makes it a tad worse.
Plot In a Nutshell: Charlie Brown becomes obsessed with a girl he sees for all of two seconds on TV, and enlists Linus to help him track her down so that he can profess his undying love. To a total stranger. That he saw on TV for two seconds. Yes, two seconds. Good grief, Charlie Brown!
This has to be a strong contender for "worst ever Peanuts special," if such an award were given. Somehow Charlie think it's perfectly OK to want to find out where this girl lives and just show up at her door uninvited and say he can't live without her. Linus tries to point out the absurdity of the situation but Charlie is having none of it, so he reluctantly agrees to help on this fool's errand. Woodstock and Snoopy tag along providing most of the levity in this one, what there is of it. (BTW this girl he saw on TV is NOT the "little red-haired girl," it's someone else, so one wonders whatever happened to that infatuation.)
It should go without saying that Charlie's obsessiveness is downright disturbing. Listen, pretty much everyone gets a crush on someone else growing up, but it's usually someone you know. Certainly someone you've met. I remember crushing on a girl in my 5th grade class and to this day I still remember the license plate number that was on her mom's car lol. But I knew who she was, we were in class together and in the school play together. Charlie, on the other hand, knows absolutely nothing about this stranger, yet is so smitten and insistent on finding her that his behavior at best can be labeled troubling, and at worst, creepy and irrational.
To top off this uncomfortable episode, Linus does something at the end of the story that seems to be completely out of his character. It left me scratching my head. There is usually enough going on in a Peanuts special to give it redeeming value, but "Someday You'll Find Her" certainly puts that idea to the test. It's really hard to like this one.
3/10. An irrational, obsessed Charlie Brown is not endearing. It's kind of embarrassing. And to think this was nominated for an Emmy! Would I watch again (Y/N)?: I don't think so.
Plot In a Nutshell: Charlie Brown becomes obsessed with a girl he sees for all of two seconds on TV, and enlists Linus to help him track her down so that he can profess his undying love. To a total stranger. That he saw on TV for two seconds. Yes, two seconds. Good grief, Charlie Brown!
This has to be a strong contender for "worst ever Peanuts special," if such an award were given. Somehow Charlie think it's perfectly OK to want to find out where this girl lives and just show up at her door uninvited and say he can't live without her. Linus tries to point out the absurdity of the situation but Charlie is having none of it, so he reluctantly agrees to help on this fool's errand. Woodstock and Snoopy tag along providing most of the levity in this one, what there is of it. (BTW this girl he saw on TV is NOT the "little red-haired girl," it's someone else, so one wonders whatever happened to that infatuation.)
It should go without saying that Charlie's obsessiveness is downright disturbing. Listen, pretty much everyone gets a crush on someone else growing up, but it's usually someone you know. Certainly someone you've met. I remember crushing on a girl in my 5th grade class and to this day I still remember the license plate number that was on her mom's car lol. But I knew who she was, we were in class together and in the school play together. Charlie, on the other hand, knows absolutely nothing about this stranger, yet is so smitten and insistent on finding her that his behavior at best can be labeled troubling, and at worst, creepy and irrational.
To top off this uncomfortable episode, Linus does something at the end of the story that seems to be completely out of his character. It left me scratching my head. There is usually enough going on in a Peanuts special to give it redeeming value, but "Someday You'll Find Her" certainly puts that idea to the test. It's really hard to like this one.
3/10. An irrational, obsessed Charlie Brown is not endearing. It's kind of embarrassing. And to think this was nominated for an Emmy! Would I watch again (Y/N)?: I don't think so.
Too repetitive
nickfan-253337 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is probably my least favorite Charlie Brown special. It's repetitive, the story isn't all that interesting, and it's not all that funny at all, and this is on the Emmy Nominated DVD. Charlie Brown and Linus wander around town looking for a girl Charlie Brown has an instant crush on, after seeing here on TV during a 2 second Honey Shot in a football game. After a while things is just repeating itself, and Charlie Brown becomes very annoying due to saying some of the same lines over and over again.
Oh Dear
voiceontheleft24 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I love Peanuts, and this is a well-written special from 1981, but oh my has it not aged well at all. Honestly, I'm not even sure how well it played then. In 2021, it's pretty creepy. Charlie Brown sees a little girl on TV while watching a baseball game and immediately "falls in love." So far, ok. It's Charlie Brown. But then he enlists the help of Linus to find her-going to city hall to get the address of people in that row and then going to the houses of several little girls, where Charlie Brown, as usual too nervous to talk to girls, sends Linus to screen them. It's Emmy nominated, so I guess the gender politics of it didn't really bother anyone at the time, but I was a kid in 1981, and I'm pretty sure that, even then, I knew it was creepy to track down a stranger to tell them you love them.
I normally bristle at the idea of judging older shoes by contemporary social norms, but this is a rare exception: a better title may have been "You're a Stalker, Charlie Brown." Fine for adults nostalgic for their Peanuts fix, but if you're going to watch this with young children, you might want to follow it up with a conversation.
I normally bristle at the idea of judging older shoes by contemporary social norms, but this is a rare exception: a better title may have been "You're a Stalker, Charlie Brown." Fine for adults nostalgic for their Peanuts fix, but if you're going to watch this with young children, you might want to follow it up with a conversation.
What the hell is wrong with you, Charlie Brown
millerowen8 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This special is kinda frustrating for most of it. And Charlie Brown searching for a girl he saw on TV for two seconds is kinda just too far. As with what happens in the end I felt like they were just trying too hard and it ends up becoming mean-spirited for old Chuck even though he doesn't the good ending in this situation. Just kinda depressing and not really funny at all.
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