and here's Linus' first appearance almost 2 years later:
I will never forget how wonderfully shocked I was when I saw this film as a fifth grader, when it first appeared. The cynical, almost nihilistic dialog, combined with the avant-garde musical score, left me more and more depressed as the show went on. “What, I thought this was supposed to be funny?” And then, just when it couldn’t get more depressing, Linus’ reading hit me like a ton of bricks. Even back then it was shocking to hear scripture on TV. Wow.
The light is still with us, and the darkness has never mastered it!
Merry Christmas to one and all!
and here's Linus' first appearance almost 2 years later: