Few people caught the joy, angst, triumphs, sadness, and disappointments of childhood with the same winning blend of gentle wit, bittersweet warmth, and delicate whimsy as Charles M. Schulz and his beloved Peanuts characters. This Valentine's day special is an excellent example of this: Charlie Brown anxiously waits for a Valentine's day card in the mail from the little red-haired girl and doesn't get any cards from anyone, Linus develops a crush on a teacher, Lucy pines for Schroeder to no avail, and only Snoopy seems to be having any fun playing cupid and making a music box out of red paper. Of course, there are plenty of hearty laughs to be had amid all the touching pathos: Lucy getting covered with mud, water, and garbage while watching a puppet show performed by Snoopy rates as a definite hilarious highlight and the gag with Linus throwing away candies which are secretly eaten by Snoopy and Woodstuck who are hiding behind a bush is simply priceless. Moreover, there's something extremely moving and admirable about Charlie Brown keeping a constant vigil at the mailbox for a Valentine's card that never arrives (naturally, we get a nice pay-off with an amusing closing joke with Snoopy kissing Charlie when he opens the mailbox the day after Valentine's day). And the scene with Schroeder going to bat for Charlie is truly wonderful. Vince Guaraldi's groovy-jammin' jazz score keeps things bubbling along. A real treat.

This is another half-hour Peanuts special and this time it is about Valentine's Day. it actually started nicely with Charlie and Lucy an the mailbox waiting for a valentine's letter, but this is also pretty much where it peaked already. None of the action that followed in the next 25 minutes was really interesting, funny or dramatically relevant. yet, as always, this got nominated for an Emmy Award. No idea why though. Television, especially animated, must have been at a lowpoint 40 years ago. The director is Phil Roman again. He made mane Peanuts short films and the script comes of course from Charles M. Schulz again. Admittedly I may be a bit biased as I have never been too big on the Peanuts, but there are actually episodes that I rated several stars higher, so this Valentine's Day special is not among the best Charlie Brown and the gang have to offer. Not recommended.

No one seems to have a good time or find love in this Peanuts TV special. Charlie gets no Valentine cards, Linus misses out on his opportunity to give chocolates to his favorite teacher and Shroeder vows to never marry Lucy, much to her anger.

It's kinda downbeat for a Valentine's TV special. So much so that kids from all over America sent Charlie Brown a Valentine's card out of sympathy. Which is quite sweet when you think about it. As long as they were all girls.

Still, it's another funny and timeless TV special that you should definitely make the effort of watching if it comes on this Feb 14th. Though it might depress you if you yourself do not receive any Valentine's card.