Charlie Brown and his gang of friends have embarked on a wide variety of adventures in their numerous television appearances. Perhaps their most well known escapades are their forays into holidays, with Halloween bringing the Great Pumpkin, Christmas bringing the immortal tale of Charlie Brown and a Christmas play, and now Thanksgiving brings A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which, while being the weakest of this quasi-trilogy, is still superb television.

Charlie Brown is planning a quiet Thanksgiving at his Grandmother’s house, but his insistent friend Peppermint Patty invites herself and a bunch of friends over to Charlie’s house for a Thanksgiving dinner. While Charlie can’t cook (he and I do seem to make a mean bowl of cold cereal, though), Snoopy, Woodstock, and Linus plan on helping him pull off this charade and the gang cooks a meal like no other.

While noted that this is the weakest Charlie Brown holiday special, it isn’t intensely inferior to its brethren. On the contrary, in terms of television at large, this is certainly nothing short of astounding, since it’s filled with laughs and introspective thoughts. That being said, it certainly lacks the depth of A Charlie Brown Christmas and even some of the charm of the Great Pumpkin (it doesn’t help that the whole special hinges on one of the weakest Peanuts characters– Peppermint Patty), though there’s still more than plenty to make the special a fantastic half hour.

Perhaps the best thing about this special is the attention given to Snoopy, easily one of the greatest fictional character ever made. An elaborate sequence depicting him setting up the tables and chairs for the big Thanksgiving dinner is humorous in its relatability and its depictions of the bizarre. Snoopy, in both comics and television, is able to walk the fine line between both the mundane and insane brilliantly, and this special showcases such ability impeccably. To boot, the special’s final message (about being grateful for one’s friends) is one that we forget about this time of the year, especially since many stores bypass Thanksgiving altogether in favor of Christmas. Leave it to Charlie Brown and all of his fantastic friends to once again show us some deep meaning behind life, while simultaneously making us endlessly laugh.