Peanuts specials. This came after Coca-Cola asked Mendelson if he had a Christmas special. He said "yes." The next day he called Schulz up and said they were making "A Charlie Brown Christmas". The animated version of "Peanuts" differs in some aspects from the strip. In the strip, adult voices are heard, though conversations are usually only depicted from the children's end. To translate this aspect to the animated medium, the sound of a trombone with a solotone mute (created by Vince Guaraldi played by Dean Hubbard) was used to simulate adult "voices." A more significant deviation from the strip was
Christmas Special (30 Rock) Canning gave the episode a 7.8 out of 10 rating. Jeremy Medina for "Paste" found that there was nothing "special" about this episode. In his opinion, Liz should be featured in "new and exciting plot line[s]" rather than helping Jack endure his troubles with his mother. Not all reviews were negative; Bob Sassone of AOL's TV Squad wrote: "I'm a sucker for Christmas episodes." He was complimentary towards Stritch's role as Jack's mother, citing that she has been "demanding and a little difficult, but she also makes you really feel for her." Christmas Special (30 Rock) "Christmas Special" is the