In the fifty years of Peanuts' publication, Charles Schulz found daring ways to experiment with the format and elevate his stories beyond their initial simplistic structure. A major change came when Schulz began to implement longer story arcs into his work. At first, narratives were condensed to a single strip, but some had enough comedic potential to be mined for jokes over the course of an entire month.
October 1974 features one such story, starring none other than Lucy van Pelt. During this month, Lucy and Schroeder took center stage, as her one-sided crush on him reached a breaking point, leading to one of the strip's most memorable longer storylines.
For as long as she fawned over him, Schroeder hardly ever paid Lucy any mind, and in the fall of '74, her latest method of winning him over was downright hysterical. Without further ado, here are the 10 funniest Peanuts comics that just turned fifty.
10 Snoopy Decides He Has Finally Had Enough Of Woodstock
First Published: October 27, 1974
Snoopy and Woodstock go golfing together in this first comic strip, and the day begins pleasantly for them both. Woodstock appears to be in a talkative mood, as he chirps away in each panel while Snoopy focuses on the game. This goes on and on, until Snoopy can't take much more of his friend's rambling, at which point Snoopy shoves a golf club covering over Woodstock, silencing the poor bird.
Snoopy and Woodstock's friendship is one for the ages, spanning decades of publication. However, as swimmingly as the two get along, there are times when even the closest friends start to grate on each other. This is one of those times, as Snoopy shuts his pal up so he can to golf in peace.
9 Schroeder Loves His Piano More Than Lucy
First Published: October 1, 1974
This strip kicks off Lucy and Schroeder's hilarious storyline from this month of publication. Lucy is leaning against his piano like she typically does, and she comments on how she isn't as talkative as usual. When she asks Schroeder if he's noticed her uncharacteristic silence, he doesn't respond as he's too engrossed with his piano-playing. This sets Lucy off, and she snaps at him in her trademark loud fashion.
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Lucy's unrequited crush on Schroeder is an endearing staple of her character, though it also brings her worst faults to the surface; her desperation to be noticed by Schroeder often leads to an explosive outburst on her part, and this instance is no different. The irony here, ultimately, is that Lucy ends up talking too much about how she isn't talking too much.
8 Lucy Disposes Of Her Competition For Schroeder's Heart
First Published: October 2, 1974
After being ignored by Schroeder in favor of a piano one too many times, Lucy finally snaps. She's tired of competing with a piano for his affection, so she announces to Schroeder that she's going to steal his piano and toss it into the sewer. She proceeds to do exactly that, swiping his piano and declaring, "It's woman against piano! Woman is winning! Woman is winning!"
Lucy's desperation to be noticed by Schroeder often causes her to lash out, but this is a new extreme for her. Schroeder's love for music is something that Lucy refuses to see for what it is: a hobby he's passionate about. Instead, Lucy decides that it's either her or the piano, and she's resorting to drastic measures to ensure she's the victor.
7 Lucy Throws Schroeder's Piano Down the Sewer
First Published: October 3, 1974
Lucy told Schroeder that she'd throw his piano into the sewer, and she's the type of girl who sticks to her word. Schroeder, naturally, is stunned by this turn of events. He exclaims in bewilderment about what she did, to which Lucy clarifies that she didn't throw his piano into the sewer – she threw her competition.
Readers get a glimpse of Lucy's possessive nature and witness how it's twisted her idea of love. Lucy is known to lack empathy, evidenced by her brutally honest attempts at psychiatry, and she's determined to get her way no matter what. As such, she doesn't take kindly to Schroeder's affections lying elsewhere. His piano isn't his instrument to Lucy; it's merely an obstacle that distracts him from her.
6 Charlie Brown Helps Schroeder Find His Piano
First Published: October 4, 1974
Schroeder isn't going to give up his piano without trying to reach it, and he enlists the help of Charlie Brown in order to do so. He climbs down into the sewer as Charlie Brown repeatedly asks for updates. Schroeder doesn't reply, but after a while, a tune starts to play from deep within the sewer. It seems that Schroeder has found his piano after all, and instead of wasting time making conversation with Charlie Brown, he picks up where he left off by playing a song.
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It's nice to see that Charlie Brown is so eager to help a friend in need, considering how Schroeder and the other members of the Peanuts gang treat him. One of Charlie Brown's saddest traits is his bad luck, which causes his peers to disrespect him. Charlie Brown assisting Schroeder shows that he's a good friend to others, despite them not being the best friends to him.
5 Schroeder's Beloved Piano Meets Its Untimely End
First Published: October 8, 1974
Schroeder's hopes of playing his piano in the sewer are quickly dashed, much to his dismay. A downpour causes him to worry about his piano getting washed out of the sewer, so he and Charlie Brown try to reach it before it's too late. Unfortunately, they arrive at the storm drain when it's already too late, and Schroeder watches in horror as his precious piano pours out of the storm drain.
As a music aficionado, Schroeder's greatest inspiration is Ludwig van Beethoven. He hardly lets a conversation go by without mentioning Beethoven in some capacity, even if the topic has nothing to do with the composer. Schroeder still bringing up Beethoven while his piano plummets out of a storm drain is a true testament to his devotion.
4 Schroeder Orders a New Piano (To Lucy's Dismay)
First Published: October 11, 1974
With Schroeder's piano officially out of commission, he has no choice but to call the piano company for a replacement. Lucy listens in on this call, and the jealousy soon becomes too much for her; consequently, she shouts into the phone, "Take your time on delivery!" Lucy's jealousy over an inanimate object hasn't waned, by the looks of it. Schroeder mentions the bewildering fate of his first piano here, alluding to it being "chewed up by a Kite-Eating Tree".
This refers to the tree that Charlie Brown repeatedly gets kites caught in. Schroeder lost his piano to the infamous tree in a comic strip from January 30, 1969, which makes this the second time he's replaced it. The Kite-Eating Tree's surprising notoriety proves that Schulz' non-human characters in Peanuts are just as memorable as his human ones.
3 Lucy Discovers The Secret To Love
First Published: October 12, 1974
After everything that's taken place between her and Schroeder, Lucy confides in Peppermint Patty about her discoveries relating to love, saying, "the secret to love is removal of the competition." According to her perspective, now that Schroeder's piano is out of the picture, he will eventually love her. Of course, she ends her point with the begrudging admittance that this would take centuries.
It should go without saying that Lucy's perception of love is laughably misguided. She herself has pinpointed the flaw in her logic, which is that she can't force Schroeder to love her by taking away something he loves. Lucy misunderstands love in a way that only a child would, and Schulz excellently portrays this youthful belief.
2 Schroeder's New Piano Gives Snoopy a Dance Floor
First Published: October 22, 1974
Schroeder acquires his brand-new piano at last, but the presence of another character interrupts him while he's breaking it in with a song. As he plays the piano, Snoopy dances on top of it. Schroeder urges him to stop, warning him against scratching it up. This doesn't phase Snoopy, who resumes his dancing and thinks, "How about a distressed finish?" His reply puts a clever spin on scratching up Schroeder's piano, illustrating Snoopy's human-like intelligence.
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What really nails the comedy of this strip is Snoopy's gleeful indifference to Schroeder's wishes. Snoopy has evolved to be smarter than the average dog and therefore understands the wishes of the humans that interact with him, so when he ignores them to do his own thing, it's intentional. Snoopy does what Snoopy wants!
1 Lucy and Schroeder Are Back To Square One
First Published: October 23, 1974
This strip closes out the storyline, as things return to normal for Schroeder and Lucy. He's back to playing his piano, whereas she's back to getting on his nerves. Lucy sets her glass of lemonade on the surface of his new piano, and when she teases him for being bothered by this, he yanks the piano out from under her. Clearly, Schroeder isn't entertaining Lucy's antics anymore after her last outburst.
Lucy and Schroeder's status quo is fully restored at this point, and it is clear Schroeder will always choose his piano over Lucy, no matter how hard she tries to vie for his attention. It doesn't look like Lucy has learned her lesson about trying to force love, but at least this wacky Peanuts saga is still making readers laugh fifty years later.
Peanuts
Created by Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts is a multimedia franchise that began as a comic strip in the 1950s and eventually expanded to include films and a television series. Peanuts follows the daily adventures of the Peanuts gang, with Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy at the center of them. Aside from the film released in 2015, the franchise also has several Holiday specials that air regularly on U.S. Television during their appropriate seasons.
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