This Is America, Charlie Brown, on CBS
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This 8 episode series aired in 1988-89. I don't remember for sure, but I think I probably saw at least some of it, at the time. And I'm writing this review upon watching it on DVD in 2018. (Coincidentally, this is the year that Childish Gambino released the song and video "This Is America," which is much darker- and therefore more realistic- than this series. Of course the two things are totally unrelated, but I felt like mentioning it because of the similar title. And I kind of wish there were a relationship between them.)

The Mayflower Voyagers
This episode tells the story of the Pilgrims, who left England aboard the Mayflower in September 1620. (Pilgrim versions of the Peanuts gang were among the passengers.) It shows how hard the voyage was, until finally reaching land in November. And of course, even after that, life was hard. About half the settlers died, and the survivors had a hard winter. (Incidentally, the episode mentions the captain of the Mayflower was Christopher Jones. But later in the episode, the leader of the Plymouth colony was mentioned as Myles Standish, who I think they called "captain," at which point Jones wasn't mentioned again. Maybe I misheard, though.) Um... in the spring of 1621, a couple of different Indians (i.e., Native Americans) are mentioned. The first was Samoset, who later introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto, and then a chief named Massasoit. And the episode ends with Thanksgiving in fall 1621. ...I have to suppose that the episode cleans up real history considerably, making everything seem quite friendly between the Pilgrims and Indians. But... I imagine the target age group were too young for the real history. And it's a nice thought, anyway. But otherwise, I found it a bit boring. Like being back in grade school, with a few bits of Peanuts-ish humor thrown in amidst the history lesson. (Which weren't all that funny, and seemed out of place.)

The Birth of the Constitution
This episode is set in 1787, when a convention was held with delegates from the thirteen states to try to work out a Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation. We see a bit of the delegates arguing over various points, all of which seemed fairly dry, to me, and which provided relatively little depth. Linus is present, observing all the debates, and tries to explain what's being discussed to his friends. Meanwhile, the rest of the Peanuts gang all have their own jobs to take care of during the convention. Also, Charlie Brown invents the basic concepts of baseball, basketball, and football. I thought the episode was more amusing than the first one. And while the long term stakes may have been higher, the immediate stakes seemed considerably less dire. Still not a really great episode, especially if you actually want to learn much about history. But it was okay.

The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk
The episode begins with a brief lesson on various attempts at flight throughout history. Then, in December 1903, Linus goes to Kitty Hawk, N.C., to spend the holidays with his cousin Dolly, and Charlie Brown goes with him. Dolly tells them about Orville and Wilbur Wright's attempts at flying over the past few years. Later, she introduces them to the Wright brothers and their assistants, Peppermint Patty and Marcie. The kids all watch the first successful flights. Meanwhile, Woodstock helps Snoopy with his own attempts at flight. (He fails, but I'm sure someday he'll make a great flying ace.) Anyway, it was a fairly enjoyable episode, with a decent bit of history.

The NASA Space Station
This episode was set partly in the present (i.e., 1988), and partly in the 1990s (sort of). It begins with Charlie Brown and Linus talking about a school competition to build models of a space station. The night before the exhibition, Linus dreams that he and his friends are members of the crew on the space station for 90 days. (It was based on the design for Freedom, which at the time this episode aired, was planned for a mid-90s launch, but in reality was never built. However, the project eventually evolved into the International Space Station.) The mission commander is Lucy, and aside from Linus, the crew includes Charlie Brown, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Franklin, Pig-Pen, and Snoopy. (Woodstock is also there, as a test animal.) There's also a reporter back on Earth who interviews them, and the crew also talks with Mission Control. At one point, a solar panel is damaged, and Charlie Brown and Snoopy go out in space suits to fix it. And... I dunno what else to say. It wasn't particularly about America, and it certainly wasn't about history. But it was at least fairly amusing. (Probably my favorite bit was when Peppermint Patty sang Daisy Bell, which I'm sure was a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though as of the time I watched this in July 2018, I still haven't seen that movie.) There's also one point where characters mention various historical events, and I found it interesting that one of them was the Mayflower voyage (which was the first episode in this series), and another was the Transcontinental Railroad, which would be the next episode after this one. (They also mentioned Lewis & Clark's expedition, which isn't a part of this series.) And in the end, Linus wakes up and we get to see the results of the model competition the next day.

The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad
Coming soon.

The Great Inventors
The Smithsonian and the Presidency
The Music and Heroes of America