The word “iconic” gets bandied about too much, thus diminishing its power. (See also: “awesome” and “brilliant”.) But I do believe it is a fair usage to state that the buoyant tunes jazz pianist Vincent Guaraldi composed for the original Peanuts TV specials are iconic pieces of music. Especially the song, “Linus and Lucy.” Go ahead, I’ll wait three minutes while you have a listen. It’s no surprise that such a great song is in high demand for licensing. It’s even less surprising that this current government used the song without securing a licensing agreement ahead of time. So last month the owners of Guaraldi’s catalog sued the government (and three other companies in separate lawsuits) over misuse.
Stephen Colbert reported on these lawsuits during his last ever Meanwhile… segment on the last ever episode of The Late Show. (Sidenote: I hope Stephen has gotten some sleep since the show ended, but I haven’t and I MISS HIM.) Well, in that segment, Stephen and The Late Show Band cleverly played “Linus and Lucy” without permission so that CBS would be on the hook for a big payment. Excellent, no notes (music pun!). Now, weeks later, CBS and Guaraldi’s catalog owners confirmed they worked out a deal where the fee is being donated to the World Central Kitchen. It’s the Great Donation, Charlie Brown!
Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc. (LMFP), which owns the rights to Guaraldi’s television and film catalog, confirmed the news in a statement shared with Rolling Stone. LMFP will donate the proceeds from the agreement to the World Central Kitchen, the non-profit founded by star chef José Andrés, which provides food relief in conflict zones and during humanitarian crises.
The exact sum of the fee/donation was not revealed. But it will be the second donation to the World Central Kitchen to emerge from the end of The Late Show: On the penultimate episode, Colbert presented the non-profit with $2.5 million on behalf of the outgoing late-night institution.
Colbert foisted this good deed upon his now-ex employer during an installment of his “Meanwhile…” segment on The Late Show finale. After noting that LMFP had recently filed several lawsuits over unauthorized uses of Guaraldi’s music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other Peanuts TV specials, Colbert looked straight in the camera and said, “Peanuts is a powerful brand and corporation in and of itself. Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose…”
As he was speaking, The Late Show band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine, started playing “Linus and Lucy.” Asking his bandleader if they were, in fact, playing the same music he “just said people were being sued for,” Cato gleefully replied, “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing,” as the band played on.
“Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money,” Colbert deadpanned.
Though definitely unauthorized, LMFP chairman Jason Mendelson said in a statement that the company found Colbert’s use of “Linus and Lucy” “funny and entertaining.” He added that they were “proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission,” and said, “A principal goal of our enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and government entities about the need to obtain written license agreements to use music in a commercial setting.”
Aw, I love Mendelson playing this whole episode off as a teaching moment. Fat chance at teaching this president anything, but the sentiment is endearingly earnest. But I do find it curious that no party is announcing the final figure agreed upon. Usually when a big corporation is forced into makes a noteworthy donation to charity, they at least like to put the figure out there for some good PR. I hope this doesn’t mean Mendelson settled for too little! So much goes into these negotiations, from considering the artist to length of time to which specific song to where in the project the music is featured. Marc Maron revealed last year that he paid $50,000 to use 1 minute of Taylor Swift’s song “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” in his HBO special, Marc Maron: Panicked. Louis Cato and the band played “Linus and Lucy” for much less than a minute, but then the series finale of The Late Show probably drew a bigger audience, right? Again, I just hope the donation amount was respectful of both Vincent Guaraldi and World Central Kitchen.
Of course the real winner here is Stephen Colbert, who laid a trap for CBS that resulted in World Central Kitchen getting some dough. Have I mentioned that I MISS HIM??
What a way too end his show, absolutely brilliant imo 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I love everything about this, the man and his team are masters.
Stephen Colbert is a national treasure and a ray of light in these impossibly dark times. I miss him terribly but I’m so excited to see what he does next.
I read about this the day after it aired but I imagined they would pass over it in silence as it was so deftly baited as to make their reaction inevitably appear ham-fisted and graspy. But, no!!!! LOL. Donating the money is purest genius.
It was so good watching Stephen Colbert show CBS who the real master is.
And it’s great that the donation was made to WCK, who, with their founder José Andrés, are among a handful of today’s real heros.
Fingers crossed that the well-earned vacation that the Colberts are taking right now will result in something new rather sooner than later that we all can enjoy.
That moment in his final show was *chef’s kiss.
Colbert’s show on Monroe Michigan’s public access channel the day after his last CBS show was perfection. It was like seeing the old Comedy Central Stephen. (The old Colbert Report was my comfort food.) A single small room, Jack White as his disaffected music leader with a boom box and a reel-to-reel. There was an Eminem cameo and they took hammers to the set and set it ablaze in a dumpster at the end. It was a proper bookend, that’s how he started at CBS, doing a show on the public access channel in Monroe with Eminem as his guest.
I just love his intelligent and classy comedy.
Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my all time favourite albums EVER! Happy I can still start playing it the 25th of November every year in good faith
Stephen Colbert is a classy act and his TV station did him dirty. F. Scott Fitzgerald said there were no second acts in American lives. But I think Stephen will disprove that. He deserves every success. Have a nice vacay with your wife!
That was perfection!!!