When we think of occasions that inspire seasonal TV specials, holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter come to mind. Few outside the Beltway would envision a special about Election Day, but we got that via 1972’s You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

The eighth Peanuts special, Elected offers a mild satire of politics as Linus (voiced by Stephen Shea) runs for class president. With Lucy (Robin Kohn) as his campaign manager and Charlie Brown (Chad Webber), Snoopy and Woodstock as assistants, wackiness ensues.

Though not a classic, Elected nonetheless holds up fairly well on its own. The program deftly and subtly looks at the silliness of the electoral process and can become amusing and entertaining.

Elected suffers a little from some cast members, especially due to the absence of original Charlie Brown Peter Robbins. I thought he created the definitive CB, and none of his successors ever felt quite as good. Webber does okay, but he fails to become a great follow-up to Robbins.

On the other hand, Shea provides a very good Linus, especially since he brings a little edge to Linus that the character needs. Shea adds a cool imperious tone to Linus’ campaign speech and his subsequent rantings.

Maybe my favorite moment comes from Linus’ radio call-in show. Even 53 years ago, those programs suffered from the same problems that hamper modern broadcasts, and Elected highlights these.

We get all the rambling idiots without anything coherent to say and even the ubiquitous “first-time caller, long-time listener” bit appears. I didn’t realize that was already a cliché in 1972!

One other surprise comes from the insanely anthropomorphic bent given to Snoopy. I didn’t realize Peanuts had made him such a human-oriented dog already by 1972.

This Snoopy cooks a big breakfast and makes bag lunches for CB and Sally. The show even turns him into a wannabe student, though at least it stops short of making him a true academic sort.

As we see, Snoopy can’t write anything more than a paw print. It seems like a goofy trend but not one that harms the show.

Overall, Elected works pretty well. One might expect it to feel dated since it came before the 1972 election, but that doesn’t happen. It focuses on the timeless aspects of electoral nonsense and amuses along the way.

You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No problems emerged in this satisfying transfer.

Sharpness appeared clear and crisp. No obvious instances of softness emerged, as the show remained accurate and concise.

Moiré effects and jagged edges did not present problems, and the image lacked edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent.

Colors became strong and pleasing, with nicely replicated hues throughout the show. The disc reproduced the lively natural palette cleanly and accurately.

Black levels also looked deep and rich, and shadow detail was just fine. Especially given its status as a TV special from 53 years ago, this turned into a strong visual presentation.

Although I expected the Blu-ray to provide the program’s original monaural audio, it came with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix. Don’t expect it to reinvent any wheels, however.

Indeed, I initially questioned whether or not Elected delivered anything beyond a mono track that simply used the front left and right speakers. Two-channel monaural can sometimes create a false impression of stereo presence and I thought that might become the case here.

Nope! My received indicated full 5.1 utilization, though I would feel hard-pressed to point out anything that actually made use of those possibilities.

As it stood, music displayed vague stereo spread across the front and also minor reinforcement in the rear. Effects fared similarly, as they created a little engagement in the forward spectrum along with modest activity in the back such as when a crowd cheered.

This became such a subdued 5.1 soundscape that I wondered why anyone bothered. The mix stayed close to monaural and Elected didn’t exactly offer an action extravaganza, so while inoffensive, the remix felt pointless.

At least quality held up fine over the last 53 years. Dialogue sounded clear and crisp, with no edginess or dull qualities.

Effects lacked much to do but seemed acceptably clean and accurate. Vince Guaraldi's music felt lively enough. The overall production showed some thinness commonly found in recordings of the era, but I found it to provide a perfectly decent auditory presentation.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 2008? As noted, the 5.1 remix didn’t do much to create a substantial soundfield, but this reworking didn’t do any harm, and the lossless audio felt a bit warmer than the prior disc’s lossy track.

Visuals enjoyed a nice boost, as the Blu-ray seemed cleaner, better defined and more vivid than the DVD. While the latter looked decent, the BD clearly acted as an upgrade.

No extras appear attached to Elected, but I didn’t expect any because it comes to us via a package called Peanuts Ultimate TV Specials. It includes a total of 40 Peanuts shows.

As such, I didn’t expect bonus features for Elected so I didn’t give this set a grade for these elements. We do find a booklet that offers brief plot synopses for 21 of the 40 shows along with quick bios for 11 of the characters.

Maybe the first children’s special to address presidential campaigns – and still one of the few, I’d bet – 1972’s You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown holds up well. After 53 years and 14 presidential elections, it remains relevant and amusing. The Blu-ray presents excellent picture and perfectly adequate audio. This becomes one of the better Peanuts programs.