A Halloween TV tradition will no longer air on network television: “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” is only streaming on Apple TV+ this year. The holiday classic has aired on TV since 1966, first on CBS, then on ABC.
Apple announced it had acquired three Charlie Brown holiday specials in 2020. In addition to streaming “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” Apple TV+ also said it would air new originals featuring the “Peanuts” characters.
PBS was still able to air Charlie Brown specials in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, they ran the Christmas and Thanksgiving shows. Last year, they aired all three.
This year, however, PBS revealed the Halloween special is moving to a different pumpkin patch this year.
“Regretfully, PBS does not have the rights to distribute the Peanuts specials this year,” PBSKids wrote in a tweet. “We’ll all have to watch for the Great Pumpkin in a different pumpkin patch this Halloween.”
Apple is giving nonsubscribers an opportunity to watch the specials for free. Those who don’t subscribe to the Apple TV+ streaming service can watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” from Oct. 28 through Oct. 31.
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” will be available for free from Nov. 23 through Nov. 27, and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will be available for free Dec. 22 through Dec. 25.
Subscribers can access all three specials “now and every day,” Apple said in its press release. Apple had a similar viewing structure for the specials in years past.
