Those waiting for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to pop up on PBS or any other linear TV service this Halloween season will only find a lump of coal (if I may mix holiday metaphors).
PBS, which last year shared custody of the animated holiday classic with Apple TV+, will not do same this fall, it was recently revealed.
“Regretfully, PBS does not have the rights to distribute the Peanuts specials this year,” the broadcaster shared on Twitter in response to a viewer inquiry. “We’ll all have to watch for the Great Pumpkin in a different pumpkin patch this Halloween.”
Apple TV+ claimed dibs on several Peanuts classics, including A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, back in October 2020 — removing them from ABC’s purview for the first time in decades. PBS last year was allowed in on the action, but this fall only Apple TV+ will follow Linus Van Pelt’s quest to meet up with the mythical Great Pumpkin.
That said, Apple TV+ — which typically fetches $4.99 per month after a free seven-day trial — will stream It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for free all Halloween weekend, from Friday, Oct. 28 to Monday, Oct. 31
Similarly, Apple TV+ will stream A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for free from Nov. 23 through Nov. 27, while A Charlie Brown Christmas can be unwrapped for free from Dec. 22 through Dec. 25.
A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on CBS in 1965, and aired on ABC from 2000-2019. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown followed in 1966, also debuting on CBS and moving to ABC in 2001. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving premiered on CBS in 1973 and, like the others, moved to ABC in 2001.
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