A Charlie Brown Christmas airs Sunday, December 19, 2021 on PBS & other TV news

The perennial holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas will be broadcast from 7:30 - 8:00 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Sunday, December 19, 2021 on PBS and PBS KIDS stations across the country. Check your local station's listings to confirm the time.

This is the second year the show has been shown on PBS, in addition to streaming on the subscription service Apple TV+.

Unlike last year, there will be no free streaming period on Apple TV+ for non-subscribers, and the special remains unavailable to watch or rent on other streaming services.  (A widely circulated Associated Press article from a couple of weeks ago claiming there would be a free streaming period in 2021 was incorrect.)

If you prefer not to wait for the broadcast, subscribers can view A Charlie Brown Christmas at any time on Apple TV+, and is still available on DVD or Blu-ray.

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The 1992 show It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown will premiere on Apple TV+ starting Friday, December 3, 2021.  No over-the-air television broadcast of it is scheduled for 2021. You need to subscribe to Apple TV+ or get it on DVD to watch it; it remains unavailable to watch or rent on other streaming services.

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Finally, you can watch a trailer on YouTube for the upcoming new Peanuts special, now referred to as Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne.  It will premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 10, 2021.

A classic Peanuts Christmas countdown on FiveCentsPlease.org for 2021

Ho ho ho!  FiveCentsPlease.org's annual tradition of counting down the days to Christmas with the Peanuts gang returns on Friday, November 26.

Our home page will feature a different seasonally themed comic each day through December 25.

Alas, new Christmas countdown panels are no longer being made, but once again we have reached into our expanded archives to bring you the 1993 panels, unseen (as far as we know) since their original run nearly 30 years ago.

(Research efforts last year by FiveCentsPlease.org co-host Derrick Bang uncovered 12 years of previously lost countdown panels... 1993 being one of them. You can read all about his hunt in his blog post.)

Unfortunately, the sources for these panels weren't high quality and required a fair bit of cleanup, so they aren't as crisp or detailed as the panels from the late 1990's and 2000's.

But we hope you'll still find them as charming as we do, and visit our home page each day to enjoy these panels as the holiday approaches!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving airs Sunday, November 21, 2021 on PBS

The traditional turkey-day Peanuts special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be broadcast from 7:30 - 8:00 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Sunday, November 21, 2021 on PBS and PBS KIDS stations across the country. Check your local station's listings to confirm the time.

This is the second year the show has been shown on PBS, in addition to streaming on the subscription service Apple TV+. 

Unlike last year, there will be no free streaming period on Apple TV+ for non-subscribers, and the special remains unavailable to watch or rent on other streaming services.

If you prefer not to wait for the broadcast, subscribers can view A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving at any time on Apple TV+, and is still available on DVD or Blu-ray.

Snoopy in Space Season 2 now streaming on Apple TV+

A new 12-episode season of Snoopy in Space is now available to watch on the subscription streaming service Apple TV+.  Titled Snoopy in Space: The Search for Life, Apple describes this season as follows:

Join Snoopy on an epic interstellar road trip as our intrepid beagle tackles one of the most compelling mysteries of humankind: is there life out there in the universe? Snoopy and his friends bring NASA’s most exciting current research to life, from searching for traces of ice and ancient fossils on Mars, to drilling into oceans hidden inside of distant moons, and even seeking out exoplanets far beyond our own solar system. Of course, like any good road trip, Snoopy and Woodstock’s journey includes lots of extra adventures along the way, plus plenty of support from Charlie Brown, Franklin, Marcie, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang back at Johnson Space Center. Let the adventure begin!

You can watch the trailer for the new season here, and read the full press release here.  The episodes premiered on November 12, 2021.

As part of the season 2 launch, Apple has released a 6-minute video titled "DIY Snoopy Space Lab," with instructions for three space-themed activities for kids - making galaxy slime, building a satellite, and creating moon sand.  Watch it on YouTube here.

Other Peanuts shows available solely on Apple TV+ include the first season of Snoopy in Space; the first season of The Snoopy Show; several of the classic Peanuts holiday television specials; the documentary Who Are You, Charlie Brown?, and the upcoming new special For Auld Lang Syne.

For information on how to watch and subscribe to Apple TV+, visit tv.apple.com and this Apple support page.

Time for Macy's 95th Annual Thanksgiving Parade

Snoopy is back again!

 

Save the date!

 

New Yorkers and visitors once again will be able to enjoy the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in person. After nearly two years of intense social distancing, we’ve no doubt this will be one of the best-attended parades ever.

 

The balloon(s) will go up — literally! — on November 25th. Folks not able to attend the 95th annual Macy’s Parade in person, can watch all the fun from 9 a.m. to noon, all time zones, on NBC-TV.

Astronaut Snoopy will return for the third consecutive year, continuing the world-famous beagle’s record as the longest-running balloon character in the parade.  Snoopy is delighted to know his ground crew will be back, because being driven by a utility vehicle — last year, due to Covid restrictions — was simply not the same.

It's the Great Pumpkin airs October 24 on PBS; Snoopy in Space Season 2 premieres November 12, 2021

Just a reminder that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs this weekend on Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:30 PM (Eastern/Pacific time) on most PBS and PBS Kids television stations across the country.  Check your local station's listings to confirm the broadcast time.

The Halloween special is also available to Apple TV+ subscribers to view at any time (there is no free streaming period for non-subscriber this year).

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Meanwhile, this week Apple released a trailer and full details for Season 2 of the Apple TV+ exclusive series Snoopy in Space.  Titled Snoopy in Space: The Search for Life, all 12 episodes will premiere November 12, 2021 on the subscription streaming service.  Watch the trailer here and read the full press release here!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to air on PBS on Sunday, October 24, 2021

The classic Halloween Peanuts special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will return to broadcast television this year. PBS and Apple have announced that It's the Great Pumpkin will air from 7:30 - 8:00 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Sunday, October 24, 2021 on PBS and PBS KIDS stations across the country. Check your local station's listings to confirm.

The show didn't air on television last year, due to the changeover of the Peanuts specials to become Apple TV+ exclusives, so it's great that it will return to free, broadcast television this year.

PBS and Apple also announced that A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas will likewise air on PBS and PBS KIDS this year (as they did last year), on Sunday, November 21 and Sunday, December 19, respectively.

Unlike last year, there will be no free streaming period on Apple TV+ for non-subscribers for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown or the other two Peanuts holiday specials this year. And the specials remain unavailable to stream or rent from other streaming services.

If you prefer not to wait for the broadcast, all three holiday specials are available to watch at any time on Apple TV+ for subscribers, and are also still available on DVD or Blu-ray.

Apple TV+ announces new Peanuts special For Auld Lang Syne to premiere December 10, 2021

Apple and WildBrain have announced that a new, original New Year's-themed Peanuts special will debut December 10, 2021 on the subscription streaming service Apple TV+.

The plot of the special, titled simply For Auld Lang Syne, is described in the press release as: "after the Peanuts gang experience a disappointing Christmas because Grandma can't visit, Lucy resolves to throw herself the best New Year's Eve party ever, while Charlie Brown struggles to accomplish just one of his resolutions before the clock strikes twelve."

(It seems like a poorly conceived break with tradition that the title of the show includes nothing to brand it as a Peanuts special.)

The new special will join a handful of the classic Peanuts television specials - including the original Happy New Year, Charlie Brown from 1986 - as well as the new series Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show, as exclusives to the Apple TV+ streaming service.

For information on how to watch and subscribe to Apple TV+, visit tv.apple.com and this Apple support page.

Take Care with Peanuts

Peanuts Worldwide has kept an oddly low profile with one of its more admirable campaigns: one of the best uses of our beloved characters in decades.

 

The “Take Care with Peanuts” initiative is a global, multi-year enterprise that encourages everyone to “take care” — of themselves, each other, and the Earth. The initiative draws on the themes of wellness, community and environmental engagement found throughout Charles M. Schulz’s revered comic strip; the ongoing campaign includes philanthropic outreach, social messaging, and educational activities. 

 

Children and communities are at the heart of each message. As part of the campaign, new 60-second social media messages have been produced, one released each month, each centered around a different theme to remind us to press “Pause” in order to appreciate ourselves, those around us, and this place — Earth — that we all call home.

 

Each video focuses on one of three vital messages: Take Care of Yourself (physical and mental wellness); Take Care of Each Other (community and philanthropy); and Take Care of the Earth (nature and sustainability). The goal is to help inspire a major worldwide philanthropic movement, via social messaging and educational activities.

Each video message is available in 10 different languages.

 

The campaign’s official Peanuts.com page is woefully insubstantial, and doesn’t even include links to the various videos. They’re easy to find via a YouTube search, such as this one.

 

Although Peanuts Worldwide has made zero effort to publicize other sorts of activities, we can report on a fabulous “Take Care with Peanuts” campaign taking place in Hong Kong, where it has partnered with the Singaporean-style restaurant chain Dignity Kitchen. The company, based in Singapore, is a social enterprise business with the goal of helping the under-privileged. 

 

Outlets go out of their way to hire special-needs employees. Diners can leave messages on a “Caring Tree,” via heart-shaped stickers. Pay-it-forward food coupons — $50HK (about $6.40 U.S.) — can be purchased and pinned to a board, where they’re available to be redeemed for free meals by food-challenged individuals.

Isn’t this way cool? Compassionate, charitable, selfless and public-spirited?

 

We sure could use a little of that, here in the States…

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New episodes of The Snoopy Show arrive July 9, 2021 on Apple TV+

 Get ready for more adventures with Snoopy, his bird pals, and the rest of the Peanuts gang - Apple has announced that new episodes of The Snoopy Show will premiere Friday, July 9, 2021 on the subscription streaming service Apple TV+.

The new batch will add seven more episodes of the kid-oriented show based on the characters from Charles M. Schulz's comic strip. Like the first batch of episodes, each will consist of three, seven-minute stories.

For more information about the show, see this earlier blog post.

Apple released two promotional images for the new episodes:

For information on how to watch and subscribe to Apple TV+, visit tv.apple.com and this Apple support page.

New documentary Who Are You, Charlie Brown? premieres June 25, 2021 on Apple TV+

Apple has announced that a new documentary on Charles Schulz and Peanuts, titled Who Are You, Charlie Brown? will premiere Friday, June 25, 2021 on the streaming subscription service Apple TV+ .

You can view the trailer on YouTube.

According the press release:

Narrated by Lupita Nyong’o and hailing from Imagine Documentaries, the special is executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and features interviews with friends, family, cartoonists and famous fans of the comic strip, to create a heartwarming portrait of the late “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz.

Honoring the “everyman” creator, Charles “Sparky” Schulz, “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” celebrates the significance and global multi-generational popularity of the comic strip and its timeless artistry and design to profile the man whose simple characters would touch the lives of millions through the decades and become beloved cultural icons. Featuring interviews with Jean Schulz, the widow of Charles Schulz, along with Drew Barrymore, Al Roker, Kevin Smith, Billie Jean King, Paul Feig, Ira Glass, Noah Schnapp, Miya Cech, Keith L. Williams, Chip Kidd, Lynn Johnston, Robb Armstrong and more, the documentary interweaves a new animated story that follows Charlie Brown on a quest to discover himself.

You can read the full press release here.

Other Peanuts content currently available on Apple TV+ includes the series Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show, plus several of the classic Peanuts holiday specials.

The Apple TV+ streaming service costs $4.99/month or $49.99/year (in the United States) and is ad-free, with a 7-day free trial when you first sign up.

You can watch Apple TV+ shows either by installing the Apple TV+ app on a supported device, or by going to the tv.apple.com website on any computer.

Devices that support AppleTV+ include: Apple devices such as iPad, iPhone, Apple TV set-top boxes, and Macs; Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV streaming devices; select gaming consoles; and select smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Vizio, or Sony. For more information about supported devices and setting Apple TV+ up on them, see this Apple support webpage.

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown premieres on AppleTV+ on March 26, 2021

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will premiere on the Apple TV+ subscription streaming service on Friday, March 26, 2021.

No over-the-air television broadcast of Easter Beagle is scheduled for 2021, and there's no free viewing period like there was for the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials... it's only available to Apple TV+ subscribers.  (Although you can always watch or get it on DVD, too.)

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown come to Blu-ray on May 18, 2021 in The Snoopy 4-Movie Collection

Paramount Home Media has announced that on May 18, 2021 they will release The Snoopy 4-Movie Collection on Blu-ray, containing all four classic Peanuts theatrical movies:

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)

Snoopy, Come Home (1972)

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980)

This will be the first time Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown have been released in high definition on Blu-ray discs. (A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home were released as individual Blu-rays a few years ago.)

Digital copies of all four movies will also be included.

No separate releases of Race for Your Life or Bon Voyage have been announced - so unfortunately if you want them on Blu-ray (and there are quite a few folks that do), you'll have to get this set and get duplicates of the first two films.

Even more unfortunately, the list price for this set is $44.99 - rather steep, especially considering most fans probably already own the previous two Blu-ray releases.

The set can be pre-ordered from some online retailers already, and no doubt will be listed at all retailers shortly.

The set will consist of four discs, one for each movie.

According to a picture of the back cover found in the Amazon listing for the set, the aspect ratios of the films will be 4:3 for A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home, and 16:9 widescreen for Race for Your Life and Bon Voyage.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home were previously released on Blu-ray in the 4:3 aspect ratio, so it's not surprising they will still be in that format for this new set (Paramount is simply reusing the previous discs). And Race for Your Life and Bon Voyage were released in 16:9 for their DVD releases, and most digital versions of them are also widescreen, so it's not a surprise that widescreen is what we'll get for them.

While you might expect all the movies to be in the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, the animation for all four Peanuts films was originally drawn in 4:3 and widescreen versions of these movies cut off the top and bottom of the image. At least for the first two films, this cropping makes them look quite cramped, so it's good that they will continue to be offered as 4:3 in this new set. While it would be nice to have 4:3 options for the 3rd and 4th films as well, widescreen isn't a bad choice for them and it's probably how most people saw them in the theater.

No bonus features were mentioned in the initial announcemtn, but the image of the back cover lists "Travels with Charlie: The Making of Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" (a featurette that first appeared on the Bon Voyage DVD) and "theatrical trailers."

(Finally, we could gripe about the title Paramount has chosen for this collection... surely they should have included "Peanuts" or "Charlie Brown" in the title - it's not just Snoopy in these movies, after all!)

The Snoopy Show and Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown now streaming on AppleTV+

All six episodes of the new Peanuts animated series The Snoopy Show are now available to stream on the subscription service Apple TV+.  Each episode consists of three, seven-minute stories.  For more details, see our previous blog post.

The Snoopy Show has gotten a fair bit of press, here's a selection of the most interesting news articles:

‘Peanuts’ Steward Jean Schulz on Partnership With Apple TV Plus (Variety)

The Snoopy Show's Mark Evestaff Talks Bringing Peanuts to a New Generation (CBR.com)

Snoopy shines in Apple TV+ series that’s true to its roots (Associated Press)

'The Snoopy Show' on Apple TV+ pulses with the musical jazz of childhood (Mashable)

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Apple has also added the classic 1975 half-hour special Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown to Apple TV+ ; it premiered on the service on February 5, 2021.

There is no over-the-air television broadcast of Be My Valentine in 2021, and there is no free viewing period like there was for the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials, it is only available to Apple TV+ subscribers.