Bad news for traditionalists: Apple TV+ and PBS have confirmed that
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts holiday specials will not be airing on PBS or another over-the-air broadcast television station this year.
Instead, in 2022, the Apple TV+ streaming service will make the three big Peanuts holiday specials available to view for free without a subscription for a limited period around each holiday, as follows:
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - October 28 - 31, 2022 (Friday - Monday)
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - November 23 - 27, 2022 (Wednesday - Sunday)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas - December 22 - 25, 2022 (Thursday - Sunday)
To stream the specials for free, you don't need an Apple device. The Apple TV+ app is also available for a variety of streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon Fire, and on a variety of different smart TV brands. You can also watch using a web browser on any device by going to
tv.apple.com . See
this Apple support page for a more detailed list of supported devices and how to watch.
You will not need to subscribe to Apple TV+, but you will need to either have or create an Apple ID to sign in and watch. (Apple fails to mention this in their instructions, below.)
(If you're already an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can watch the specials at any time, on any day.)
In addition to the links above, Apple provided this graphic (click to show larger):
This is not the first time that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving haven't been seen on broadcast TV - Great Pumpkin didn't air in 2020, and Thanksgiving failed to make it to TV screens a few times over the past decades.
But unless something changes - and right now there's no indication that it will - this will be the first time since its original broadcast in 1965 that A Charlie Brown Christmas will not have an over-the-air television broadcast.
The three holiday specials remain available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray as an alternative.
Meanwhile, Apple TV+ also announced additional Peanuts content that's coming to the subscription streaming service in December.
First, two additional classic Peanuts holiday specials will finally be available on Apple TV+: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales will be added to the service on December 2, 2022.
They will be joining A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, meaning that all four classic Peanuts Christmas specials will be available on Apple TV+.
Also on December 2, 2022, Apple TV+ will premiere a new Christmas-themed episode of The Snoopy Show. According to Apple TV+: In “Happiness Is the Gift of Giving,” Snoopy adapts a Christmas poem to help Sally sleep, Charlie Brown makes gifts for his pals and Snoopy finds waiting to open his presents a challenge.
For more information about Apple TV+, including how to watch and subscribe, visit
tv.apple.com and
this Apple support page.
