Anyone Can Watch ‘It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ For Free On Apple TV+

For decades (with one exception) classic Peanuts holiday specials played on broadcast tv, and anyone with an antenna and a set could look forward to catching up with Charlie Brown and the gang each Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

That will not be the case in 2022, as Apple TV+’s partnership with PBS which allowed the public broadcaster to air the specials in 2021 has not been renewed. This will be only the second time since the Halloween special released 56 years ago that The Great Pumpkin won’t be broadcast on tv. The last time was in 2020, when Apple similarly held the exclusive rights.

Great Pumpkin premiered on CBS in 1966 and played on that network each year for decades before moving to ABC at the turn of the century. In 2018, Apple bought the rights to all of the Peanuts specials.

Those looking to see the holiday favorite don’t have to pay a nickel to Apple TV+, however. The streamer is making It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, as well as A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas, free to non-subscribers for a limited time this year.

Here are the free viewing windows for the three specials:

• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – October 28 – 31
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving November 23 – 27
• A Charlie Brown Christmas – December 22 – 25

Viewers will be able to stream the specials at tv.apple.com or through the Apple TV app on any eligible video streaming device.

The specials are available to Apple TV+ subscribers year-round. Apple also announced that two other Peanuts specials, I Want a Dog for Christmas (2003) and Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales (2002), will be added to the platform for the first time on December 2.