“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is a Halloween staple for generations of viewers. But it won’t be the same this time around.
The beloved annual Halloween special premiered on CBS in 1966, one year after the popular Peanuts crew starred in another holiday favorite, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The Halloween special moved to ABC in 2001.
But public outrage ensued when ”It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and the other Peanuts holiday specials were moved to Apple TV+ as part of a corporate deal in 2020. A sense of normalcy was reached in 2021 when the special was aired on PBS.
There was hope for the special to stay on public TV, but PBS said in a tweet Sept. 29 that it didn’t have the rights to distribute any Peanuts specials this year.
“We’ll all have to watch for the Great Pumpkin in a different pumpkin patch this Halloween,” PBS said.
Streaming will be the only way to watch the special, which is available to Apple TV+ subscribers anytime. You won’t need a subscription to watch it, however. Apple TV+ will make ”It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” free to stream Oct. 28-31.
The arrangement will be the same for two other holiday classics, with “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” free Nov. 23-27 and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” free Dec. 22-25.
Read more at usatoday.com.
