'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' Returns To Airwaves After A Year's Hiatus On Apple TV+

One year after being removed from broadcast television for an exclusive presentation on Apple Inc.’s AAPL Apple TV+ streaming service, the classic television special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will be available this month for free viewing on PBS.

What Happened: Last year, Apple TV+ acquired the broadcast rights to “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and two other seasonal productions featuring the “Peanuts” characters, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” with the plan to make them available exclusively to viewers of its streaming service. The productions were to be offered during brief free viewing windows as a strategy to encourage new subscribers.

However, an outcry arose when news spread that “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” would no longer be available on the public airwaves. The special debuted on CBS in 1966 and moved to ABC in 2001, becoming a staple of the late-October television viewing season.

Related Link: 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About James Bond

What Happened Next: The backlash against the absence of the beloved Halloween offering from broadcast television forced Apple to switch its strategy, and it hastily made “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” available for 2020 viewings on PBS.

This year, all three productions will be seen on both Apple TV+ and public television.

PBS and PBS for Kids will air:

• “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” at 7:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 24
• “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” at 7:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 21
• “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 19.

Photo: Courtesy of Peanuts Worldwide and HarperCollins Publishers.