'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' Will Air On Television This Year As PBS Saves The Holiday

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is one of those classics that families enjoy watching to this day as they gather to celebrate the holiday. But when It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown didn't air on television for Halloween last year, it was revealed that Apple TV+ had secured the exclusive rights to the Peanuts holiday movies following a deal with Peanuts Worldwide and Lee Mendelson Film Productions. After much criticism, the streaming platform provided a three-day window for people to watch the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials for free but that's not the same as watching the special as we used to. Even this year, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving wasn't slated to be aired on television but Apple partnered with PBS to save Thanksgiving. Yes, it will air on television this year!

PBS recently announced that it will broadcast the beloved special on Sunday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m. The film will air without any ads or commercials on PBS and PBS Kids for a full family movie night feel. "Peppermint Patty invites everyone to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, even though he’s going to see his grandmother. Snoopy decides to cook his own version of a Thanksgiving meal with help from his friends," reads the plot summary, according to CBS4. There are a few other options to watch the movie. You can always rent it on Prime Video or order a Blu-ray or DVD on Amazon and watch it anytime you want. 

You can even get your hands on a paperback version of the nostalgic book which is available on Amazon. If you wish to watch it right now, it's available on AppleTV+ for viewers who have subscribed to their service. While those with a subscription can watch it at any time, others might have to wait for the three days surrounding Thanksgiving to watch it for free as the streaming platform did provide this service last year. This year, PBS also aired It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for Halloween following a similar deal with AppleTV+ which allowed viewers to watch Linus awaiting his holiday hero in the pumpkin patch.

Last year marked the first time in decades when the Halloween special did not air on TV and so, thousands of fans signed a petition to bring Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Snoopy, and the rest of the group back to the national platform. "To our shock and dismay, last night it was announced that Apple had swiped the football from us and claimed the specials for their Apple TV platform, leaving us devoted fans who have grown up with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang in the dark, unable to watch," wrote petitioner Michael Nebbia according to CBS News. "...The time for saying 'Good Grief' is over!"

Following the intense outrage, AppleTV+ decided to air A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas on PBS noting that it was too late for the Halloween special. They also decided to make the specials free on their platform for three days last year. "Our fight shall continue no matter what because these specials are iconic and no amount of corporate greed will stop us!" wrote Nebbia, one of many viewers who are accustomed to tuning in to network TV to watch the specials every year.