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It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: How to Stream the Peanuts Halloween Special for Free

Charlie Brown's Halloween special will be free for two days on Apple TV Plus. Here's how and when to watch.

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CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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The Peanuts gang is back this Halloween.

 Apple

Costume parties and trick-or-treating are back in swing, and for some people the Peanuts special is an essential part of their holiday tradition. This Halloween season, the 1966 animated special will stream for free on Apple TV Plus for one weekend only.

When and where to watch

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will stream on Apple TV Plus free for non-subscribers this Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20.

Though the special has traditionally aired on PBS in the past, this is not the case in 2024. In 2020, Apple announced that its streaming service, Apple TV Plus, would be the exclusive home for the famed Charles Schulz Peanuts specials. That includes not only It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but also A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

See it at Apple TV Plus

But not everyone chooses to pay for Apple TV Plus or has the ability or desire to use a streaming TV service. The holiday specials had aired for more than a half-century on broadcast TV. and while Apple previously worked out a deal where PBS could show the holiday specials in 2021, the agreement appears to no longer be in place.

If you're a subscriber you don't need to do anything -- the special available for users to stream right now. Peanuts fans without Apple TV Plus, though, should mark their calendars and start working on the sincerity of their pumpkin patches. New users who miss the window can also sign up for a 7-day free trial.

This story originally appeared on October 8, 2021, and has been updated with new information.