Don’t be a blockhead: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” streams free for everyone this weekend — no Apple TV subscription or free trial required. The Peanuts Halloween special will be available Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18.
To watch, open the Apple TV app or go to tv.apple.com during the free weekend, search for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and press play. Apple TV subscribers can stream the special year-round. For everyone else, the free window is the chance to watch without signing up or paying.
The free weekend is part of Apple’s seasonal viewing windows for the Peanuts specials, which became exclusive to its streaming service after Apple acquired the rights. “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” will stream free Nov. 14–15, followed by “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Dec. 12–13.
Here’s how to watch:
- Open the Apple TV app or go to tv.apple.com on Oct. 17 or 18.
- Search for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”
- Select the special and stream it during the free weekend. You don’t need an Apple TV subscription for this window.
The other two Peanuts holiday specials will also have free weekends: “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” on Nov. 14–15 and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Dec. 12–13.
60 years of ‘The Great Pumpkin’
The special premiered on CBS on Oct. 27, 1966, bringing Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters to a Halloween story built around Linus’s belief in the Great Pumpkin.
Linus, of course, spends the night in a pumpkin patch waiting for the mysterious figure to appear, while Charlie Brown and the others celebrate Halloween. Snoopy, meanwhile, imagines himself in an aerial battle with the Red Baron.
The production reunited Schulz with producer Lee Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez, the team behind the 1965 special “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Melendez directed and provided the voices for Snoopy and Woodstock.
Vince Guaraldi, whose jazz score had helped define the earlier special, returned to compose the music.
The special aired on CBS through 2000 before moving to ABC in 2001. Apple secured exclusive streaming rights to the Peanuts specials in 2020, ending regular annual broadcasts on network television.
PBS aired “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in 2021 through a one-time arrangement with Apple
Apple extended its streaming rights through 2030.
