‘Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’: How to Watch

It’s the season for festive movies and TV specials — and Charlie Brown is luckily on TV this year following the 2020 backlash after the Peanuts specials were originally not going to air over the air. The only bad news is that while A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is available to stream on Apple TV+, the time to watch it on PBS has already come and gone. The classic holiday special aired on Sunday, Nov. 2 thanks to Apple TV+ pairing up with PBS for a primetime presentation — meaning that unless you recorded the movie with your DVR, you can’t watch it on TV.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a beloved festive staple, kicking off the holiday season with the Peanuts gang gathering round in a tradition that fans cannot get enough of. In the short movie, Peppermint Patty invites everyone to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, even though the iconic character is going to see his grandmother. Naturally, Snoopy decides to cook his own version of a Thanksgiving meal with help from his friends. The one-night event aired Sunday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET (check your local listings). It is also available to stream at your convenience on Apple TV+ in HD, though you must subscribe to the service, unlike last year.

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Last year marked the first time in more than 30 years that the Charlie Brown special was set to be off TV, upsetting fans and viewers of the annual special and sparking a Change.org petition. Starting with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown getting skipped on ABC for Halloween 2020, it was revealed that the Peanuts gang would now exclusively air content through Apple TV+ instead of making their appearances on a national network.

The Change.org petition contrasted the decision to one the iconic Charlie Brown himself all too well with a statement from the petitioner, Michael Nebbia: “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,” he wrote. “The time for saying ‘Good Grief’ is over. Our fight shall continue no matter what because these specials are iconic and no amount of corporate greed will stop us!” Luckily, Apple and PBS reached a deal, meaning everyone can now catch the special on their TVs.