‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’: How to Watch, What Time and What Channel

Halloween is right around the corner, and the season would not be complete without watching the Peanuts special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. There are a couple of chances to catch the beloved short on TV before the month is out, and for cord-cutters, there are other ways to catch it as well.

There are two screenings of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown coming up on ABC this week. The first is on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, and the second is on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. However, Tuesday’s slot will only show the abridged, 30-minute version of the special.

For the full experience, fans will need to watch on Sunday night, when ABC is airing the full 1-hour special, along with the bonus cartoon You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

For streamers, there are a few options to get your Peanuts fix for the season. Subscribers can watch the Great Pumpkin special whenever they want on Hulu, provided they are signed up for the Hulu with Live TV package. This plan starts at $44.99 per month before add-ons, although there are free trials available. The service’s top tier, Hulu with No Ads and Live TV, costs $50.99 per month.

The Great Pumpkin special is available to rent digitally as well. You can find it on YouTube or VUDU, both for $3.99. Amazon Prime Video has the special, but only to purchase, not to rent. For that, fans must pay $9.99.

For some, these are reasonable prices for that dose of seasonal nostalgia. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was originally broadcast in 1966 on CBS. The rights to the special were obtained by ABC in 2001, and it has aired there every year since.

With the so-called “streaming wars” heating up, however, the Peanuts gang may find a new home soon enough. In December of 2018, Apple inked a deal to carry new original Peanuts programming, according to TV Guide. The company is working with intellectual property rights-holder DHX Media, who will produce new shows for Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV+.

There has been no new information on the deal since December, but an update could conceivably be right around the corner. After all, Apple TV+ goes live on Nov. 1, just over a week before major competitor Disney+. It could be that this Halloween season will be Disney-owned ABC’s last big hurrah as the central home of the Peanuts gang before Apple launches its new project.

In the meantime, fans are excited enough to stay up and wait for the Great Pumpkin, as they do every year. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs on Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.