‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,’ a TV staple since 1973, this year can be seen in a new place — or rather, two new places.
A one-time-only broadcast on PBS begins at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, on Chicago’s WTTW-Channel 11 and its Kids 24/7 digital channel.
Meanwhile, the animated special is streaming now on AppleTV+ and available to all paying subscribers to the $4.99-a-month service. For three days, Nov. 25-27, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” will be available free to non-subscribers who visit AppleTV+ on Apple devices, on some smart TVs, on TV devices including Amazon Fire TV and Roku, on game consoles including PlayStation and Xbox, and at tv.apple.com.
On “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” the hapless hero of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip again attempts to kick the football held by his frenemy Lucy, and gets roped into servicing a holiday dinner to Peppermint Patty and her friends.
AppleTV+ acquired rights to the Thanksgiving show and other Charlie Brown specials this year, taking them off ABC, their home since 2001. When the year-old digital service launched the streaming last month with “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” there was some outcry from people who were accustomed to watching Peanuts specials free on broadcast TV but lacked AppleTV+ or the right equipment to get it.
The PBS deal was in response to the backlash, and also includes a Dec. 13 PBS airing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
