Want to Watch the Peanuts Holiday Specials? It Will Cost You.
BySavannah Salazar,
a Vulture editor who writes about streaming, movies, and TV a Vulture associate editor who writes about streaming, movies, and television.
Photo: Everett Collection
For decades, flipping on cable to find a Peanuts special during the holidays was as reliable as Lucy ripping a football out from under Charlie Brown. Now, you’ll need an app and a subscription to a streaming service for that. It’s been a couple of years since the streaming rights for the beloved Peanuts specials have been obtained by Apple, putting all the Mendelson/Melendez Productions and Peanuts Worldwide–owned specials behind a paywall and making it confusing to find for those who haven’t been keeping up with every move in the streaming wars.
The good news: The doctor streaming expert is in! Let’s break it all down to make sure you know when, where, and how you can watch your Peanuts.
Which Peanuts specials are streaming?
Well, a lot of them. Apple TV+ has 29 episodes available of The Peanuts Classics spanning from 1966 to 2011. There’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; You’re in Love, Charlie Brown; Snoopy’s Reunion; and more. That doesn’t even include the holiday specials like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Apple TV+ has even been making its own Peanuts series like The Snoopy Show.
Where are these specials streaming? Especially Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Charlie Brown Christmas!
They’re all on Apple TV+. In the past, the holiday specials would normally run on ABC, but since 2018, Apple has had exclusive rights to these Peanuts favorites. So if you’re a Peanuts fan, you’ll have to sign up for the service to watch ’em.
How much will that cost me?
Apple TV+’s subscription costs aren’t too bad compared to other streamers that are loving their $20 price tiers now. Apple TV+ is $9.99 a month with no ads. But Tim Cook does at least feel a sense of holiday spirit and offers certain Peanuts specials to all audiences for free at various points in the year.
Wait, I can watch for free?
Yes, with caveats. Apple TV+ offers weekends to watch these specials for free every so often; no need to be an Apple TV+ subscriber. All you need is the app, and you’ll find them available to watch and keep your holiday traditions alive. For A Charlie Brown Christmas, you’ll be able to access that holiday special for free on the December 14–15 weekend.
Is there anywhere else I can watch them?
Do you like physical media? If it’s really important to you to have them available at all times free of the whims of big streaming companies, the Peanuts holiday specials are widely available on DVD.
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