PBS won't air 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.' Here's how to watch for free

For a lot of people, watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is a Halloween tradition.

For some, it will remain one — if they have a subscription to Apple TV+.

It’s a streaming world and increasingly you have to hop on board or get left behind.

Still, it’s too bad the brilliant, breathtakingly cynical “Great Pumpkin” — one of the classic tales of losing and dashed hopes — won’t be available to as many people as possible.

It is, after all, the second-best of the Charlie Brown specials, behind only “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the greatest of all holiday specials.

Which you also won’t be able to watch without Apple TV+. But that’s getting ahead of the Halloween story.

We got a rock: Time to watch the cynical 'Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'

Apple TV+ has had the rights to all the Charlie Brown specials since 2020

Apple TV+ has had the rights to all of the Charlie Brown specials since 2020. This ticks off a lot of people — in much the same way “Thursday Night Football” moving exclusively to Prime Video does. Understandably, people who don’t shell out for the services are not happy about missing out, especially on things they’ve had access to for years.

Or decades, in the case of “Great Pumpkin,” which premiered on CBS in 1966.

But things change.

What else can you say? If you don’t have Apple TV+, you get a rock.

If this all sounds familiar, it's not just deja vu. There was an outcry in 2020 when Apple TV+ first obtained exclusive rights to “Great Pumpkin.”

In response, in 2021 PBS also aired the special, easing the pain for non-subscribers.

But that’s not going to happen this year.

“Regretfully, PBS does not have the rights to distribute the Peanuts specials this year,” PBS Kids tweeted Sept. 29. “We’ll all have to watch for the Great Pumpkin in a different pumpkin patch this Halloween.”

And that pumpkin patch is Apple TV+, which costs $4.99 a month.

There's still a way for non-subscribers to Apple TV+ to stream 'Great Pumpkin' for free

However, the service will allow viewers to stream “Great Pumpkin” for free from Oct. 28-31.

Similarly, non-subscribers will be able to stream “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” on the service from Nov. 23-27, though who would want to? And I say this as a massive Charlie Brown fan.

But, to each their own. It’ll be there if you want it.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” will be available for non-subscribers from Dec. 22-25.

Of course, if you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can watch any of these whenever you want — if you’re in the mood for a little Christmas in October, say.

It’s a limited window for everyone else. Which is in some ways a throwback to the beginning. Before VCRs and streaming services, when you could watch Charlie Brown specials — and every other special — only when they were shown in real time on TV. Now that was a limited window.

On the other hand, it was free. It’s nice to think it could have stayed that way, in the spirit of the show.

“You can look around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy,” Linus says as he explains the beauty of the pumpkin patch as he waits in vain for the Great Pumpkin. “Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.”

You see how that worked out for him.

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How to watch 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'

Streaming on Apple TV+.

Available free to non-subscribers Oct. 28-31.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: PBS won't air Charlie Brown Halloween, here's where to watch