For many families during the holidays, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang have become a staple in their household. This year, families won’t be able to stream the specials as normal.
The Peanuts, which originally started out as a Sunday comic drawn by Charles M. Shultz, focuses on a group of young kids in a world where adults are barely seen or heard of.
The main character, Charlie Brown, and his dog Snoopy have become big hits over the years, causing the comic to be produced into multiple television specials. The most popular is It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas along with other 25 minute holiday animated shorts. These shorts have been broadcasted since the 1960’s.
CBS originally had the rights to the specials until 2000, when ABC took over. Both channels aired them during the holidays respectively, making them accessible to the public by cable.
With the new rise of streaming services, and ABC losing the rights to these shorts, Apple announced they would now be the main streaming service for the Peanuts over twitter on October 19, 2020. There was intense public backlash to the decision.
“Oh noooo! This [Its a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown] and the Christmas special have been an annual tradition for me for decades. I don’t have and won’t get Apple TV. This is a big disappointment,” Twitter user @anastasia710 wrote.
Many were also disappointed as they viewed the specials being on public networks a part of the tradition.
“Is this why it won’t air on TV? Sucks. There’s something special about watching Peanuts on TV with the rest of the country,” Twitter user @TheMisterLou wrote.
Following the backlash, PBS shared the rights with Apple TV plus through the COVID-19 lockdown, during 2020 and 2021, but lost the rights to stream them on cable this year.
Now that Apple TV+ owns the rights to the Peanuts franchise, they also announced that they are working on airing new originals featuring the Peanuts characters that Apple TV+ subscribers can look forward to.
The newest addition is “The Snoopy Show,” released in 2021. It follows Snoopy’s story up close, along with his best friend Woodstock and the rest of the Peanuts iconic characters. There are currently two seasons out, with episodes including Charlie Brown adopting Snoopy, Snoopy having Woodstock move in with him, and other fun adventures with Snoopy as the main lead.
The Peanuts gang has not disappeared forever. The classics are still available for public streaming through Apple TV+ this year, with A Charlie Brown Christmas available for free with an Apple Account from December 22-25.