For decades, one thing that Halloween fans could rely on every year is getting to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in the lead-up towards October 31. As home video became the go-to way to revisit holiday favorites, some of us relied on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray to be able to watch it whenever we wanted, though there was always a certain charm that came along with tuning into a network broadcast, as it jumped around from CBS to ABC to PBS. That all changed in 2020, courtesy of Apple TV.
When the burgeoning streaming platform secured the rights to the Peanuts franchise, this resulted in the development of new specials in the series and also made Apple TV the exclusive home of existing specials. However, the streamer had previously made agreements with networks to also broadcast the specials, though streaming opportunities have since changed.
This year, whether you are an Apple TV subscriber or not, you can stream It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on October 17 and October 18 on the platform. Given that the special has been known to previously be broadcast or stream for free earlier in the Halloween season, this release window gives us a lot to look forward to and will assure everyone who watches it will be in the spirit of the season just in time for the main event.
Apple TV has other family-friendly programming to check out for Halloween, including:
The Sisters Grimm – Season 2 premieres Friday, October 2
- Based on Michael Buckley’s New York Times bestselling book series, The Sisters Grimm is a journey of adventure and heart about sleuth-solving sisters descended from the Brothers Grimm who, while very different, make a pretty great team. In Season 2, one year after their parents’ mysterious disappearance, sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm continue uncovering the secrets of Ferryport Landing, where fairy tales and fairy tale creatures are real, as they face new adventures and mysteries.
CURSES! – Seasons 1 and 2 available now
- CURSES! follows Pandora, Russ, Alex, and Sky Vanderhouven, a family cursed by their ancestors’ pillaging of ancient artifacts from across the globe. In Season 1, when their father Alex is turned to stone, the family bands together to return the stolen artifacts to their rightful homes and finally lift the curse for good. After reversing the curse on an adventure of a lifetime, the second season picks up with Alex rejoining the family as they continue working to undo the damage done by their greedy ancestors. But when something about Alex doesn’t seem quite right, the family must band together to solve the mysteries that confront them, both on the road and within the walls of Briarstone Manor.
Shape Island Halloween Special “Creepy Cave Crawl” – Available now
- In the standalone Halloween special titled “Creepy Cave Crawl,” after Triangle pranks them, Circle and Square celebrate Halloween on their own with all treats and no tricks. The clever, funny, and inspiring stop-motion animated series from Apple TV takes place on a charming island and invites viewers to join serious Square, intrepid Circle, and tricky Triangle on their silly adventures as they dig up some fun, search for answers and build on their friendship — all while learning how to navigate each other’s differences. Shape Island shows kids that friendship can take many shapes.
Ghostwriter – All three seasons available now
- When a ghost haunts a neighborhood bookstore and starts releasing fictional characters into the real world, a group of friends work to solve an exciting mystery surrounding the ghost’s unfinished business. A reimagining of the hit early ’90s series from Sesame Workshop, each episode story arc is centered around literature, featuring classics such as L. Frank Baum’s story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and E.B. White’s book Charlotte’s Web, plus new works commissioned from popular authors like D.J. MacHale and Kwame Alexander.
Circuit Breakers – Available now to stream
- Circuit Breakers is a half-hour anthology series about middle-schoolers in the near future that uses science fiction as a backdrop to tell universal stories about growing up. The series was created by Melody Fox with executive producer Matt Hastings directing three episodes from the season including the pilot. Circuit Breakers is executive produced by Hastings, Andrew Orenstein, Cottonwood Media’s Sarah Haasz, David Michel, and Cécile Lauritano, Aircraft Pictures’ Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, and Todd Berger. Fox and Gillian Horvath serve as co-executive producers.
Will you be checking out the iconic Peanuts special on Apple TV? Let us know in the comments below!