WHERE CAN YOU CATCH “A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING”?

Growing up you could always tell when the holidays were really ramping up when the holiday specials came on. In late October kids would get a special night of Halloween episodes of Looney Tunes, Garfield, and the Peanuts gang. You waited for it while getting excited for Halloween! After that night had passed you looked forward to the next slate of Thanksgiving specials with some of those great characters with the highlight being “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”on ABC. This was before Christmas ads started the day after Halloween and Thanksgiving was allowed to breathe in between. Since we only had 4 channels back then you knew what night it was going to be on because you would see the commercial during your favorite sitcom. Parents and kids would still be anticipating the specials for decades as it became a yearly event to share together. However, a few years ago the joy of sitting down as a family and having it grace your screen on network television got taken away. Apple bought the rights to Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang and removed them from being seen for free. The first year it happened there was such an uproar on the Internet that Apple graciously showed all the different holiday specials on PBS. That lasted one year. Now you have to pay for Apple TV+ if you want to carry on the tradition or go out and buy it on DVD for $9.99 which just happens to be the monthly price of Apple TV+. They decided that you can watch it for free this weekend on their service on the 18th and 19th or you can get a 7 day free trial. If you go that route you get a week of free streaming until they start charging you or you cancel it. It’s really a ploy to sign up for their service and realize that you might as well keep it to see “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and then never cancel it because you get hooked on another show and just decide to keep it. So, if you’re looking to see Snoopy serve popcorn, toast, and jelly beans while Peppermint Patty invites herself and others to “Chuck’s” house without him asking for it you’ll either have to buy the DVD or download Apple TV+. Expect the same at Christmas time. At least the DVD is a one time charge!