Want to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas in 2020? Here’s how.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the all-time classic Christmas specials, brightening TV screens everywhere for generations of Peanuts fans since its debut in 1965. And if you want the traditional TV experience, then you’re in luck.
Because of the last-minute deal PBS worked out with Apple, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air on PBS stations tonight, Sunday, December 13, at 7:30 ET, reports ComicBook.com.
The broadcast will be free of commercials, as with all PBS programming, which fits especially well with the nature of the special, which downplays the over-commercialism that so often overrides the holiday season.
If you have a subscription to Apple TV Plus, then you can always watch the entire library of Peanuts specials at any time, or you can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for free until Monday, December 14 with no subscription required.
A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first of the Peanuts specials to air on CBS, directed by TV advertising animator Bill Melendez and based on the comic strip created by Charles Schulz, who was heavily involved in supervising the project.
Charlie Brown and Linus try to wrangle the neighborhood kids into putting on the annual Christmas pageant without much luck, while Snoopy frolics happily along, piling up elaborate decorative displays and winning awards. Linus saves the day with reminding everyone of the story of Jesus’s birth from the book of Luke, and then the kids decorate Charlie Brown’s piddly little tree before launching into “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” as the credits roll.
Other classic recurring features taking place include ice skating on the pond, Schroeder’s piano playing, Sally’s letter to Santa Claus and Lucy operating her psychiatric booth.
If you have a subscription to Disney Plus, you can catch the surprisingly well-made 2015 film The Peanuts Movie, which had heavy input from Schulz’s son and grandson to make sure it was accurate and true to the comic strip.