DENVER — For the second year in a row, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang are coming to Rocky Mountain PBS to celebrate the holidays.
Last year, Rocky Mountain PBS aired free broadcasts of A Charlie Brown Christmas, which also aired on Apple TV+. This year, however, there’s more: Rocky Mountain PBS will broadcast It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
A Charlie Brown Christmas airs Sunday, December 19 at 6:30 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS. The special first premiered on December 9, 1965. It was completed just 10 days before it aired, and many people involved in the production were worried about a negative reception. However, the program went on to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program and the music from the Vince Guaraldi trio has become iconic.
Great Pumpkin, the Peanuts Halloween special, aired Sunday, October 24 at 6:30 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS and PBS KIDS. The program first aired on CBS in 1966 and has been praised for its artistry. Writing for The Washington Post on the 50th anniversary of the special, critic Michael Cavna said Great Pumpkin is the greatest "visual achievement" in the Peanuts cinematic universe.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving first aired in 1973 on CBS. It stayed at the network until 1989. After that, the special was broadcast on ABC. The episode's cold open features the now-iconic scene where Lucy Van Pelt pulls away the football from an eager Charlie Brown.
2021 marked a return for Great Pumpkin. For decades, the Charlie Brown Halloween special aired on ABC but it didn’t air in 2020 because Apple TV+ bought the license for Peanuts shows (the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials aired on Apple TV+ and PBS last year).
People interested in watching the Peanuts holiday specials will be able to tune in on-air. The specials will not air on the Rocky Mountain PBS livestream page. It is unknown at this time if the Thanksgiving or Christmas specials will be available for livestream; we will update this article as we learn more.
For more information, check out the Rocky Mountain PBS schedule page.
