'Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' Moving from TV to Seldom-Used Streamer is Un-American

by Aprille Hanson
What a 2020 thing to do to move an American classic like “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” to Apple TV+, a streaming service that just isn’t widely used. The small silver lining is it can be streamed for free from Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Or, sign-up for a free seven-day trial. 
In these crazy times this seemingly simple move to me is un-American. And yes, I’m fully aware that there are so many bigger issues right now that don’t even compare to a 25-minute Halloween holiday special being moved off of cable. But of all the years to make this decision pretty much sums up the selfishness of 2020. For the past 20 years, the 1966 CBS special has aired on ABC during October, according to a USA Today article. 
“It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” should’ve been available on every streaming service and whatever cable TV network wanted to pick it up. Hell, put it on PBS. While running by a CVS and wearing my “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” T-shirt, the cashier pointed out how much she liked it and in the same breath said, “Can you believe it’s not on TV this year?” 
Why is it so important? Because we need a little bit of Linus’ hope. It’s the story of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts gang centered around Linus telling his friends that the Great Pumpkin would rise out of the pumpkin patch and give toys to all children, but they have to believe. The Great Pumpkin can sense insincerity in their belief. He’s willing to miss trick-or-treating because he believes so strongly that the Great Pumpkin will choose his pumpkin patch this year. 
It’s coupled with Charlie Brown of course going trick-or-treating and getting nothing but rocks while his friends get the typical candy. And while Charlie Brown gets rocks in his Halloween bag and ultimately Linus gets laughed at by his friends and misses Halloween -- which I’m sure is the reality for a lot of kids this year -- and the Great Pumpkin does not show up. After all of that defeat and failure, the special ends with Linus being ever more hopeful and vigilant that the Great Pumpkin does exist and he will visit the pumpkin patch next year.
In the midst of disappointment, it’s a story of hope. So why in 2020, when hope is so desperately needed and so scarce, with all the rocks piling up in our Halloween bags, was the decision made to move a sweet, simple story that has been beloved for generations so only a small portion of the population could see it? 
So many children and adults of all ages who don’t own it or have Apple TV+ are missing out. And I realize not everybody has cable, I’m sure a few houses do these days in competition with streaming. But it should honestly be available across the streaming networks and across the cable stations. It’s a story that we just don’t really get from kid’s shows today. If it had been made today, Charlie Brown would not have been bullied and he certainly wouldn’t have gotten rocks instead of candy. And the Great Pumpkin would ultimately have risen out of the pumpkin patch proving all of Linus’ friends wrong. But that’s just not reality and it’s certainly not the reality we live in today. And children feel that, adults feel that. 
What is hopeful is nothing going right around you, but hanging onto the shred of hope, not really knowing what will happen in the future. Yanking that away, that nostalgia and classic tale that can reach the hearts of children and adults alike is cruel and unnecessary this year.
So I hope if you have a chance to watch it on Apple TV+ or somewhere, you take the time to watch the sweet simple classic. It’s a unique respite from crazy times and I hope, with the same fervor of Linus, that it will once again grace TV screens in more than just one place. And that our world will one day be hopeful again.