With Thanksgiving coming in a few weeks, it’s time to watch the beloved Peanuts special that celebrates this holiday, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. While Apple TV subscribers can watch it anytime, Apple will also make the special free for anyone to stream one weekend this month.
You do not need an Apple device to enjoy either. It’s easy on Windows and Android.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a streaming exclusive… but sometimes free to watch
Apple owns the rights to all Peanuts holiday specials. That means the way to once again see Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty and Marcie act out The Courtship of Miles Standish is on the Apple TV streaming service. And it’s available to subscribers at any time.
But A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is also open to all via the free Apple TV application starting Saturday, November 15, 2025, and going through Sunday, November 16, 2025. There’s no paywall on those dates.
And later in the year will come free access to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
How to watch the A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special for free
Apple users play the holiday classic through the Apple TV application, which is available in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. There’s also a Mac version in that app store. Install any or all of these as you would any software.
Once you have the application installed and running, look around for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (direct link).
Watch free on Windows and Android
But enjoying the classic holiday special doesn’t require an Apple TV, Mac or other Apple device. The service is watchable on a wide variety of devices. Anyone with a computer running Windows or Chrome OS, watching Apple’s video content is as easy as visiting its website. The same goes for Android phones and tablets. You’ll access the Peanuts special in a browser. You can jump straight to the A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving page.
Access on Roku and Amazon Fire requires signing up for a free trial of the Apple TV service. Download the Apple TV application on your streaming box or smart TV, agree to the trial, then lean back and enjoy.
Buy A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on DVD
Those who want anytime access to the Peanuts Thanksgiving special and don’t want to subscribe to Apple TV can buy the DVD. It’s currently available for $11.
Buy from: Amazon
2 months of free Peanuts specials on Apple TV
The Peanuts Thanksgiving special isn’t the only one that Apple will make available for anyone to watch for free. A Charlie Brown Christmas is also an Apple TV streaming service exclusive, but it’ll be open to all on Saturday, December 13, 2025, and Sunday, December 14, 2025.
While the classics are free on these dates, Peanuts fans might want a subscription to the Apple TV service. It offers It’s Christmastime again, Charlie Brown. Plus there’s Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, a fresh New Year’s eve special created by Apple. Beyond the holidays, there’s The Snoopy Show starring the irrepressible beagle — a series that has a 100% critics approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. And Camp Snoopy, too.
Apple TV is $12.99 a month, and includes a wide variety of other children’s’ programs, too.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
