‘Peanuts’ Fans Still Calling For The Return of Specials To ABC, Two Years Later: “We Want Restitution!”

Cartoonist Charles Schulz‘s Peanuts comic strips transformed Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of their gang into household names. These characters proved their value both in print and on screen, when the first Peanuts TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, aired on Dec. 9, 1965.

In the years following, It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) created further holiday hijinx that fans all over the world came to know, love, and associate with the most wonderful times of the year.

Then, in October 2020, millions of Charlie Brown fans were heartbroken over news that ABC had lost the rights to the nostalgic Peanuts specials and that Apple TV had acquired them in partnership with Wildbrain Studios.

One particular fan chose to do something about it.

Just a day after the news broke, Michael Nebbia launched a petition on Change.org entitled “Bring The Peanuts Specials Back To Broadcast TV!” in hopes of connecting with like-minded Peanuts superfans and showing Apple that “this will not stand.”

“Not on my watch!” Nebbia exclaimed. “Plus, during an election year, no less!”

Two years and hundreds of thousands of signatures later, Decider caught up with Nebbia over Zoom to check in on the status of the petition (the specials are still on Apple TV+, not ABC, as of this writing).

Nebbia explained to Decider that his frustration with the loss of access to the holiday specials, in addition to this being “at the height” of the COVID-19 pandemic set his idea into motion.

“We had lost all semblance of normalcy, and the Charlie Brown specials, I believe, were the last messages of normalcy we had left in such a weird year,” Nebbia noted. “Such a dumpster fire of a year, for lack of a better term. And they just had to be preserved for future generations to watch on broadcast television, like they had been for so many years, so many decades beforehand.”

Nearing its three-year anniversary on Oct. 20, the petition has accumulated more than 268,600 signatures, a feat that Nebbia never expected. “I am just shocked and amazed and thankful for the support it’s gotten,” Nebbia gushed. “Soon after the petition went live, it just skyrocketed in popularity. It got as far off as Germany, France, even to Australia, so it shows you the reach of Charlie Brown, the appeal of Charlie Brown, and the overall cultural impact that Charlie Brown has had on our lives since the 60s.”

Through the petition, Nebbia launched “Save Charlie Brown Days,” which he explained “coincide with milestones in the Peanuts universes,'” such as the original air dates of each special, Charles Schulz’s birthday, the release date of the last Peanuts comic strip, and more. On these days, Nebbia and petition signers have sent emails and Peanuts memorabilia to Apple figureheads in order to “show Apple that [they] care about Charlie Brown being on broadcast television.”

Nebbia was particularly inspired by a movement to save Disney’s Kim Possible in 2005, one in which he took part that happily proved to be successful.

“They sent stuff in to save the show, they sent emails, tons of emails, that demanded the show continue, and I figured we would pull from the same playbook,” Nebbia added.

In terms of his favorite Peanuts holiday special, Nebbia chose the “big three”: A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (in his personal ranked order).

While the iconic Halloween special came runner-up in his favorites — you could say it rocks, considering that’s what Charlie Brown got while trick or treating — the Great Pumpkin influenced one of the original hashtags for the movement: “We want restitution!” According to Nebbia, the hashtag is “a play on one of Sally’s lines after she got screwed out of trick or treating by Linus and his Great Pumpkin conspiracies.”

Nebbia acknowledged that the petition has not been that active as of late due to personal reasons, but comments expressing individuals’ reasons for signing continue to truck along. One supporter wrote, “I literally lost my Christmas spirit because of this! This NEEDS to change!” Another penned, “Charlie Brown specials are practically a human right at this point.” For many, the holidays are synonymous with Charles Schulz’s animated Peanuts specials, which fuels the passion behind this petition.

Although Apple TV+ subscribers are the only streamers that have complete, 24/7 access to the not-so-spooky special, Apple made the special available last year for a limited time. And this year, you’re in luck because they’re doing just the same! Fans can watch It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for free from Oct. 21 through Oct. 22 on Apple TV+, sans subscription!

Since its acquisition of Schulz’s iconic animated works, Apple TV+ has launched new takes on the Peanuts franchise, including The Snoopy Show, which released its third season in June, and Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, a holiday special that Decider contributor Joel Keller deemed as “not really the contemplative Peanuts that we know and love,” but “refreshing and welcome.”

In Apple’s Oct. 19, 2020 press release, the streamer promised “a slate of brand-new specials that will find the Peanuts gang marking Mother’s Day, Earth Day, New Year’s Eve and going back to school,” and have since delivered on some of this plan with To Mom (And Dad), With Love (2022) and Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School (2022).

But the originals will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans, and in light of Linus’ persistence in seeing the Great Pumpkin, fans like Nebbia remain steadfast in their position: we want restitution!

“Just like the Trekkies saved Star Trek, the Jericho Heads saved Jericho, the [Kim Possible fans] saved Kim Possible,” Nebbia said. “We can do this.”

And when it comes to determining where to stream your preferred Halloween content, check out Decider’s Halloween Haul round-up.