After the news that Apple was going to be the exclusive streaming home of Peanuts specials, including those that had aired on broadcast TV for decades, there was a backlash, here included.
Apple listened, at least a little. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will be shown this year on PBS without commercial interruption. (“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” aired last night.) This is especially nice because for years if not since ABC took over the showings, commercial breaks have been inserted where they were obviously not supposed to go.
By all accounts, this appears to be a one-shot deal. Many stories about it continue to ignore the fact that streaming services are unavailable to millions of Americans at any price. Maybe if Linus’ message about what Christmas is all about becomes the highest-rated PBS show of the week, someone will (re-)reconsider, and yes I am quite aware of the irony.