‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ returns: Time & date of 2017 arrival

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will once again make its triumphant annual Halloween return in 2017 to ABC this Thursday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET. This year will be the 51st time that the Peanuts classic will air, and for many people across the US, watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is a must see every Halloween.

Return to the patch

Will Linus finally meet the Great Pumpkin this year? Probably not, but hey, you never know! Without giving too much of the plot away for those out there who have never seen this Schulz classic before, the 30-minute clip focuses on Brown's friend Linus who believes that the Great Pumpkin is going to show up with gifts for him and all the children in the town.

As legend has it, according to Linus, “each year the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he believes is the most sincere.” While all of Linus’ friends think he is wasting his time, Sally decides to stay with him - and lives to regret it!

Schultz creates a cartoon legend

Little did Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz know just what he was creating when he put pencil to paper and started dabbling the humble beginnings of the “Peanuts” gang over 60 years ago. Back on October 2, 1950, the first comic strip of "Peanuts" was launched in seven American newspapers, and thus a legend was born. Charlie Brown, along with his loveable dog Snoopy and his feathery friend "Woodstock" quickly became household names and amazingly have grown in popularity to this day.

Charlie’s friends, Schroeder, Linus, Lucy, Franklin and Peppermint Patty all play key roles in the everyday comic strip adventures of Chuck’s life, along with his little sister Sally.

Along with this Halloween episode, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and Christmas are also timeless classics.

The simple creation of these never aging children will easily go down in history as one of the most popular cartoon characters ever made in America.

Still today, kids love to buy t-shirts, backpacks, school folders and so much more that contain a character of one of the “Peanuts” gang. It just never goes out of style.

How to watch

‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ will air nationally on October 19 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. You can also watch the show streaming live online through the ABC app, or heading to ABC.go.com. Comcast subscribers can watch Charlie's Halloween adventure anytime now through October 28 by searching it in the “On Demand” section.