With Halloween just a couple of days away, the channels are chock full of spooky TV shows, movies and specials. Whether it’s a special about haunted hotels on The Travel Channel or a creepy movie like Sleepy Hollow on TNT, people are definitely going to be able to get their fix of scariness this week. Halloween time for television means getting to see which of our favorite shows will celebrate the holiday and hoping the networks will rerun some of the classic Halloween episodes from series-past.
There are some shows that are known for their Halloween episodes. For example, ‘The Simpsons’ has their “Treehouse of Horror” series. This series within a series started years ago and has become an annual tradition for ‘The Simpsons’. It started with Bart and Lisa telling scary stories but has evolved significantly since then. The episodes are broken up into three segments and often parody some great scary stories and movies (eg. Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” or the film The Shining). Because characters are often killed off in the “Treehouse” series, the episodes are considered non-canon (meaning, none of what happens in the episodes count towards the actual ‘Simpsons’ series). According to the show’s DVD commentary, the “Treehouse” series was made non-canon to give the writers the opportunity to get super creative without having to worry about how the episode would affect the continuity of the series.
There are other shows that were known for their Halloween episodes. For example, you could count on a great Halloween episode from ‘Roseanne’ as well as ‘Home Improvement’. Both shows often had haunted house sets and the characters dressing up in costume and playing tricks on one another. The Halloween episodes of ‘Roseanne’ are available on a special DVD set.
And finally, some shows don’t acknowledge Halloween each year but do occasionally give us a great Halloween episode. For example, in season 2 of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, there was an episode appropriately titled “Halloween” in which the characters dressed for Halloween and a curse was put on the costumes which caused the characters (and everyone else who rented costumes from Ethan’s Costume Shoppe) to become whatever they were dressed up as. Buffy was dressed as an 18th century woman so when the curse took affect, she became virtually useless as the Slayer. Xander, who was dressed as an ARMY guy, took on the knowledge and skill of a trained soldier. Of course the curse was eventually broken but the after effects of this episode could be found in later seasons. Aside from occasionally referencing the costume experience in the seasons that followed, the knowledge Xander got from his brief experience as a soldier proved useful to the gang later on in the series.
In season 2 of ‘The Office’, there was a Halloween episode in which Michael has to fire someone. The ridiculousness of witnessing Michael trying to decide which employee to let go while wearing a paper-mache replica of his own head on his shoulder was totally fitting for the show. He eventually tries to fire Creed, who is dressed as Dracula but Creed argues his way out of it and demands Michael fire Devon instead. Devon, somewhat appropriately dressed as a homeless person, gets fired and leaves but not before smashing a pumpkin over the windshield of Michael’s car.
Most recently, ‘South Park’ did a Halloween episode this year, which involved the Devil coming up from hell to throw a huge party. Parodying MTV’s ‘My Super Sweet Sixteen’, the Devil throw’s a huge fuss trying to make his party the best party ever (and making sure he doesn’t do anything with his party that Diddy already did). The other side of the episode involved the kids daring each other to say “Biggie Smalls” three times in front of the mirror. In the tradition of the old “Bloody Mary” trick, saying Smalls’ name three times in front of the mirror resulted in The Notorious B.I.G. appearing out of thin air. The episode in itself was pretty hilarious but it’s drawn a bit of controversy because the writers briefly mocked Steve Irwin (who died last month from being stabbed in the chest by a stingray). In the episode, Irwin shows up at the Devil’s costume party and at first is told his costume is inappropriate because it’s “too soon”. Irwin then explains that he really is Steve Irwin and is then told to leave because he doesn’t have a costume.
Halloween is often an excuse for goofy shows to get even goofier when acknowledging the holiday. Haunted houses, practical jokes and elaborate costumes can transform any show into something else, if only for one episode. The result of this can often be creating some of the most memorable episodes of the series. What are some of your favorite Halloween episodes?
”Amazing Race 10” (CBS) 8:00 pm
I wonder if this is going to make my fingers pickle - (New) On the seventh leg of the race, the beauty queens crash their car into a bus. This should be worth seeing. I’m really rooting for Alabama, Kentucky and the Cho brothers. At this point, they’re easily the most likable and worthy of the big prize.
”Desperate Housewives” (ABC) 9:00 pm
Sweetheart, I have to confess- (New!) – It seems Susan’s relationship with Ian isn’t entirely over and neither is Carlos and Gaby’s. Meanwhile, Bree learns more about Orson’s past. This season is shaping up to be a lot better than last season.
”Heroes” (NBC) 9:00 pm
Better Halves- (New!) – A new character named D.L. Hawkins joins the show as Niki’s criminal ex-husband. His powers make him virtually impossible to be detained by the police. Meanwhile, Claire looks to her parents to help her understand her indestructibility. This show continues to get better and better with each episode.
‘Friday Night Lights’ got bumped for an election special. ‘Gilmore Girls’ is a rerun. Its Halloween though, so rent your favorite scary movie but be sure to catch the Halloween episode of:
”Veronica Mars” (CW) 9:00 pm
President Evil- (New!) – On Halloween night, Veronica’s necklace (given to her by Lilly Kane) is stolen during a robbery of the underground casino. Veronica suspects that Weevil is one of the robbers. It’s only his second episode this season and Weevil’s already being accused of something. Wallace considers cheating on an exam and Richard Grieco guest stars.
”Jericho” (CBS) 8:00 pm
Long Live The Mayor- (New!) – Law and Order begins to breakdown within Jericho and news from the outside says that things aren’t doing so well in the rest of the country either.
”Lost” (ABC) 10:00 pm
The Cost of Living- (New!) –Eko battles with the demons of his past while Locke and some of the other castaways search for the Pearl station in the hopes that there is a computer that could help them find Jack, Sawyer and Kate. Most likely to be on the menu for this episode: more questions and few answers.
”My Name Is Earl” (NBC) 8:00 pm
Made a Lady Think I was God- (New!) – Rosanne Barr guest stars as Millie, the former owner of the trailer park. Earl tries to persuade her to remove the restraining order she has on Joy as well as trying to make amends for once making her think he was God.
”The Office” (NBC) 8:30 pm
Diwali- (New!) – Michael tries to show support for Kelly by encouraging everyone to attend the local celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. We can expect a lot of cultural insensitivity, I’m sure and Entertainment Weekly mentioned a marriage proposal (but they wouldn’t say who).
”Smallville” (The CW) 8:00 pm
Fallout- (New!) – Clark faces another escapee from the Phantom Zone. Another one down, how many more to go?
”Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) 9:00 pm
Let the Angels Commit- (New!) Cristina scrubs in on a rare procedure, George and Addison deal with a pregnant woman with an unusual problem and Alex contemplates his future in medicine. Meanwhile, Meredith obsesses over something (I’m just taking a wild guess on that last one)
”1 Vs 100” (NBC) 8:00 pm
Check out the latest trivia game show in which one contestant competes against 100 people for prizes and money.
”Battlestar Galactica” (Sci-Fi) 9:00 pm
Torn (part 1)- (New!) – Still dealing with the aftermath from New Caprica, the group become divided based on who stayed with the fleet and who suffered under the Cylons on New Caprica. Baltar tries to prove his worth to the Cylons.
Braveheart (BRAVO) 7:00 pm
When the weather starts to get cold, it’s a great time to stay indoors and watch some of those really great (though usually really long) movies. Braveheart is often considered Mel Gibson’s greatest film.
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