When did the Halloween season become a money loser for prime time TV? I remember when the top shows would advertise for the last week of October like it was sweeps month. Now I know some shows like The Office have had their one Halloween themed episode but that was it. There is no annual anticipation anymore. Here is a look back at my favorite sitcoms that we could always count on for their effort to out-do the previous year. And no, The Simpsons; Tree House Of Horror isn’t on the list, that’s in November.
This is one of my favorites growing up. I really can’t figure out why because the dry English humor must have been way over head as an eight year old. What ever the reason was I have fond memories of watching the Halloween episode while my dad cut out cardboard armor for my knight Halloween costume because like usual, I made him buy me a $30 accesory (the helmet) and had no plan for the rest. I love you Mr. Belvedere, you fat old English bastard! Lets have a look.
Now I have to admit that when Silver Spoons came out I was still pissing the bed but I remember the Halloween episode with such clarity I can even remember what was for dinner that night. Granted it was episode number 49 and Rick Schrouder was in middle school, it was still a while ago. The one thing about Silver spoons is the theme song will stick in your head until you die.
True story: I was in Halmark a couple of years ago huffing Yankee candles and humming the theme song to Silver Spoons when out of the blue another guy began to hum it with me. Before i knew it we broke out in song, much to the embarrassment of our significant others at the time. “Together, we’re going to find away…You and IIIIIIII, Togetherrr…” And we even ended on the air guitar. Then we nodded at each other and made our way back to our girlfriends. Who ever that dude was, bless you.
Lets take a gander at the Halloween episode of Silver Soons with the awesome intro voice!
Oh boy, the Facts Of Life. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and and then you have….a show that got me beat up in elementary school for admitting to having seen. I will say that I have watched it now it is 20 years later and safely away from Bobby Simmons. For some strange reason I had a crush on Joe and looking back I can’t figure out why? I guess I have a thing for Italian chicks. I think this year I am going to be Natalie for Halloween.
Now we go to the more recent but definitely dated shows. Roseanne is the one show I have never really gotten into until it has become a 3am hit on Nick@Nite. More over I never really was aware that the show had an annual Halloween episode that always tries to out do the last Halloween episode. And for that, I love you Roseanne. I never imagined myself saying that, but it is true. Sorry to step on your toes Tom, but i love you Roseanne. God I really do need help, don’t I?
Finally for today’s post we end with my favorite pick for the best Halloween episodes and that is the great mid-west classic Home Improvement. I think I was at the age to really get into the Home Improvement era. It was after Alf but right before America’s Funniest Videos so I was really tuned into the idiotic humor that Tim Allen always managed to pull off. The Halloween episodes were classic in every sense, primarily because of the creative gist the show was founded on. I mean, who can afford to throw a Halloween party like the Taylors? The YouTube selections were really bad but if you squint hard enough you can make out my favorite episode when the annoying kid gets his after being a prick. I love that show.
Well, for all those who read this keep Halloween close to your heart. It’s an American tradition and even if today’s sitcoms forget about it doesn’t mean we have to. We always have the oldies that I wish ABC, NBC and CBS would, at least for the last week of October, air instead of the crap that is out today. I do mean crap. I watched Greys Anatomy a couple of months ago and gave the TV the bird no less than 300 times.
Casserole of Disaster 
Yeah, I hate change. I hate that tried and true formulas that worked when we or rather, I was a kid no longer work.
December 1964. ALl the kids I knew on my block in a tiny little berg in South Central Texas all looked forward to this new fangled form of animation called “stop gap” and it would be featured on this new show by some producers called Rankin and Bass and it was “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”.
I try to watch Rudolph every year in an attempt to feel some of the same Christmas magic all over again. Sadly, I think I’m too jaded.
I’ll watch the Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin this year, too. But it won’t be the same.
But I guess it’s all relative.
For example: I saw Citizen Kane for the first time in my mid 30’s. It was dazzled. It wouldn’t have phased me at age 4.
Enjoyed the post. Thanks for the memories!
LK
Just look at that list of sitcoms. There aren’t any like those anymore to begin with. Awesome blog though. Makes me want to watch Nick at Nite.
I faintly remember an episode of Growing Pains that was a halloween episode where they all poured coffee down their pants and they were like “join us!!” and I think Ben or Carol or whomever lol was trying to run away from them. That was only one story in the episode I think it was a halloween episode where it was Halloween and Ben really wanted to go out trick or treating but it was raining too hard for them to let him out. So to salvage what was left of Halloween. I have a cousin he’s 14 he’s NEVER EVER gone out trick or treating! I almost took him out about 3 years ago he came over right when it was 8 pm by the time 9 came around I thought I could seriously of thrown together an outfit and took him out but by that time I thought it was too late. I think him and his mom left about 10:30 maybe I could of took him out for an hour 😦 The next year I wanted to arrange a trip to the dollar store with him and go trick or treating but his life became termoil then and I don’t think his mom would of liked my idea. Oh well. I think that is a huge part of childhood so him not having that I guess he doesn’t know what he missed but it still makes me feel bad especially because I had a chance to go with him. He adores me and I love the kid. I don’t see him that often anymore.
I also remember an episode of the Hogan’s family when they were all zombies. It was someone’s dream of course. They used to do that all the time in sitcoms. They used to have a wild out there storyline and then poof it was all a dream.
I LOVE the show Roseanne! It was so well written, funny, and tackled meaningful topics. They play Roseanne from 1:30 to 2:30 here M-F I try to watch it if I have nothing else to do. I enjoyed home improvement too I catch it from time to time.
When I have kids I want those over the top scary houses in those shows that neighbor kids look forward to going to. And I want to have nice but not too nice costumes. I know at the end of when I went trick or treating I had to scrape together a costume myself so I had to get creative. I had one of those shirts that looks like a football jersey so I stuffed shirts underneath that shirt to make my shoulders bigger. I used my sister’s dark blue eye shadow to mark lines underneath my eyes. One guy I went to his house and he was like all be damn a little football player! Martha come look at the little kiddie! And I think I got a butterfinger fun sized bar. Maybe he knew I was a girl (I had short hair at the time) or maybe he just got too much of a kick out of my outfit.
I don’t know why but I was inspired to tell you ALL of this LMAO!! I hope you enjoyed reading it though the topic was loosely based on your topic. And I hope anyone that read this post other then you enjoyed it and took something from it.
Goob I love your stories. Sometimes I think I write just to see what you respond with. 🙂
Do any sitcoms now do Halloween episodes? I think Home Improvement was the last one I saw that did it year-after-year.
I’ve been watching the George Lopez show on nick at nite and I totally think they would have done a hot-shit Halloween Episode.
As for Halloween Costumes- my familyw as pretty broke so we always cobbled our costumes out of stuff around the house- One year I was Cleopatra- they tied my hair back so it looked like I had a bob, put on the Kohl big time and my dad let me borrow a big white t-shirt.
It taught me that I absolutely HATE HATE HATE when people ask me what I am- to the point where I am a witch nearly every year becuase the pointy hat is a dead giveaway.
Kittymao – they don’t do the halloween episodes as much, but the ones I can think of are Everybody hates chris, According to Jim, and Bernie Mac. There should be at least one or two halloween that 70’s show but that show isn’t on anymore. Also friends, still standing, two and a half men (I am not 100 percent sure but I can assume because there is a kid in there they should have a halloween episode!)
And Bill, you are so damn cool. It only takes you kissing my ass to have me say that LOL!! Oh well. Because you enjoy me I enjoy you, know what i mean? I have been making and uploading youtube videos a lot lately (I’ve been trying to convince my best friend to buy me a little 100 dollar flash memory camcorder to make a broad range of videos, we’ll see)
http://www.youtube.com/Goobian that is my channel. Please don’t be shy to subscribe. And everybody that enjoys my posts subscribe! Bill it would be worth it to get a wordpress blog just to accent my youtube page. Hmmmm “touches chin and ponders” See you later bud. Have I ever told you I consider you as a friend? I just need to talk to you on the phone more often dammit.
Love this blog!! You’re a talented writer and really should start up your own x-e sort of website!! Good job!
Hey man I just wanted to say you are SOOOOOOOOOO right!!! That is one of my rituals every Halloween before I take my nieces out, I watch all the Halloween themed sitcoms from over the years that I have saved, plus some are you afraid of the dark and some goosebumps.
Since youre into the Home Improvement Halloween episodes, which are DEF some of my favorites, I wanted to give you a couple and tell you a site you can check em ALL out on.
2 Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place – THREE episodes and they are SOOOOOOOOOO good!!
I mean really really really good.
Clueless – the sitcom. It sounds stupid, BUT they had one GREAT halloween episode that was a 2 parter, and if you thought that tim allen outdid himself, wait to see the scary haunted house they throw together! its amazing. its like a who dunnit where everyone starts dying off and they dont know whos doing it. REALLY worth watching
Eerie Indiana – Great spooky show. Worth watching.
Step by Step – “Dream Lover” – REALLY great episode about a dead girl living in a house the kids try to clean up to make a haunted house in! TGIF!!
Dont forget the Family Matters episodes too about the evil ventriloquist dummy of steve urkel, STEVIL and the sequel STEVIL II. They also had an episode about vampires!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Two great halloween episodes, one thats amazingly creative about how people really turn into what they dressed up as!
A site I found most of these episodes available on in HIGH def quality is called
icefilms.info
Thanks for the posts man. LONG LIVE Sitcom Halloween episodes!!!
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When I take a look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when
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