By Michael Lyons
If you’ve already watched “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” as well as the seasonal TV Halloween offerings from everyone from Garfield to Shrek, you may have plumbed the depths of Halloween television specials.
Unlike Christmas, there isn’t a tremendous catalogue of television specials that theme to spooky season, at least from a popular perspective. If you’re a fellow Halloween pop culture junkie, you would disagree, but many casual viewers may be looking for more small screen offerings to round out the season.
What follows are some Halloween TV specials that have all but fallen through the cracks into long-lost, You Tube obscurity. They may help with not only adding to your season, but could also become part of your seasonal viewing rotation, for years to come:
“The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” (1976)
If you had a file of “This has to be seen to be believed” TV shows this would need to be at the forefront of that file.
The famously snarky comedian, with his trademark trembly voice hosts a special unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
The hour packs in more guests than you can imagine: Florence Henderson, Tim Conway, rock group KISS (you read that right!), Roy Kelly (who starred as Pinky Toscadaro on “Happy Days”), Margaret Hamilton (reprising her most famous role the Wicked Witch from “The Wizard of Oz”) and Billie Hayes as Witchiepoo from “H.R. Pufnstuf.” There’s even cameos from Betty White and Donny and Marie Osmond.
“The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” fully embraces Halloween and also serves as a time capsule of the ‘70’s (complete with a sketch about CB radios) as well as a prime specimen from the golden age of TV variety shows.
If you have any interest in television’s past or pop culture, this special needs to be seen. Just be warned, once it’s seen, it can’t be unseen and may just become part of your Halloween viewing rituals.
“Witch’s Night Out” (1978)
This Canadian produced animated special features a story steeped perfectly in Halloween, as it centers on a Witch who decides to do something about the fact that no one seems to be appropriately scared on Halloween.
Coming to a small town, she befriends three children and transforms them into a werewolf, a ghost and Frankenstein monster before they set out for a Halloween party. This turns the citizens of the town into an angry mob and it’s the witch who must save the day.
There’s a nice, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” acceptance theme here that many may not see, as the animation is overtly-stylized (each character is a different color and shape and the main character of the witch doesn’t look like your traditional Halloween witch), This is really more of a product of the time in which the special was produced and actually adds to its lower-budget charm.
Plus, “Witch’s Night Out” features comedy legends Gilda Radner and Catherine O’Hara as voices, so that, coupled with pure curiosity, makes this special one to check out if you’ve never seen it.
“The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t” (1979)
The concept of all the world’s most popular monsters coming together is a trope that has been used many times through the years, from 1967’s “Mad Monster Party” to 2012’s “Hotel Transylvania.”
But none of them did so while utilizing a cast of some of TV’s biggest stars of the ‘70’s.
In the live-action “The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t,” Dracula (Judd Hirsch), the Wolfman (Jack Wiley), Frankenstein’s Monster (John Schuck), Igor (Henry Gibson) and the Mummy (Robert Fitch) must convince a Witch (Mariette Hartley) to make her annual flight across the moon, so that Halloween can actually happen (apparently that’s a thing!).
The special was directed by Bruce Bilson, a veteran of such shows as “Get Smart” and “The Odd Couple” and has some of the quick, one-line joke sensibility of a sitcom, which is all delivered perfectly by the cast of TV veterans who balance tongue-in-cheek with earnestness.
It’s also another great time capsule, as “The Halloween that Almost Wasn’t” concludes with the characters at a disco. What better place to spend Halloween?
“The Halloween Tree” (1993)
Based on a famed novel by legendary author Ray Bradbury, this animated special from the Hanna-Barbera Studio follows four friends who, while out trick-or-treating on Halloween night, go out in search of their lost friend and meet up with the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) who teaches the children about the history and heritage of Halloween traditions in a most magical way.
Narrated by the author Ray Bradbury himself, “The Halloween Tree” is compelling, mysterious and, yes, educational. However, at a little over an hour long, with a limited budget, the story screams out for a bigger, feature-length treatment, especially since the book is so beloved.
Hollywood, if you’re listening, “The Halloween Tree” is ready for a re-boot.
As Halloween of 2020 looks to follow suit with the rest of the year and be most...unique...any of these specials, once dusted off, could prove to be perfect companions during “spooky season,” in what’s already been a most spooky year.
Sources:
IMDb
Wikipedia
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