by Michael Lyons
"Halloween Adjacent." That’s what my good friends Scott and Andy call any movie or TV show that isn't about Halloween but is perfect within the Halloween season.
And, there are a lot of classic TV sitcoms that fit within the "Halloween Adjacent" mold. Sure, there are no Jack-o-lanterns or trick-or-treaters, but watching these feels like October.
Here are just four sitcom scares from the 60s and 70s to make your season a little spookier and maybe even a little sillier.
"It May Look Like a Walnut," The Dick Van Dyke Show, February 6, 1963
A darkly humorous episode of the classic sitcom. Rob (Dick Van Dyke) watches a science fiction horror film and wakes up the next day to find that the film's events have come true: the earth has been invaded by an alien from the planet Twilo (played by comedian Danny Thomas, sporting a British accent). The aliens are using walnuts to take over the earth to remove everyone's imaginations and thumbs.
It all culminates in Rob coming home to find a closet full of walnuts, with his wife, Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) floating on top. Is it all a dream? No spoilers here.
No wonder this episode is one of the series' most famous and iconic. It's very clever and just plain...well...nuts!
"Up at Bat," Gilligan's Island, September 12, 1966
Gilligan (Bob Denver) is bitten on the neck by a bat and becomes convinced he will transform into a vampire.
He is so convinced this will happen that he dreams he is Count Dracula, with the other castaways also appearing in his dream, playing such roles as Nina Harker and Sherlock Holmes.
It's the usual cartoony comedy that was the cornerstone of Gilligan's Island, but, who cares, it's so much fun, and the cast seems to be having a great time re-creating the Hammer horror films in Gilligan's dream. And, keeping with the theme, there's even a parody of Batman!
"Fright Night," The Brady Bunch, October 27, 1972
Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz also brought The Brady Bunch to TV, and brought some scary fun to one of this show's episodes, as well.
"Fright Night" debuted in late October and is probably the closest to a Halloween episode of the bunch, even though Halloween is never mentioned. The Brady kids attempt to scare each other in elaborate ways, using projections, cellophane for ghosts, and scary voices on a cassette recorder (ah, the 70s).
However, things get out of hand when they attempt to frighten Alice (Ann B. Davis), resulting in a usual Brady punishment - revoking the allowance.
The fun of this episode is the creative ways the kids try to scare each other. Their "home-spun" pranks could have only been pulled off with the assistance of a special effects artist, but we don't come to The Brady Bunch for realism; we come for comfort-food TV, and this episode delivers.
"The Exorcists," The Odd Couple, December 7, 1973
Unlikely roommates Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) believe that a ghost is living in their window unit air conditioner. After Felix's seance fails, they go to an exorcist - the very funny Victor Buono, most famous as the villain King Tut from TV's Batman.
Felix's gullibility and enthusiasm, coupled with Oscar's cynicism, are in full comic effect. And how Oscar finally removes the ghost is a funny capper to the episode. Plus, stay tuned for the "special chant" that Oscar teaches Felix at the conclusion.
And, there they are, just a few flashbacks from TV past, to help you get prepped this Spooky Season and stay very adjacent to Halloween!
Want to "scare up," some more good reading and podcasts? Head over to my website: Words From Lyons !
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