With Halloween just around the corner, The Classic TV Database is looking back at our favorite Halloween-themed episodes of all time. Our favorites are in no particular order.
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Roseanne
BOO!, 10/31/89
This is the original in what became a tradition of clever Halloween episodes for the series. This also happens to be Season 2, arguably the best season of the show. It has everything that made the show great, from Roseanne's unique parenting style, to the dynamic and bantering relationship to her and Dan, and as always, the woes of living the working class life. The first of the annual Halloween episodes finds Roseanne doing her best to scare Dan who is waiting to hear about an important business deal going through.
Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids
Fat Albert's Halloween Special
The Fat Albert Halloween Special, 10/24/77
Rudy and his new friend Devery plan to spend Halloween playing practical jokes on the elderly. They both take aim on Mrs. Bakewell, an old widow living in a spooky house by the graveyard. But the kids get the ultimate scare when two of them don't return from "trick or treating!" Did Mrs. Bakewell have something to do with their mysterious disappearance?
Family Matters
A Dark and Stormy Night, 10/28/94
Fans of Family Matters remember "A Dark and Stormy Night" in which Richie is disappointed because he can't go trick-or-treating. To make it up, Steve, Waldo, and the Winslows cheer him up by weaving a 19th century tale about the Duke of Urkel's battle against a vampire family, the Von Winslows.
M*A*S*H
Trick or Treatment, 11/1/82
It's time for the annual 4077th Halloween party. Hawkeye is dressed as Superman, B.J. is a clown, Margaret is a geisha girl, Colonel Potter is a cowboy and Klinger is Al Capone. But it's not much of a party for the surgeons when unexpected wounded guests show up; Charles tries to help a slovenly marine who has a billiard ball stuck in his mouth; Father Mulcahy inadvertently saves a man's life when he is presumed dead.
Beverly Hills, 90210
Halloween, 10/31/1991
One thing about Halloween parties on TV is the array of costume ideas viewers can obtain. This episode of 90210 is no exception. Perhaps the funniest parts are when Donna is shown constantly stumbling in her mermaid costume… leave it to Donna. Ultimately though, this episode brings about the serious issue of rape when Kelly shows up in a revealing "friendly witch" costume and catches a college student's attention. Fortunately, Donna and Brenda come to her rescue and Steve's fist makes contact with the guy (Shocking!). One thing missing from the party: Brandon Walsh.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Hex and the Single Guy, 10/25/93
This episode is the epitome of unrealistic entertainment, as the entire episode takes place in Will's dream. With Hilary's insistence, the family visits a psychic who is supposedly able to reach out to Hilary's late fiancé, Trevor. When Will disbelieves the psychic's abilities, a curse is brought upon the whole family and inevitably, they all blame Will. The ridiculous hexes the family members encounter paired with Carlton's portrayal of Macaulay Culkin made for a Halloween episode that was literally out of this world.
Home Improvement
The Haunting of Taylor House, 10/28/1992
The little details are what make this episode hilarious. Keep in mind: Most of this occurs during Tim's "Catacombs of Terror," his version of a haunted house. When Brad's girlfriend Jennifer shows up to the house with another boy (the two are even dressed alike), Tim makes it his mission to scare him the most. Solely with Tim dressed as a woman, Jill as a carrot, Brad as Raggedy Andy (a "doll") and Mark as his father, there is no reason this episode would go without laughter. And, did anyone else catch Wilson's carved pumpkin… of himself?
Friends
The One with the Halloween Party, 11/1/2001
A typical episode of Friends with uptight Monica and Chandler's one-liners, this episode truly relied on the characters' Halloween costumes to get laughter. Although the three women were not dressed very uniquely, the men sure made up for it. With Sputnik "Doody" Ross and Chandler the pink bunny arm wrestling, and Joey coming dressed as Chandler, this Halloween episode is not surprisingly in the top three.
The Addams Family
Halloween - Addams Style, 10/29/65
The Addams family has prepared for an evening of fright, for it is their favorite holiday, Halloween. As Gomez carves the jack-o-lantern and Grandmama takes Pugsley and Wednesday out for a night of trick-or-treating, two bank robbers, on the run from the police, decide to hide out at the Addams home.
Mr. Belvedere
Halloween, 10/31/86
George is to become a member of The Happy Guys of Pittsburgh but on the night of the induction, which happens to be Halloween, George and Marsha discover the Happy Guys have a dark side. Meanwhile, Mr. Belvedere shows a different side after he goes wild toilet papering a house while trick or treating with Wesley.
The Cosby Show
Halloween, 10/31/85
While a reluctant Cliff dresses up to take Rudy and her friends trick or treating, Vanessa hosts a Halloween Party. She is thrilled when Robert, the cutest boy in school shows up and spends the majority of the night using her friends Janet as a go-between with one of Robert's friends because neither of the two want to admit they like each other till they know their feelings are returned.
Bewitched
Trick or Treat, 10/28/65
In the second Halloween episode of the series, Endora turns Darrin into a werewolf when he refuses to let Samantha go to a witches' Halloween ceremony.
The Brady Bunch
Fright Night, 10/27/72
This episode originally aired in October, 1972 and although Halloween wasn't mentioned in the theme, it was definitely a spooky episode. The Brady kids take to playing scary pranks on each other, but when their parents (Robert Reed and Florence Henderson) tell them to stop it, they decide to team up and scare the heck out of Alice (Ann B. Davis), the family housekeeper. The prank backfires and a disaster occurs, at least by Brady standards.
Happy Days
Haunted, 10/29/74
This 1970's series about the 1950s' featured several Halloween episodes, but this episode from the second season reigns as a classic. Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) is nervous about going to his buddy Ralph's Halloween party, which is being held at the old Simpson house, allegedly home of the headless ghost old lady Simpson.
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