Halloween TV: Castle

I, unfortunately have never seen the episode listed here because I just got into Castle this past year.  But! I heard that they are planning a Ghostbusters-themed Halloween episode for this year.  Yay!

Season 2, Episode 6, 10/26/11

Vampire Weekend

It's close to Halloween, and a man is found murdered in a graveyard - with a stick through his heart, and sporting fangs. Castle and Beckett track the murderer to a vampire cult, all the while Castle is trying on costumes for his Halloween party - costume mandatory!

Halloween TV: Old School TGIF

There are probably more shows I could add to this post.  In my research, I couldn't find any Halloween-centric episodes of Full House.  WTF, Full House?  How could you get away with being a family sitcom on air for, like, a million years and never have a Halloween episode?  Well, at least Family Matters made up for you by having several good Halloween episodes.

Family Matters



Season 2, Episode 7, 10/26/90

Dog Day Halloween

Steve and Laura are held hostage during a Halloween bank robbery.


Season 4, Episode 7, 10/30/92

Whose Kid Is it Anyway?

Richie is upset when Eddie’s hot Halloween date conflicts with his promise to take his little cousin trick or treating.


Season 6, Episode 6, 10/28/94

Dark and Stormy Night

On a dark and stormy Halloween night the Winslows play Pass the Ghost Story in which Carl and Harriet are 19th century vampires licking their chops over the wayfaring Sir Steven.


Season 8, Episode 7, 10/25/96

Stevil

Ventriloquist Steve’s look-alike dummy comes alive on Halloween.


Season 9, Episode 7, 10/31/97

Stevil II: This Time He’s Not Alone

Stevil, the evil ventriloquist dummy, is back to haunt Urkel, but now he’s brought along a nightmarish sidekick, Carlsbad. Together Stevil and Carlsbad attempt to take over the souls of Urkel and Carl—wreaking havoc on the whole Winslow household.



Perfect Strangers


Season 4, Episode 3, 10/28/88

Aliens

Larry and Balki throw a Halloween party with their friends and after six hours of watching scary movies, Larry wakes up and discovers that Balki is an alien from Planet Mypos and is turning everyon into Mypiots by putting vests on them.


Season 7, Episode 6, 10/25/91

Fright Night

It’s up to Larry and Balki to rid the house of a ghost.

Halloween TV: Girlfriends

I have something shameful to admit: I'm a closet Girlfriends junkie.  I absolutely love this show, and I am completely mortified that I do.  I will watch the crap out of it when they show reruns on Oxygen or BET.  I thought they did one more Halloween-ish episode in one of the later seasons, but I may be mistaken.  Both the episodes listed here have great Halloween party scenes.

Season 1, Episode 6, 10/30/00


The Remains of the Date

Joan plans an elaborate scheme to get revenge on William for the latest in a series of Halloween pranks. Toni is put off when her date asks her to engage in a threesome—with a stuffed animal.


Season 2, Episode 7, 10/29/01

Trick or Truth

Toni suffers a breakdown after Greg cheats on her, then reveals he only took her back so he could get revenge against her. Lynn and Maya try to help her pick up the pieces, but Joan is less than sympathetic. Without Toni to round up male guests, William finds himself as the only man at Joan’s Halloween party, and becomes overwhelmed by all of the female attention.

Halloween TV: What I Like About You

I used to watch this show on Sunday nights when I was visiting my then-boyfriend (now husband) in another city.  We usually took naps on Sunday afternoons and I always woke up first because I was anxious and sad about leaving.  So I'd turn on the TV and this was the only thing on network TV on Saturday at 5 or 6.  I'd turn it off as soon as the boyfriend woke up, though, because...embarassing!  Now I'll catch it occasionally if I'm up late at night and there's a rerun on TeenNick.

Season 3, Episode 7, 10/29/04


Ghost of a Chance

The group celebrate Halloween by going to a party at the diner, where Holly and Ben dress up as Sonny & Cher, Gary and Danielle as Ike & Tina Turner, and Tina and Vince as Homer and Jessica Simpson. Lauren attempts to relax Val by taking her to a dude ranch that turns out to be something quite different. Val is shocked and angry to learn that Holly has dropped out of college to manage Danielle's potential music career, and when Val insists that she return to school, Holly concocts a deal with her.


Season 4, Episode 6, 10/28/05

Halloween

When Holly feels that she is ready to take her relationship to the next level with Vince, she is determined to make Vince feel the same. Meanwhile, Charlie proposes to Val, who doesn't want to tell him that Vic is actually her husband. When Vic feels like the 'monkey in the middle,' he decides that he and Val should take a break from each other. Then Val realizes she really does need Vic.

Halloween TV: New Last Year

A bunch of shows in their first or second season did Halloween episodes last year.  I hope they all continue the tradition!

Cougar Town


Season 2, Episode 6, 10/27/10

You Don’t Know

Jules' dad visits for Halloween, and she is determined to reconnect with him, even to the point that she dresses for him in Halloween, his favorite holiday. Meanwhile, Grayson hits it off with Jules dad, Bobby wants to remain being baby Stan's guardian, if anything happen to Ellie and Andy, and Laurie reminds Travis how fun can Halloween be.


Glee

Season 2, Episode 5, 10/26/10

Rocky Horror

The kids perform songs from Rocky Horror Picture Show.


Modern Family


Season 2, Episode 6, 10/27/11

Halloween

Claire, in her love for Halloween, makes the house look spooky for the trick or treaters. She wants to give each family member a role to play, but many problems come up to prevent it. Cameron hates Halloween because of a traumatic childhood experience, Mitchell had a bad day at work, and Gloria is acting weird because Jay and Manny teased her accent.


Parenthood

Season 2, Episode 6, 10/19/11

Orange Alert

Zeek goes overboard with the Halloween celebration and gets upset when Haddie, Amber and Drew refuse to join in the fun. Meanwhile, Adam and Kristina are nervous about Max's new plans for the holiday. Sarah's relation with Gordon gets even more complicated when she confronts him about the kiss. Meanwhile, Julia struggles with women right when Sydney chooses a costume she doesn't approve of.


The Middle


Season 2, Episode 6, 10/27/11

Halloween

Frankie tries to convince Mike to dress in a costume for an adult neighborhood Halloween party. Meanwhile, Reverend TimTom is back in town and is hosting a Halloween party at the church, which helps to lift Sue’s spirits, Axl and his friends go to an exclusive haunted house, and Brick chooses a unique Halloween costume.

Halloween TV: Supernatural

This is a show you'd think would be a natural fit with Halloween, but they've only had one explicitly Halloween-y episode.  I guess because it's about creepy, spooky stuff year round, they felt they didn't need to acknowledge the high holiday of all that is spooky and creepy?  If so, that's bull, Supernatural!

Season 4, Episode 7, 10/30/08


It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester

Sam and Dean meet Castiel and his fellow angel Uriel, who warn the brothers to avoid intervening in a town where a witch is attempting to summon the demon Samhain, opening one of the Seals.

Halloween TV: Bones

This was the episode that got me watching this show, which is now a regular on my DVR.

Season 3, Episode 5, 10/30/07


Mummy in the Maze

A Halloween pumpkin patch maze becomes a lot scarier when the mummified remains of a young girl are found in it. Booth and Brennan go to investigate, and are shocked to find that the victim has been dead for over a year. To make the situation even creepier, a second body is found at a Halloween amusement park funhouse, again mummified, but this time dead for approximately two years. Booth and Brennan get wind of a third missing girl and link her to the person who killed the other two girls. They must now race to find the killer before he or she strikes again this Halloween.

Halloween TV: Malcom in the Middle

Why did I have it in my mind that this was one of the shows that had good Halloween episodes every year?  I only found one in the descriptions on tv.com.  Fox shows kind of get the shaft when it comes to Halloween episodes because almost all of them get pre-empted for the World Series in late October.  Damn you, baseball!

Season 7, Episode 4, 10/28/05


Halloween

After Malcom and Reese go on a haunted Halloween tour of the neighborhood, they discover that there was a multiple murder and then suicide twenty years ago. Malcolm winds up sick and stays home with Hal who spends the whole night freaked out about the deaths. Reese and Dewey egg a man by accident and he starts chasing them. Lois' work gets chaotic, ruining her night.

Halloween TV: Reba

Yet another goofy, dumb sitcom I didn't really catch until after it had gone off the air.  These types of sitcoms really are like the comfort food of TV for anyone who grew up in the heyday of Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, etc.  Bonus: watch out for the classic Elaborate Prank Halloween Episode in Best Li'l Haunted House in Texas!

Season 3, Episode 7, 10/31/03


The Ghost and Mrs. Hart

Reba convinces Barbra Jean her house is haunted by the previous owner, but the joke wears thin when Barbra Jean moves in with her. After a "ghost-ridding" ceremony, Reba finds out that after all this time Barbra Jean thinks she stole Brock from her.


Season 5, Episode 6, 10/28/05

Best Li’l Haunted House In Texas

Reba is beyond disappointed when her plans for a fright-filled Halloween fall through because everyone in the family has other plans. Meanwhile, Van's green-eyed monster comes out when Cheyenne starts spending an inordinate amount of time with her handsome sponsor, Frank.

Halloween TV: 8 Simple Rules

This is another one I didn't watch until it came on in reruns on ABC Family and I saw that they had done a couple Halloween episodes.  I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but I cannot stand John Ritter.  Like, it's almost pathological, just the sound or sight of his name gives me the pee shivers of grossness.  I don't know why, it's just one of those weirdly visceral reactions that's inexplicable.  Might this show have gone for a perfect record and had a Halloween episode in the second season if Ritter hadn't died in early October that year?  I guess we'll never know.

Season 1, Episode 7, 10/29/02


Trick or Treehouse

Paul seems to be the only one looking forward to a family Halloween, as Bridget, Kerry and Rory make plans to spend the spooky evening away from home and with their friends. But Paul's wish to relive the past by having the family get together for one last Halloween campout in the old treehouse may turn out to be the biggest nightmare of the evening.


Season 3, Episode 6, 10/29/04

Halloween

Kerry doubts Bridget's ability to put together the school's Halloween party as part of her Student Body President duties. Meanwhile C.J. is hired as the party's security guard and sets his sights on catching Rory pulling off a prank, and Jim finds himself under attack by the neighborhood kids when he refuses to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

Halloween TV: Hope & Faith

Cross my heart, I never watched this show when it was on (but maybe I should have, considering it featured in probably one of the last iterations of "TGIF").  It's a really dumb sitcom, but I kind of like dumb sitcoms sometimes.  Sitcoms these days are too smart and good and clever, dammit!  Except Two and a Half Men, but that one's so bad even I can't watch it.  So, truly, I have never watched this show until I caught these Halloween shows on Oxygen as reruns years later.  But bravo to you, Hope & Faith, for putting out a Halloween episode each year you were on the air!  And not only that, but for going all out in the second season for the insane/improbable/drawn-out Halloween prank episode!  Not seen since the classic sitcoms of the late 80's/early 90's!

Season 1, Episode 6, 10/31/03


Hope Has No Faith (The Halloween Story)

On Halloween, Faith meets and falls for a guy named Paolo. Hope, of course, thinks that he is just another idiot, leading her on a spy caper to find out. Back at home, Sydney gives Hayley tips on how to attract her math partner.

Season 2, Episode 5, 10/29/04

Faith Scare-Field

Hope and Faith receive an invitation to a Halloween party from their crazy next door neighbor, whom they terrorized as girls. Halloween turns out to be scary when the woman gets her revenge- by trapping the women in a torture chamber.

Season 3, Episode 6, 10/28/05

The Halloween Party

There’s a neighborhood Halloween party contest between Hope and her neighbor Trudy but what can Faith do when she is invited to Trudy's party as the date for Trudy's rather attractive cousin?

Halloween TV: That 70's Show

Is it weird of me to admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for this show simply because I thought my husband looked like Topher Grace when I first met him?  A little?  Yeah.  They only did two Halloween specials in the early seasons, but they were good ones.

Season 2, Episode 5, 10/26/99


Halloween

The gang, looking for something fun to do on Halloween, revisits their old grammar school, where they find their permanent records. Looking through them, they find out some interesting things about each other. Fez discovers trick or treating.


Season 3, Episode 4, 10/31/00

Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die

A Halloween episode filled with parodies of Alfred Hitchcock movies: "Rear Window", "Vertigo", "The Birds", "North By Northwest" and "Psycho”.

Halloween TV: Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Yeah, this is what I meant when I said earlier that I would watch almost any show that had a Halloween special episode.  I mean, how can you be a show about a witch and not have great Halloween specials?

Season 1, Episode 5, 10/25/96


A Halloween Story

When she’s forced to attend a family affair on Halloween, Sabrina sends a clone to Harvey's party, where the simple-minded stand-in (who can only speak three sentences) agrees to streak naked in order to liven up the festivities. Meanwhile, the real Sabrina desperately tries to ditch her relatives: an obnoxious socialite and her brat of a daughter, whose hobby is putting people she dislikes into jars.

Season 2, Episode 7, 10/31/97

A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It

Angry that Libby is having a Halloween party that pointedly excludes them, Valerie blurts out that she and Sabrina are hosting the coolest possible party at Sabrina's house. When a reluctant Sabrina backs up her friend, she discovers that her aunt's new furniture delivery includes talking chairs and couches infested with talking termites; and when Libby's bored guests crash her party, she conjures up 10,000 Maniacs to distract her schoolmates, who assume everything that happens is a "cool" Halloween special effect.

Season 3, Episode 6, 10/30/98

Good Will Haunting

With Halloween rapidly approaching, Sabrina, Hilda and Zelda get invited to their Aunt Beulah's annual celebration. Seeing they have finally ran out of excuses for staying away from her party for the past 500 years, Zelda reluctantly sends back their RSVP, much to Hilda's displeasure. Since Sabrina made plans with Valerie and Harvey, she gets to ditch the party to spend the holiday with her friends. As a result, she gets an unexpected surprise from Aunt Beulah when a magical talking doll is sent over from the Other Realm. It doesn't take long for the "Molly Dolly" to start terrorizing Sabrina and her guests after her aunts leave for their party. Hilda and Zelda also get their own surprise when they discover that Aunt Beulah's Halloween is seemingly held in an insane asylum.

Season 4, Episode 6, 10/29/99

Episode LXXXI: The Phantom Menace

When Sabrina gets a job at a nearby coffee house, she decides to work on Halloween night instead of celebrating the holiday with her aunts. After Hilda and Zelda learn of Sabrina's plans, they try to warn her that she can't run away from Halloween, but Sabrina refuses to take their warning seriously. As Hilda and Zelda anxiously prepare for their Halloween dinner with Edgar Allan Poe, Sabrina and Dreama eventually celebrate the holiday in their own way: when a group of Other Realm Zombies arrive the coffee house to help them "experience the fun of Halloween”.

Season 5, Episode 6, 10/27/00

The Halloween Scene

After she learns Hilda and Zelda won't be home for Halloween, Sabrina decides to throw a party at their place- and soon regrets the decision when Other Realm monsters show up at the party. Also, Sabrina must repair the love of two monsters: Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein when Roxie gets in the way of their meaningful relationship. Meanwhile Salem stalks a college girl and Hilda and Zelda's outfits may not be appropriate for the galaxy opening.

Season 6, Episode 4, 10/26/01

Murder on the Halloween Express

Sabrina takes a holiday idea from Salem and brings her friends on the spooky Mystery Train for a Halloween adventure. There's just one problem: It's in the Other Realm. Sabrina soon learns that the mortals can leave only if she solves the puzzling mystery when she goes back into something out of a 1920 mystery movie.

Halloween TV: 90's Must See TV

Here are a few Thursday night shows that only had a few Halloween episodes between them, so I'll put them together in one post.  How is it that Friends only had one Halloween episode in its entire run?  Weak, Friends, weak.

Will & Grace


Season 1, Episode 5, 10/26/98

Boo! Humbug

Will and Grace plan to spend a serious Halloween together watching Ingmar Bergman movies at home - until Harlin drops off his over-eager kids at their place when he's called away on business. Meanwhile, Jack convinces Karen to accompany him to the downtown parade where she becomes an honourary drag queen.

Season 5, Episode 5, 10/31/02

It’s the Gay Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Will and Grace take a day off work to go on a Pumpkin-picking bike ride with Leo and his pal in the Catskills; meanwhile, Karen decides that she has to tell Stan about her affair with Lionel Banks, only to find that there's something he isn't telling her.


Friends

Season 8, Episode 6, 11/1/01

The One with the Halloween Party

Monica and Chandler decide to throw a costumed Halloween party. Phoebe runs into Ursula, who’s getting married next week, and invites her and her fiancé to the party.

 
Frasier


Season 5, Episode 3, 10/28/97

Halloween

Everyone attends Niles’ literary themed Halloween party, including Roz, who tells Frasier she may be pregnant.



Season 9, Episode 6, 10/30/01

Room Full of Heroes

Frasier holds a "Dress as Your Hero" Halloween party, but nobody can tell who he is. Meanwhile, Niles dresses as Martin, Daphne as Elton John, Martin as Joe DiMaggio and Roz as Wonder Woman for the party.



Season 10, Episode 5, 10/29/02

Tales From the Crypt

Frasier is infuriated when Bulldog successfully pulls several practical jokes on him. He vows to get revenge, and plots an elaborate prank that he takes way too seriously. Martin and Roz predict that he will fail because he is terrible at carrying out pranks. Frasier seeks the help of an unlikely ally to prove them wrong. Meanwhile, Mrs. Moon wages a prank war of her own against a trick or treater who eggs Niles' door after he forgets to buy Halloween candy.