Welcome to A Fortnight of Fright! Two weeks of Halloween any way you can possibly see it, hosted by me (The Book Addict’s Guide) and my wonderful co-host, Alyssa @ Books Take You Places!
In this edition of A Fortnight of Fright, we’re delving into our favorite Halloween TV episodes! I know scary movies are probably more popularly associated with Halloween, but my favorites have always been the TV specials and Halloween-themed episodes.
Home Improvement: Home Improvement is notorious for its Halloween episodes. In fact, they made one almost every season, and as a child of the 90s, these episodes were one of my favorite parts about the season! I always loved catching these episodes on TV every year, and in fact, I even went as Heidi from Tool Time one year for Halloween!
Thanks to Wikipedia, I’ve got a list of all of the ones that aired throughout the series, and thanks to YouTube (although I somewhat question the legality of these episodes being up on YouTube… but they’re up for our viewing pleasure nonetheless), you can watch some of them even if they don’t air on TV!
- Home Improvement: “Haunting of Taylor House” (1992) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three)
- Home Improvement: “Crazy for You” (1993) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three)
- Home Improvement: “Borland Ambition” (1994) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three)
- Home Improvement: “Let Them Eat Cake” (1995) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three)
- Home Improvement: “I Was a Teenage Taylor” (1996) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three) **This is by far my favorite one!!!
- Home Improvement: “A Night to Dismember” (1997) (Part One/Part Two/Part Three)
- Home Improvement: “Bewitched” (1998) (Part One/Part Two)
Boy Meets World: Boy Meets World has had its share of Halloween episodes, but my personal favorite episode of ALL TIME is definitely “And Then There Was Shawn” from season five. The kids are locked up in detention at school when a serial killer shows up and we get a hilarious parody and the Boy Meets World take of slasher films.
How I Met Your Mother: How I Met Your Mother is still one of my favorite TV shows. Going all the way back to season one, we have the episode of The Slutty Pumpkin (it was carved in strategic places). I think this episode is hilarious, and although I wasn’t really a fan of The Slutty Pumpkin Returns (featuring Katie Holmes as said Pumpkin), I applaud HIMYM for closing that loop! And of course, I love Barney’s costume ideas.
Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place: Remember Ryan Reynolds before his movie career? I sure do. He was Berg on Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place! This was a hilarious little sit com and well, the title implies it all. I remember their Halloween episodes being some of the best! Sadly, I couldn’t find ANY of them on YouTube (I would have loved to see them again!) but hopefully someone else remembers them too!
Others with honorable mention: The Office Halloween episodes (mostly because I love the costumes they come up with and one of my friends showed up in Jim’s 3 hole punch costume one year!!), Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Modern Family, and Chuck.
What did our fellow bloggers have to say?
Amanda at Appraising Pages shares with us her favorite Halloween episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 2 Episode 6 -“Halloween”
“Well when it comes to iconic shows’ Halloween episode, you can’t get a more self-explanatory title than this one! Buffy is my absolute favorite show of all-time, and there’s so much room for a fun story because the show already has a horror theme so the monsters are there already to play with. If you’ve never seen Buffy before but want to watch some fun Halloween-themed shows to get into the spirit, you can watch this episode without getting lost. At this point in the show, Buffy and Angel are aware of their mutual attraction but are still wading in the awkward waters of not-yet-official-dating. Because Angel is an almost 300-year-old vampire, Buffy decides to dress up as an 18th century Victorian woman for Halloween, thinking Angel would swoon over the blast from the past. Willow is a ghost, and Xander is an army man. All is going well until the costume shop owner turns out to be a warlock from Giles’ past, Ethan Rayne. He casts a spell over the costumes that cause their wearers to turn into their costumes! This renders the Slayer as nothing but an innocent and naive Victorian lady as evil takes over Sunnydale. What can the gang do? I’m not sharing the ending, you’ll have to watch! Enjoy!”
7 thoughts on “A Fortnight of Fright: Halloween-themed TV Episodes”
I loved all the 2 Guys & a Girl Halloween episodes especially. Great share.
AH, Boy Meets World! I have such nostalgia 😉
I used to watch Home Improvement all the time. I didn’t realize they did a Halloween episode almost every season. I remember the one where Brad through a Halloween party while his parents were out. And of course he got caught making out with a girl.
That is totally awesome that you dressed up as Heidi! Great idea.
Oh my gosh, I LOVED “And Then There Was Shawn.” I remember being genuinely freaked out the first time I saw it. Buffy’s “Halloween” is such a classic, but my favorite BtVS Halloween episode was always season 4’s “Fear Itself.”
I love this post, especially the inclusion of Buffy! Nearly every episode could potentially work for Halloween, but the one you picked is perfect.
This is great! I didn’t realize there were so many Halloween episodes from Home Improvement and I LOVE How I Met Your Mother. I just watched the Slutty Pumpkin episode just a couple of days ago.