My Top 10 Halloween episodes from live-action TV shows

For every TV series I grew up with or still watch today, I always look forward to the annual Halloween episode. It’s a special time when an all too familiar TV program can get a spooky makeover and swim with the best of what my favorite holiday has to offer. Years ago, I counted down my 10 favorite Halloween episodes from animated TV programs, but now it’s time to come back around with episodes from live action TV shows. Most of them are from Sit-com’s, which can range from childhood to adult audiences. This isn’t a list based on popularity, it’s just the Halloween themed episodes that have stuck with me the most, whether it be from my childhood or adulthood. Also, only one Halloween episode per series, otherwise I'd need to make this a top 30 list. With all that said, here are my personal top 10 favorite Halloween episodes from live action TV shows.

#10 “Boo!” - Roseanne (Season 2: Episode 7) 

Roseanne Barr is often regarded as the original queen of Halloween, as she’s the one who jump started the tradition of annual Halloween episodes. It’s a common place now days for Sit-coms to have the mandatory Halloween episode, but it wasn’t so popular prior to the mid-80’s. It was a time when the network didn’t feel comfortable releasing anything Halloween related, but Roseanne Barr was really passionate about bringing the holiday to her sit-come, and she went all out to create the feel of a Halloween at home, which was such a success that every Sit-com to follow tried to recreate the same winning formula. So, in a unique way, we have Roseanne Barr to thank for the popularity of annual Halloween episodes. Her first spooky episode “Boo!” is about as simple as they get, with no supernatural oddities, it’s just Halloween in an overly decorated home, with a walk in haunted house, and the parents hilariously trying to out prank one-another. As a kid, I was always jealous that I couldn’t create an indoor haunted house as detailed as there’s, but then again … I didn’t have a TV budget.

#9 “Epidemiology” – “Community” (Season 2: Episode 6) 

While at a Halloween costume party, the students of Greendale accidentally ingest a bio hazardous substance that’s slowly turning everyone into flesh eating zombies. 

The building gets locked down, and the remaining students need to rely on their wit, reflexes and pop-cultural knowledge to stay alive. So, “Community” has never been the most subtle of comedy shows, but still … a full-on zombie epidemic is about as epic-ly over-the-top as Halloween specials can get. The episode channels the same tone of “Shaun of the Dead” mixing its comedy with high stake zombie attacks. The zombie action on display is slightly horrific, yet hilariously paired with a play-list of ABBA songs in the background. Normally something as outlandish as this would end up being a dream the whole time, but this was an actual event, and for as silly as it got, the stakes were still real. Thanks to some government officers containing the problem, the students get their memories erased, and forget they had the most epic, yet disturbed Halloween party ever.   

#8 “The Ghost in Suite 613” – The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (Season 1: Episode 19) 

This show marked the last Sit-com I’d watch before outgrowing Disney channel all together, in fact I never even finished watching this show past its second season. Regardless, I still have some nostalgia reserved for its first spooky themed venture, which always stood out to me as one of the best Halloween episodes of any Disney Channel program. Tales of a haunted hotel room peak the interests of mischievous pranksters Zack and Cody, and a wager is made to see who will last in the room longest before freaking out. It’s a goofy battle of siblings trying to out prank one-another, yet little do they know … the room is in fact haunted. This episode is outrageous in every sense of the word, and it’s a lot of fun as a result. With lots of silly spooky encounters, an over the top Séance, and one amusing gag after another. The highlight is just seeing all the details of this one location come to life, from a possessed mirror, to a goofy dancing skeleton … it’s absolutely bonkers, and all around one of the better Disney Halloween staples. 

#7 "All-New Halloween Spooktacular" - Wandavision (Season 1: Episode 8)

The former Avenger, The Scarlet Witch, has set-up her own fairytale world, in which she has kids of her own, and her late lover, as well as her late brother are both sill alive ... and quietly living out their lives like a regular neighborhood family. However, it's on Halloween night that the horrifying truth starts to rear it's ugly head ... and many begin to suspect that something isn't quiet right. Seeing The Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision in cheaper looking Halloween costumes of their regular forms, is a treat in of itself. However, it's more then just a novelty, as this episode channels an effectively eerie atmosphere, as characters come closer to discovering secrets ... as well as new dangers along with them. As far as Live-Action Marvel shows are concerned ... I fond "Wandavision" to be a mixed bag ... but this Halloween episode was definitely a highlight.   

#6 “Stevil” – Family Matters (Season 8: Episode 7) 

Good old “Family Matters”, it started as a simple family sit-com, but was changed when one Steve Urkel entered the picture, and became the center of attention as the show’s delightful goofball … you can only imagine what kind of fun mischief he’d get into on Halloween. Well, near the end of the show, things get absolutely insane on Halloween night, as we meet a ventriloquist's dummy adorning the looks of Urkel, and it just happens to be alive ... and evil. Yeah, an evil Urkel dummy that’s terrorizing the Winslows, leaving Steve the only one who can stop the nasty puppet. It’s as goofy and over the top as it sounds, but that’s why it stands out as the most memorable of the shows Halloween episodes. Urkel naturally has his funny highlights, but the wicked dummy named Stevil is equally amusing with his share of looney quirks. His methods of disposing the Winslows are both creative and enjoyably silly. There’s a nod to the “Twilight Zone” with one family member getting transformed into a Jack-in-the-box, and there’s kind of disturbing moment in which Carl Winslow becomes a puppet himself. This is how I like my Halloween specials the most, cartoony, over the top, and completely breaking away from the norm. Although, in the life of Steve Urkel, there’s probably nuttier things then a living dummy.  
       

#5 “Don’t Have a Cow” – That’s So Raven (Season 2: Episode 2) 

Raven was like a figurehead of my young-adult’s generation … and I’m just as guilty of watching her show as everyone else from the early 2000’s. Her Halloween episode titled “Don’t Have a Cow” always stuck with me as one of the most unique and bizarre of any special. Desperate to go to an up-scale Halloween costume party, Raven and her best friend dabble into some forbidden arts to grant a single wish … go to the party with the absolute best costumes. Well, sometimes you get what you wish for! Their wish apparently comes with a jinx of sorts, and slowly transforms them into cows. Seeing their transformation gradually occur leads to some fun make-up designs, as well as leads to some funny … odd ball moments. Actually, looking back, I think this was one of the funniest episodes of the whole show, as its strength is seeing these charismatic leads react to this goofy situation.  

#4 “Halloween” – “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (Season 2: Episode 6) 

As her title suggests, Buffy is no stranger to fighting off dark creatures of the night. However, Halloween night has a distinct power all on its own, and can twist the bravest of vampire slayers into cowards. A mysterious costume shop opens just in time for trick r’ treat, and everyone, including Buffy and her friends all get new costumes. Buffy, feeling a disconnect to her femininity wants to go out as a fair maiden from mid-evil times, while her timed boyfriend goes as a soldier. In an exciting twist, the costume shop was a trap set by the villains, and now a curse is unleashed, transforming everyone into what they dressed as for trick r’ treat. Kids dressed as little monsters become monsters, Buffy’s closest friend becomes a real ghost, while her boy friend gets to be a heroic trooper, and Buffy herself is now a frightened damsel ... making her easy prey for the real vampires. The concept of becoming what you ware for Halloween has been done before in “The Simpsons” and “Halloweentown” movies, but it’s pulled off with great skill here, and turns out a very fun Halloween venture with our titular vampire slayer.
       

#3 “Hex and the Single Guy” – “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (Season 4: Episode 7) 

Of all the sit-comes I’ve actively watched … I love me some “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. It’s my absolute favorite sit-com without question, and young Will Smith as himself is one of my all-time favorite TV character performances. Naturally, I had to include a Halloween episode from this series on principle, and the funniest in my opinion is this little gem from the fourth season. 

It’s Halloween night, and the still grief-stricken Hilary seeks out a “Spirit Channeler” in hopes of contacting her dead fiancé. Will and company join her, and when they meet the “Channeler”, we discover it’s actually Otho from “Beetlejuice” … and he’s still messing with spirits. Will Smith calls him out as a fake, which outrages the Channeler something awful, and thus he puts a curse on our Fresh Prince. The next day, we see Will brings constant bad luck to the family, to the point where they don’t want him in the house anymore, that is unless he can lift the hex. Seeing these characters take on Halloween is instant gold, and the witty lines practically write themselves. Some of the funniest quips include Will’s reaction to a door mysteriously opening on its own, Hilary’s reaction to a vibrating table, and Carlton going out Trick r’ Treating as Macaulay Culkin. It’s just a really funny episode, and one that plays to all the characters strengths.

#2 “The Haunted Mask” – Goosebumps (Season 1: Episode 1) 

“Goosebums” was hands down my favorite “Spooky Themed” TV program, and featured a number of episodes that became personal staples for Halloween. The big one being “The Haunted Mask”, which has been ingrained in my mind as an annual October classic. Carly Beth can’t go anywhere without being picked on by either bullies or family members, and now she’s out for revenge. Desperate, she steals a Halloween mask from a new store, against the storekeeper's warnings. However, the mask begins to change her personality and melds with her body when she wears it. Clearly, she got more then she bargained for, as she’s now taking on the appearance of a living monster. There’s just something about the look and feel of this episode that’s always stuck with me as eerie, yet exciting. It’s just a classic “Goosebumps” venture, with a memorable center villain, and it has a great premise to go along with the Halloween season.

Before I reveal my number 1 favorite, here are some honorable mentions …

 “The Haunting of Taylor House” – (Home Improvement)

“A Very Scary Story” - (Even Stevens) 

“Slutty Pumpkin” - (How I Met Your Mother)  

“Night of the Day of the Dead” - (Lizzie McGuire) 

“The Rocky Horror Glee Show” - (Glee) 

#1 “Good Will Haunting” – Sabrina: The Teenage Witch (Season 3: Episode 56)  

It’s Halloween again, and another family gathering is upon the Spellman family. Sabrina this time is spared from going to a boring family social, and decides to host a double date at her house, where everyone watches “scary movies”. However, Sabrina’s great aunt Bula is determined to make sure she has some spooky fun, and thus mails her an evil doll named Molly. Once the doll comes to life, she terrorizes the house guests, locks them in the house, kills the power and unleashes all the classic monsters like Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Bride of Dracula and the Wolfman. Even the Invisible Man makes a cameo as a delivery guy. Meanwhile, Sabrina’s aunts find out that their family party is in-fact a façade to lure people into an insane asylum that no-one is allowed to escape from. 

Thus, the chase is on as Sabrina and friends try to survive being trapped in a house with an evil doll and killer monsters, while her aunts try to escape a loony bin full of crazies. Strait to the point, this is my favorite of Sabrina’s Halloween episodes by far, and it’s personally my favorite of all Halloween episodes from live action TV shows. Everything about this one just screams Halloween, from seeing all the classic monsters, to a musical chase set to Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash”, and the episode is even book ended with the talking black cat Salem acting like a TV horror host in a gothic setting. The Molly Dolly also makes for a great one-shot holiday villain, and is a loving homage to Talking Teena from “The Twilight Zone”. 

She’s also voiced by the great Tress MacNeille, who’s best known for voicing cartoon characters like Gadget from “Chip N’ Dale Rescue Rangers” and Dot from “Animaniacs”. Sabrina’s loony great Aunt Bula is also a very fun one-shot character. Other note-worthy guest appearances include the late Gary Owens, as well as the “then living” cast members of the comedy show “Laugh-In”. All in all, even if you have no interest in this show as a whole, and only care to binge watch Halloween episodes from select sitcoms, this is one I’d recommend checking out. The jokes are great, the premise is great, the villain is great, the holiday is present in every frame, and there’s no shortage of talented guest stars. 

  
Thanks for reading my countdown, and let's continue to make every day in October feel like Halloween.