MY FAVORITE EPISODES part eight

Throughout the 90s, the "Halloween Episode" was left largely (though not entirely) to Children's Programming. And rightly so; apart from being a kids' holiday, this was the decade when television predictably (and maybe shrewdly) shifted the focus group that much more toward the youth, evidenced by MTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, TGIF, and everything else that was more popular than everything else. Gone were the dry "costume balls" of Adult Dramas - now we could focus on legit Halloween parties and ghost stories and trick or treating as a narrative thread. (For the most part anyway.)

- Paul

Fraiser

"Halloween" (season 5)

Sure there were still grownup shows depicting their pompous polite versions of Halloween often utilizing the "silly costume" or "mistaken identity" or "anonymous romance" banalities, but that's almost kinda why Frasier works in general as it satirizes the stuffiness - as exemplified in the over-the-top hijinks you find in this episode or any other well-crafted sitcom. There's clearly nothing spooky going on here, but a more seasoned intellect has the capacity to recognize and appreciate ancillary modes of observance in any given season. (I hope you read that in a Frasier Crane voice.) 

Clarissa Explains It All

"Haunted House" (season 1)

Clarissa's overbearing Aunt Mafada comes to stay with the Darlings for a period of time, and Clarissa tries to scare her off with a fake haunting and a staged seance to contact Mafada's late husband Owen. Not directly related to Halloween, but the communicating with the dead prank is a hallmark of sitcom shenanigans and allows the lighting department and foley artist to break out of their respective routines and get creative. 

Blossom

"All Hallow's Eve" (season 3)

Another Halloween TV trope is the guy in drag sight gag mostly to set up the punchline of watching them get hit on by some aggressive slob who's "never seen a woman as beautiful" as them. Delightful! Blossom's brother, father, and grandfather dress as Wilson Phillips and go off on their own subplot to endure said cliché while Blossom and Six stay home to watch Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Night of the Living Dead during a conspicuously-timed thunderstorm. Meanwhile Joey is locked out of the house and trying to get back in, inadvertently scaring the girls into thinking he's some typical slasher. This thread is what a Halloween episode should be. 

Mr. Show with Bob and David

"Eat Rotten Fruit From a Shitty Tree" (season 4)

It's a sketch show so it's more of a Halloween segment, and even that's a stretch. The bit is presented as a 90s infotainment exposé exploring the origins of midcentury novelty songs about "Monster Parties" like "Halloween Shindig" and "Dracula's Pajama Party" during which there was plasma pizza, a blood balloon race, bobbing for brains, etc. The joke is that all the songs were penned by a burnt out singer/songwriter/necrophiliac claiming all the lyrics were based on personal experience. Not their strongest concept but it fits in with this list. 

Beavis and Butt-head

"Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest" (season 6)

They're always tryna get chicks which is crudely endearing, but they're also always tryna get food which is woefully troubling and raises that rare question: What's their deal? Where are their guardians? Anyway once they learn the mechanics of trick or treating they venture off in search of free candy, consistently turned away because of their age. That is until gullible old Anderson inattentively allows Beavis to gorge on his handouts, thus unleashing The Great Cornholio into the night to reign terror on children and parents, culminating into the best Halloween Episode ending of all time.