TV Trick-or-Treat, Part II: Halloween with Bewitched, Newhart, and More

by Karen A. Romanko

In TV Trick-or-Treat, I discussed my favorite holiday and my love of Halloween episodes of TV series, past and present. I covered some of the programs I most admire, including “The Devil You Say,” a 1973 episode of  McMillan & Wife and “The Safe and Sane Halloween,” a 1967 entry in the long-running series Bewitched. I’m back again this year to select more hallowed Halloween episodes from television history. I favor programs that show great Halloween spirit, with plenty of decorations and costumes, although I lean more toward the fun than the scary side of the holiday.

“Twitch or Treat,” a 1966 episode of Bewitched, is an odd place to start, because it breaks most of the rules I just mentioned, but it does so in a good cause. Endora (Agnes Moorehead), a sartorially resplendent witch, holds a Halloween party at the home of her daughter and fellow witch Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery), who is married to a mortal named Dumbo, er...Darrin (Dick York). Witches don’t have traditional Halloween parties like we do, because the holiday tends to stereotype witches as ugly crones, a custom that doesn’t sit well with Endora. Instead she holds an elegant party, serving caviar and champagne, where everyone looks as though they just stepped off a Paris runway. Endora even recites a poem, which begins, “‘Twas the night before Halloween, and all who were chic, were sipping champagne...” At that point practical joker Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde) breaks in and ruins Endora’s recitation. The chichi bubble is burst, so Endora turns Uncle Arthur into a fountain. (That’ll teach him.) Extra points for an appearance by baseball great Willie Mays (as himself), who is revealed to be a warlock.

Endora, Darrin, and Samantha near the fountain that will soon become Uncle Arthur.

Newhart uses Orson Welles’s 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” and the panic it caused as the inspiration for “Take Me to Your Loudon” (1987). Dick Loudon (Bob Newhart) and wife Joanna (Mary Frann) host a Halloween party at the Stratford Inn, but news of an alien invasion soon spreads, spurred by a broadcast of The War of the Worlds on a local TV station. Dick is the only sane one as usual, but the crazy quotient increases when reports of glowing cows reach the inn. The tales of bovine luminescence are true, but perhaps there is a logical explanation, if only someone would believe it. A vivid Halloween outing and one of the best episodes of the series.

It’s hard to battle crazy in those costumes. George Utley (Tom Poston), Dick, and Joanna at the party.

The Middle produced Halloween episodes for eight of its nine seasons, beginning with “Halloween” (2010). This first Heck Halloween is a roller coaster (what a surprise), as no one’s plans turn out as they hope, but sometimes that’s a good thing. Frankie (Patricia Heaton) and Mike (Neil Flynn) attend a neighbor’s Halloween party, but Mike, ever the grinch, refuses to wear a costume. Since Mike wears one of his signature plaid shirts, someone thinks he is the “Brawny” guy when he grabs some paper towels. A hoot! Weird son Brick (Atticus Shafer) also has costume problems, when he chooses to dress as a Scottish World War I hero that no one recognizes. As he trick-or-treats, the neighbors unsuccessfully try to guess his costume, which includes a kilt, and “Catholic schoolgirl” is the funniest conjecture. After a disappointing evening at a church social, the Hecks’ awkward daughter Sue (Eden Sher) unexpectedly gets her first kiss on a Halloween hayride. Conceited son Axl (Charlie McDermott) and friends show themselves to be more afraid than the “hot chicks” they are trying to impress when their search for a haunted house goes awry. This one ticks off a lot of entries on my TV Halloween checklist in a scant 21 minutes.

Frankie in her hippie costume dances at the party, while Mike is Mike.

“Last Halloween Standing,” a 2011 episode of Last Man Standing, shows that parents are sometimes more excited about Halloween than their kids. Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) is disappointed that his 13-year-old daughter Eve (Kaitlyn Dever) thinks she is too old for trick-or- treating. He hopes to save the day by taking grandson Boyd (George Kruntchev) to collect candy, but Boyd’s mother Kristin (Alexandra Krosney) forbids it. Mike, dressed as a Green Beret, takes Boyd trick-or-treating anyway, but he brings home the wrong kid in a skeleton costume, causing more Halloween chills than he expected. This one gets my Halloween spirit award for outstanding costumes and decorations.

Mike is a nervous Green Beret when the unmasked skeleton is not his grandson.

What are your favorite Halloween TV episodes? Please share them in the comments.

Happy Halloween!

---

Television's Female Spies and Crimefighters and Women of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television
 On sale now!