50 Past Halloween TV Specials and Episodes

MacGyver: “Ghost Ship” (1987)
While mapping some wilderness in Alaska, MacGyver discovers an abandoned ship. On it, a Russian stowaway tells him that the crew were all scared off, by Bigfoot!
MacGyver then uses duct tape, a car battery and a lamp shade to bust this myth. Not really.

Walker Texas Ranger: “The Children of Halloween” (1998)
A Satanic symbol is found at a crime scene and Walker suspects that children are going to be sacrificed on Halloween. Not on Walker Texas Ranger’s watch!

True Blood: “And When I Die” (2011)
Sookie must decide between Eric and Bill, Marnie is seeking revenge and Jason decides to tell Hoyt about sleeping with Jessica. As expected, there was plenty of blood in this episode and Hoyt doesn’t take the news too well.

Glee: The Rocky Horror Glee Show (2010)
Will has issues with Emma’s new boyfriend, so to get closer to Emma he convinces the club to select “The Rockey Horror Picture Show” as the school play. Casting issues ensue and viewers are treated to a very musical Halloween.

The Office: “Halloween” (2005)
Forget about the plot, The Office Halloween specials are all about the costumes, and considered must see TV.

The Commish: “The Witches of Eastbridge” (1992)
Tony warns the community to beware of shady candy. He then proceeds to eat a meatball sub.

Starsky and Hutch: “The Vampire” (1976)
Dancers are discovered strangled and with neck punctures, so Starsky and Hutch go on a hunt for vampires.
Fun Fact: Suzanne Somers makes an appearance as Linda Offenbecker. She appeared in one episode per season from 1975-1977 and played a different character in each one.

Silver Spoons: “A Dark and Stormy Night” (1984)
Another victim of a dark and stormy night. Rick, Alfonso and Freddy share horror stories because the TV is out.

A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle – The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984)
The gang and Scrappy go into a Halloween gathering at a castle. Little do they know, all of the party guests are monsters! Scooby and the gang deal have to deal with Dracula and company in this kid friendly Halloween cartoon.

Roseanne: “Trick or Treat” (1990)
The Conners annual Halloween installment has Roseanne in drag and Dan worried about DJ dressing up as a witch.

Quantum Leap: “The Boogieman” (1990)
Sam leaps into the body of a horror writer around the time of Halloween in 1964. He’s there because of the writer’s fiancee and Sam believes she is responsible for two bizarre deaths. The Sheriff suspects the writer, Sam is sure it was the Sheriff, and ultimately Sam finds himself in a battle with what may be, the Devil.

Night Court: “Halloween II: The Return of Leon” (1986)
Leon returns to Manhattan, but threatens to run away again if Harry reports him to the authorities. Dan plans to crash District Attorney Daniels’s Halloween party after not getting the coveted invite.

The Greatest American Hero: “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (1982)
Bill goes on vacation in Bermuda and investigates whether dinosaur attacks may cause the loss of ships in the Bermuda Triangle. We think he was onto something.

Mr. Belvedere: “Halloween” (1986)
Tracy wants to wear a sexy maid’s outfit for Halloween and George won’t let it fly. Poor Mr. Belvedere becomes depressed after having cataract surgery.

Modern Family: “Halloween” (2010)
Claire’s favorite holiday is Halloween, so the Dunphy house gets ready to scare their trick or treaters. She goes as far as to give everyone a role to play in her “haunted house”, but nobody wants to cooperate.

Blossom: “All Hallows Eve” (1992)
Nick, Anthony and Buzz dress up as Wilson Phillips. Blossom and Six fend off a masked man that turns out to be Joey. Whoa. One helluva 90’s Halloween episode.

Knight Rider: “Halloween Knight” (1984)
Someone in a gorilla costume strangles a woman and Bonnie is a witness to it. Will she be next? Not if the Hoff has anything to do with it.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” (2010)
Dee reveals she’s pregnant and the gang tries to figure out who is the father. The only problem is that they all got blasted at Paddy’s Pub during a Halloween costume party, which makes retracing their steps a bit difficult. Is the father Dennis, Charlie, or could it be a McPoyle?

Home Improvement: “Haunting of Taylor House” (1992)
More power! Tim dresses as Frankenstein and tries to scare Al as they carve jack-o-laterns on Tool Time. Brad has a Halloween part and is convinced to dress up as Raggedy Andy by Jennifer who will be Raggedy Ann. Jennifer shows up with another boy dressed as a biker chick. Oh the humiliation.

Highway to Heaven: “I Was a Middle Aged Werewolf” (1987)
Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) reprises his role as a Werewolf to scare off some teenage bullies. Ironically, in an early scene one character is watching the original “I Was a Teen-Aged Werewolf” and tells Jonathan that the guy in the movie reminds him of Jonathan…you know, when he’s the regular guy without the fuzz all over his face.

Party of Five: “Personal Demons” (1996)
Claudia believes that the family is under a curse given all the turmoil they’ve had over the past few years, so she hires an exorcist. Hmm, I don’t think that worked out.

Perfect Strangers: “Fright Night” (1991)
Balki is excited when he finds out he has a ghost named Chester living in his room. Larry doesn’t believe him, that is until the ghost lets him know who is boss.

Happy Days: “Haunted” (1974)
Richie thinks Joanie is imagining things with her fear of the haunted Simpson house until he checks it out and has an experience with a ghostly figure.

Growing Pains: “Happy Halloween” (1990)
A rainstorm forces the Seavers to spend Halloween indoors trading ghost stories. Just when you think Jason and Maggie are lulling you to sleep, they scare the bejeebus out of you.

Grey’s Anatomy: “Haunt You Every Day” (2007)
Performing surgery in costume is a tough feat, so most of this episode is business as usual. However the hospital does get a unique form of trick or treating, making this a must watch for fans of Grey’s.

Magnum, P.I.: “The Woman on the Beach” (1981)
Rick gets romantically involved with a woman named Sarah, who disappears when he goes for walk with her on the beach. Was Rick imagining things, or was it the ghost of Sarah Clifford how committed suicide in 1945 by driving her car off a nearby cliff?

The Simpsons (Treehouse of Horror)
All of them. For over two decades they have been a staple of Halloween television.

Friends: “The One with the Halloween Party” (2001)
Monica and Chandler host a Halloween party, where Phoebe finds herself in a love triangle. Rachel runs out of candy and starts dishing out money to trick or treaters. Why didn’t my neighbors do this when I was a kid?

Models Inc.: “Clash of the Super Vixens” (1994)
Brian throws a Halloween party at his loft to cheer up Cynthia, who has identified her stalker as Frank Thompson. Beautiful people then proceed to do crazy things in this episode and everyone who grew up in the 90’s will deny having every seen Models Inc., let alone this episode.

Mork & Mindy: “A Morkville Horror” (1979)
When Mindy’s childhood home is put up for sale, Mork discovers several of Mindy’s deceased relatives still live there.

Freaks and Geeks: “Tricks and Treats” (1999)
Halloween is nearing and Lindsay wants to hang out with her new friends. Her mom disagrees and wants her to help pass out candy to trick or treaters. Lindsay ends up going out, which upsets Jean, and acts destructively and crossing the line of bad behavior.

Felicity: “Spooked” (1998)
A scary experience pulls Ben and Felicity together, and later pushes them apart.

ER: “Masquerade” (1998)
What better place to throw a Halloween party than in the ER? Wrong. Carter is not happy with Lucy’s actions and feels that she can’t take responsibility for her duties.

Family Matters: “Stevil” (1996)
Ventriloquist Steve’s look-alike dummy comes alive on Halloween a la Child’s Play. Wouldn’t you be scared of an Urkle doll?

Beverly Hills, 90210: “Things That Go Bang in the Night” (1994)
Ray and Griffin cross paths at the KEG house. What’s Donna to do? Valerie considers going back to Buffalo after Steve and a drug abusing Dylan have a falling out. Oh, and Brandon is pissed at her too.

The Facts of Life: “The Halloween Show” (1983)
A stranger tells the girls that years ago someone was murdered in their shop. The girls see Mrs. Garret with a knife and they somehow think that she’s possessed by the murderer’s spirit. Tootie organizes an exorcism to help Mrs. Garrett and they then jump to the conclusion that the mystery man was killed by her as he has disappeared.

21 Jump Street: “Old Haunts in a New Age” (1989)
Hanson and Penhall investigate an arsonist and meet a student that claims to have premonitions of the arsons. Suddenly the entire 21 Jump Street team is freaking out about ghosts and the supernatural.

The Dukes of Hazzard: “The Ghost of the General Lee” (1979)
The boys scare the heck out of Boss Hog and Rosco by making the General Lee look like a ghost.

Doogie Howser, M.D.: “Revenge of the Teenage Dead” (1990)
Vinnie has problems finding someone to play a chainsaw killer in his slasher film. Doogie must spend time with an uptight 13-year old prodigy to determine if he is a good candidate for medical school.

Boston Legal: “Witches of Mass Destruction” (2005)
Shirley helps a Christian and a Wiccan couple who want to stop the school’s Halloween celebration. Alan and Denny dress as flamingos to create television gold.

Cheers: “Diane’s Nightmare” (1985)
Diane dreams that “Andy Andy” has escaped form a mental institution and is coming to kill her. But when she wakes from her nightmare, “Andy Andy” shows up at the bar to ask a favor.

Desperate Housewives: “Now I Know, Don’t Be Scared” (2007)
All I’m going to say about this episode is “baby on board”! Halloween invades Wisteria Lane and everyone from top to bottom must face their fears.

The Addams Family: “Halloween, Addams Style” (1965)
Here’s a classic for you. Wednesday’s upset because a neighbor told her there aren’t any real witches or goblins. Morticia and Gomez try to cheer her up with a seance to contact their late Aunt Singe who was a witch.

ALF: “Some Enchanted Evening” (1987)
ALF wants to go trick or treating, but Kate says no. ALF makes a good point that he has a natural costume (duh) and tries to make Willie and offer he can’t refuse.

CHiPs: “Trick or Trick” (1978)
Ponch and Jon rock killer hair, and go on the search for a runaway boy inside a haunted house. They also try to hunt down a candy bag snatcher.

Charles in Charge: “Trick or Treat” (1984)
Charles gets the kids ready for Halloween. Buddy convinces Charles to run into a girl that he has a date with so that he can find out what sort of things she likes.

The Brady Bunch: “Fright Night” (1972)
The boys play a ghostly trick on the Jan and Cindy, so the girls return the favor. Things go haywire when Alice becomes a target and Mike and Carol accidentally become the victims. Oh Mike. Oh Carol. What lesson did you learn?

Curb Your Enthusiasm: “Trick or Treat” (2001)
Uncostumed trick or treaters show up at Larry’s house and he refuses to give them candy. Who does that?

Beverly Hills, 90210: “Halloween” (1991)
The 90210 crew attends a Halloween party, with Kelly stealing the show as a sexy witch. Another party goer thinks Kelly’s costume is invitation to grope her and results in a scary situation.

Punky Brewster: “Perils of Punkey” (1985)
Punky and the gang go on a camping trip, get lost in a cave, tell ghost stories and mentally scar an entire generation of American children. If you grew up in the 80’s, this episode probably still haunts you to this day.