Nightwatcher's Halloween Pt. 2
Top 10 Terrifying T.V. Specials
I hope everyone is enjoying the first part of my official Halloween article. I understand that some of the games I listed were not so good but that was why I listed them, for the sheer joy of making fun of them. Anyway, the next part of my article will cover some of my favorite television specials from my childhood in the 80's and 90's. (And one from the 60's).
10. It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
First Aired-Oct, 27th 1966
Yep, nothing says Halloween like spending the entire night freezing to death in a pumpkin patch. Linus is convinced (once again, poor lad) that a magical being, in this case the Great Pumpkin, is coming to save Halloween for all the tender little lumplings. But is the Great Pumpkin really coming or is poor Linus having another dillusion of grandiure? Things don't look good for Charlie Brown either when he accidently puts to many eye holes in his ghost costume and looks more like a really pale potato with feet. Good grief!
9. A Pinky and the Brain Halloween
Retrojunkies, are you pondering what I'm pondering? In this harrowing Halloween special, Pinky sells his soul to the devil in exchange for Brain to finally become the ruler of the world. But with Pinky gone and Snowball in his place, being the overlord of the Earth just isn't the same for Brain, and so he decides to bravely go you-know-where to try and save Pinky. Unfortunately, having Pinky back would mean losing the world again so Brain has the ultimate choice to make. Which will it be, Pinky or the world? Hmmm, exsecutive decisions. Narf!
8. The Real Ghostbusters
When Halloween Was Forever
The guys in grey have a battle with the great one himself-Sam Hain, god of the Fall harvest and king of Halloween, when he tries to revert the holiday back to it's dark (and I mean dark) roots. By freezing time Hain hopes to throw the world into an age of eternal night so that he and his evil minions can take over and make this Halloween last forever. A sequal called "The Halloween Door" aired in prime time in 1989 as part of the series revamp Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters and was praised as the better of the two. In it Sam Hain returns from the storage facility to finish what he started a few years ago and the guys find that only one thing can weaken him this time, the heart of a mere child. Whod've thunk it?
10. It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
First Aired-Oct, 27th 1966
Yep, nothing says Halloween like spending the entire night freezing to death in a pumpkin patch. Linus is convinced (once again, poor lad) that a magical being, in this case the Great Pumpkin, is coming to save Halloween for all the tender little lumplings. But is the Great Pumpkin really coming or is poor Linus having another dillusion of grandiure? Things don't look good for Charlie Brown either when he accidently puts to many eye holes in his ghost costume and looks more like a really pale potato with feet. Good grief!
9. A Pinky and the Brain Halloween
Runnin' with the devil
Retrojunkies, are you pondering what I'm pondering? In this harrowing Halloween special, Pinky sells his soul to the devil in exchange for Brain to finally become the ruler of the world. But with Pinky gone and Snowball in his place, being the overlord of the Earth just isn't the same for Brain, and so he decides to bravely go you-know-where to try and save Pinky. Unfortunately, having Pinky back would mean losing the world again so Brain has the ultimate choice to make. Which will it be, Pinky or the world? Hmmm, exsecutive decisions. Narf!
8. The Real Ghostbusters
When Halloween Was Forever
The guys in grey have a battle with the great one himself-Sam Hain, god of the Fall harvest and king of Halloween, when he tries to revert the holiday back to it's dark (and I mean dark) roots. By freezing time Hain hopes to throw the world into an age of eternal night so that he and his evil minions can take over and make this Halloween last forever. A sequal called "The Halloween Door" aired in prime time in 1989 as part of the series revamp Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters and was praised as the better of the two. In it Sam Hain returns from the storage facility to finish what he started a few years ago and the guys find that only one thing can weaken him this time, the heart of a mere child. Whod've thunk it?
7. Tiny Toons Night Ghoulery
This special was released in the late 90's shortly after the end of the series initial run. It's basically a collection of comedic skits that spoof other television shows and movies. My personal favorite skit is "A Gremlin On A Wing" which is an obvious spoof of the Twilight Zone episode "Terror At 20,000 Feet" and has plucky filling in for William Shatner with hilarious results. "There's...someone on the wing, some...thing! Hamton, please...in the name of Roddenberry...look...quick!" (That took me awhile to write out by the way). My favorite line in this skit though is when Plucky is trying to explain the gremlin to Hamton (yes, that's spelled correctly), but Hamton is half asleep at the moment so he thinks Plucky means the other kind of gremlin. "I'm not talkin' about some cheap compact car, THERE'S A LITTLE GREEN MAN OUT THERE!!" Good times, good times.
6. Hey Arnold!
Arnold's Halloween
Arnold and Gerald decide to play a spooky prank on Grandpa and the other adults on Halloween since they won't let the kids come to the party at the boarding house. Using a radio transmitter and Gerld's recently changed voice, the boys hack into the boarding house radio and make a fake announcement about an alien invasion. Their classmates play the aliens and the water tower acts as the mothership, but things get out of hand quickly when the adults think the invasion is real and begin to hunt down the costumed kids! Now Arnold and Gerald have to set the records strait so that their friends don't get hurt. The prank may have taken a dangerous turn, but doesn't every little kid want to do something like this like this on Halloween?
5. Eerie Indiana
Scariest Home Videos
A word of caution, never leave your kid brother alone with the TV remote. Unfortunately that's exactly what Marshall and Simon did, and on Halloween of all days. When Marshall leaves his camcorder running on Simon's little brother Harley, the kid bites down on the remote and is switched with a mummy from a movie the boys left on TV for him. Luckily the mummy turns out to be it's actor Boris Von Orlaf who is pretty much harmless, but now Marshall and Simon have to figure out how to switch them back befor Marshall's parents get home. Yep, eerified again.
4. Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The Tale of Cutter's Treasure
This is a two part episode that tells the story of a young boy and his destiny with a selfish old pirate captain. Centuries ago a pirate named Jonas Cutter, in a desperate attempt to protect his treasure, faught and murdered a man named Ian Keagan. Fast forward to present day, Keagan's desendant, Russel Ian Keagan, must battle old Cutter, now a ghost, and put an end to his curse once and for all. If I remember right this episode was shown two weeks in a row, part one the week before Halloween and part two the week of Halloween and I think they made it a big event. It was also unique as it was told by both Gary and Frank so it featured both Dr. Vink and Sardo for the first and only time.
3. ALF
Some Enchanted Evening
ALF decides to hide his true identity from Willie's co workers by asking Willie to turn his Halloween party into a costume party. He then glues a zipper to his belly so that everyone will think that he is a dwarf in a costume and introduces himself to everyone by his real name, Gordon Shumway. Will Willie and Kate be able to keep ALF's secret safe? It could be hard esspecially when Willie reluctantly agrees to take ALF trick-or-treating. "You have cats? I'll take the yellow one".
2. Home Improvement
Crazy For You
Tim is always out-pranking everyone at Halloween but this year Jill has a new plan. With help from Al and Wilson, Jill pulls a prank on Tim that's so good it actually has him trembling, and it involves a mysterious woman named "Rose". So, who's the top prankster now? Of all the Halloween episodes on this show, this has to be my favorite one.
1. The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Halloweenie
The Petes are at odds again. It seems Younger Pete still wants to set the record for most houses trick-or-treated at but Older Pete has grown to hate Halloween and is persued by the Pumpkin Eaters, a band of Jack-O-Lantern wearing punks who are out to destroy Halloween in Wellsville. The dark side beckons to Older Pete, will he heed it's call or will he help his little brother with the record? If he joins the Pumpkin Eaters, Halloween in Wellsville will be destroyed. And if he doesn't? Two words: Ned Richmond.
Well, that's two so far. Hopefully, if I can find the time I will have the final chapter of my "Halloween Spectacular" posted some time next week. Hope to see you there.
This special was released in the late 90's shortly after the end of the series initial run. It's basically a collection of comedic skits that spoof other television shows and movies. My personal favorite skit is "A Gremlin On A Wing" which is an obvious spoof of the Twilight Zone episode "Terror At 20,000 Feet" and has plucky filling in for William Shatner with hilarious results. "There's...someone on the wing, some...thing! Hamton, please...in the name of Roddenberry...look...quick!" (That took me awhile to write out by the way). My favorite line in this skit though is when Plucky is trying to explain the gremlin to Hamton (yes, that's spelled correctly), but Hamton is half asleep at the moment so he thinks Plucky means the other kind of gremlin. "I'm not talkin' about some cheap compact car, THERE'S A LITTLE GREEN MAN OUT THERE!!" Good times, good times.
6. Hey Arnold!
Arnold's Halloween
Arnold and Gerald decide to play a spooky prank on Grandpa and the other adults on Halloween since they won't let the kids come to the party at the boarding house. Using a radio transmitter and Gerld's recently changed voice, the boys hack into the boarding house radio and make a fake announcement about an alien invasion. Their classmates play the aliens and the water tower acts as the mothership, but things get out of hand quickly when the adults think the invasion is real and begin to hunt down the costumed kids! Now Arnold and Gerald have to set the records strait so that their friends don't get hurt. The prank may have taken a dangerous turn, but doesn't every little kid want to do something like this like this on Halloween?
5. Eerie Indiana
Scariest Home Videos
A word of caution, never leave your kid brother alone with the TV remote. Unfortunately that's exactly what Marshall and Simon did, and on Halloween of all days. When Marshall leaves his camcorder running on Simon's little brother Harley, the kid bites down on the remote and is switched with a mummy from a movie the boys left on TV for him. Luckily the mummy turns out to be it's actor Boris Von Orlaf who is pretty much harmless, but now Marshall and Simon have to figure out how to switch them back befor Marshall's parents get home. Yep, eerified again.
4. Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The Tale of Cutter's Treasure
This is a two part episode that tells the story of a young boy and his destiny with a selfish old pirate captain. Centuries ago a pirate named Jonas Cutter, in a desperate attempt to protect his treasure, faught and murdered a man named Ian Keagan. Fast forward to present day, Keagan's desendant, Russel Ian Keagan, must battle old Cutter, now a ghost, and put an end to his curse once and for all. If I remember right this episode was shown two weeks in a row, part one the week before Halloween and part two the week of Halloween and I think they made it a big event. It was also unique as it was told by both Gary and Frank so it featured both Dr. Vink and Sardo for the first and only time.
3. ALF
Some Enchanted Evening
ALF decides to hide his true identity from Willie's co workers by asking Willie to turn his Halloween party into a costume party. He then glues a zipper to his belly so that everyone will think that he is a dwarf in a costume and introduces himself to everyone by his real name, Gordon Shumway. Will Willie and Kate be able to keep ALF's secret safe? It could be hard esspecially when Willie reluctantly agrees to take ALF trick-or-treating. "You have cats? I'll take the yellow one".
2. Home Improvement
Crazy For You
Tim is always out-pranking everyone at Halloween but this year Jill has a new plan. With help from Al and Wilson, Jill pulls a prank on Tim that's so good it actually has him trembling, and it involves a mysterious woman named "Rose". So, who's the top prankster now? Of all the Halloween episodes on this show, this has to be my favorite one.
1. The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Halloweenie
The Petes are at odds again. It seems Younger Pete still wants to set the record for most houses trick-or-treated at but Older Pete has grown to hate Halloween and is persued by the Pumpkin Eaters, a band of Jack-O-Lantern wearing punks who are out to destroy Halloween in Wellsville. The dark side beckons to Older Pete, will he heed it's call or will he help his little brother with the record? If he joins the Pumpkin Eaters, Halloween in Wellsville will be destroyed. And if he doesn't? Two words: Ned Richmond.
Well, that's two so far. Hopefully, if I can find the time I will have the final chapter of my "Halloween Spectacular" posted some time next week. Hope to see you there.
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