There aren’t a great many constants in this life, but there is this: Every year, your favorite television show will almost certainly feature at least one holiday-themed episode. Whether it’s a love story for Valentine’s Day or something stranger, like 30 Rock’s epic takes on Earth Day and Leap Day, it’s always fun to see a series get into the seasonal spirit.
With Halloween well on its way, we’ve gathered here some of the best spooky-season episodes from our favorite shows.
While Little Pete attemps to break the record for the most houses visited on Halloween night, Big Pete must decide if he wants to hang out with his brother and trick or treat—an activity they both love—or join the cool “pumpkin eaters” as they terrorize the neighborhood “halloweenies.”
Are You Afraid of the Dark? always makes for excellent Halloween viewing, but this episode in particular will stay with you awhile. A teenager obsessed with death determines that maybe he’s not quite ready to die when a radio inside a hearse gives him direct access to the afterlife. Not sold? Here’s the kicker: This episode stars Gilbert Gottfried and a very young (and very cute) Ryan Gosling.
Any episode of BoJack Horseman that centers around the zany, not-entirely-smart Labrador-slash-Hollywoo-celebrity Mr. Peanutbutter is bound to be good, and this one—which creatively uses Mr. Peanutbutter’s annual Halloween party to jump between eras (and, for that matter, Mr. Peanutbutter’s various wives and girlfriends)—is particularly memorable for giving us a cameo from… Jessica Alba.
After the demon Gachnar is accidentally conjured while Oz and Xander are prepping for a Halloween bash, the party goes horribly awry. As the gang attempts to return him whence he came, they fail miserably—until they learn the importance of not giving in to one’s fears.
In classic fashion, Larry David manages to get himself in trouble with two groups simultaneously: the neighborhood kids whom he refuses to give candy to and fellow attendees of a friend’s movie premiere. Chaos ensues.
If you’re looking to get your nostalgia on, this is the Halloween episode for you. It’s split between Sam and the nerds going out trick or treating, and Lindsay staying home with her mom (before eventually ditching her to roll with the cool kids who are egging the neighborhood…and her brother).
When Monica and Chandler host a Halloween party, Phoebe invites Ursula (her twin) and Eric, Ursula’s fiancé, along. But as Phoebe soon discovers, not only has Ursula been lying to Eric, but Phoebe has developed feelings for him herself. With the other characters bickering in silly costumes and Rachel reduced to handing out money to the kids after she runs out of candy, it’s an all-around great episode of the long-running series.
Is it kind of crazy that this most quintessential fall shows only had one real Halloween episode on its books? Absolutely. But that doesn’t take away from how excellent this moment from Gilmore Girls’ sixth season was, however: Of course Lorelai Gilmore would go way over-the-top for All Hallows’ Eve decorations, and of course the entire town of Stars Hollow would match her semi-deranged holiday spirit.
MacLaren’s Pub is having its annual Halloween party and the whole group dresses up. Their usual hijinks ensue, but the focus of the episode is Ted and Robin’s search for love in the big city. While Robin is struggling to understand how to cope with her boyfriend’s desire to do “couple” things, Ted spends the entire episode waiting for the eponymous Slutty Pumpkin, a girl whose number he lost in 2001 and he can’t quite get over.
When Dee tells the gang she’s pregnant, they all scramble to figure out who the father is. The problem? The night in question was also their Halloween party, and nobody has a clue what happened.
Nobody does a holiday episode of a sitcom quite like Mindy Kaling. Back when she was writing on The Office, she contributed to numerous iconic Christmas episodes of the show, among them Season 6’s “Secret Santa” and Season 7’s “Classy Christmas”; and once she got free rein to celebrate Halloween on The Mindy Project, we were blessed with unforgettable sexy-costume ideas like “Dirty Harry Potter” and “Tinkerbell Tailor Soldier Spy.”
Transforming the Dunphy home into a haunted house for neighborhood trick-or-treaters turns into a whole thing in this Season 2 episode, the second of many Halloween-focused storylines on Modern Family.
Four roommates in one apartment almost always means some pretty wacky holiday celebrations, and Halloween is no exception for the New Girl gang. In this episode, they visit Jess at the haunted house she’s working at—bringing with them plenty of their own drama, not to mention their unique costume ideas. (Who can forget Winston’s girlfriend Shelby wearing a stuffed-animal-covered cape and holding a scepter to embody “reigning cats and dogs”?)
The Office is one of those shows that covered almost every holiday every single season—but this episode was especially great. Michael is tasked with letting someone go, and as usual he’s put it off until the very last moment: namely, Dunder Mifflin’s Halloween party.
There are two distinct plotlines in this episode: Leslie attempting to take down her arch-nemesis, Pawnee high school student Greg Pikitis, and Ann attempting to throw a Halloween party. Ann is ultimately saved by Tom and his wife Wendy, who turn up the volume and get a dance party going, and Leslie is saved by FBI agent Burt Macklin, also known as Andy.
Various seasons and episodes There are 36 “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, and every single one of them is worth watching. While the strongest ones are arguably those that parody other things, we highly recommend you take a tour through them all to find your favorite.
After the Mir space station falls to earth and kills Kenny, there’s a mistake in the way he’s embalmed and he becomes a zombie. As all the kids are dressed up for Halloween, nobody notices—and as the zombie apocalypse spreads, it’s mistaken for a bad case of pinkeye. After a while, however, it becomes clear that there’s only one way to solve the problem that’s put all of South Park in jeopardy: kill Kenny again, of course.
