It’s Halloween weekend in 2021. While some people are comfortable going out and celebrating the holiday (safely please!) some of us just want to take it easy this year and sit back and watch some classic Halloween sitcom specials. While there’s a lot to choose from, we’ve narrowed down some of our favorites here, a little mix of old, new, animated, and live-action. So enjoy!
Brooklyn 99: Halloween (S1, E6)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
You can’t go wrong with any of Brooklyn 99’s Halloween heist episodes as they are all classics in their own right filled with twists and surprises. However, the original that was so well-received that it kicked off the tradition to begin with is a great place to start if you’re putting together a night of watching excellent sitcom Halloween specials.
Jake challenges Captain Holt to see if he can steal his Medal of Valor right from under his nose before the end of the night without being caught. What follows is an elaborate heist where Jake pulls all kinds of stops to steal Holt’s Medal of Valor in ways that will surprise even the most astute viewer.
Community: Epidemiology (S2, E6)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Community is just so good and filled with zany episodes that break the mold of traditional sitcoms. One of the most memorable happens to be the classic Halloween episode, Epidemiology.
Bad government taco meat served to the school during a Halloween party causes nearly the entire school to turn into flesh-eating zombies and the study group is forced to survive the night to the calming tunes of Abba’s greatest hits.
The full episode is actually on YouTube via the official Community YouTube page. So so ahead and watch it right now above if you want!
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror V (S6, E6)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Perhaps no series is more well-known for its Halloween specials than The Simpsons. The Treehouse of Horror series spans decades now and it is filled with classic and spooky Halloween episodes to choose from. The trio of episodes featured in Treehouse of Horror V are all fantastic, but the highlight is definitely the spoof on Stephen King’s The Shining, The Shinning.
The Simpsons go out on a mountain trip and the lack of T.V. and beer causes Homer to go completely insane and recreates scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s classic film.
South Park: Spookyfish (S2, E16)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Image via Comedy Central, HBO Max, South Park Studios
While South Park is filled with classic Halloween episodes over its two-decade-plus history, season 2’s Spooky Vision is perhaps the most absurd and still holds up well today.
For starters, the entire episode is presented in “Spooky Vision” which just means Barbara Streisand’s face plasters each corner of the screen; spooky indeed.
In the episode itself, though, a present from Stan’s “Aunt Flo” turns out to be a goldfish from an evil alternate dimension where cute animals are bloodthirsty. Eventually, each of the boys comes face to face with their evil self including Evil Cartman, who is actually extremely caring and considerate, and it’s an absolute riot.
The Office: Costume Contest (S7, E6)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
When a “$15,000” coupon book is put up as a prize for a Halloween party at Dunder Mifflin, the normally apathetic characters of the office go all out with their costumes in an attempt to win this glorious prize.
Seeing characters like Angela and Stanley, people who generally wouldn’t care about this kind of stuff, go all out is fantastic, and Gabe as Lady Gaga is a sight to behold.
Michael, who would normally be all over this kind of stuff, is left perturbed for most of the episode as he believes Darryl went over his head to pitch an idea to corporate and make him look bad.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Trick or Treat (S2, E3)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Via HBO
Larry David is never one to shy away from confrontation and when two “thirteen” year old girls show up to his house costumeless to trick or treat he decides to give them a “trick” instead and shuts the door on them. When his house gets teepeed the next day he’s left trying to explain to his wife why he couldn’t just give up the candy.
Obviously, because this is Curb, David doesn’t back down from his belief that a seventeen-year-old costumeless “child” shouldn’t be allowed to rob him of his candy and classic Larry David-style situational hijinx ensues.
Bob’s Burgers: Fort Night (S4, E2)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
via Fox, Bob’s Burgers Fandom
Bob’s Burgers, like many of the shows on this list, love to get into the Halloween spirit and has come up with many classic Halloween-themed episodes over the years. While we could pick any of them for this list, we’re going to go with Fort Night, an episode that heavily features everyone’s favorite bunny-girl Louise and her obsessive arch-nemesis, Millie.
Louise, Tina, and Gene all get accidentally trapped in their cardboard fort with their friends while on their way to get ready for Halloween and their big costume: a giant Chinese dragon – a costume that Bob and Linda are slaving over to make.
Millie has the ability to let them out, but when Louise decides to lash out at her instead for being annoying, she decides to keep them trapped and torment them instead.
American Dad!: Best Little Horror House In Langley Falls (S3, E7)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
via Fox, American Dad! Fandom
Stan and Francine, for the first time, are facing stiff competition on the block for who has the scariest house on Halloween. Feeling emasculated by Francine’s admission that they just aren’t that scary anymore, Stan uses his CIA credentials to bring in the most fearsome serial killers the world has ever known.
Unfortunately, serial killers sitting in a cell doing nothing is very scary either, so Stan decides to let them free and chaos ensues. Meanwhile, Toshi, who refuses to wear the Samurai costume that his mom got him, reluctantly is forced to take up the Katana one last time in order to chase down Steve who has been trick or treating with his sister for too long, and save the town.
Friends: The One with the Halloween Party (S8, E6)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Image via Friends Fandom, NBC
One of the classic themed episodes (of which there are many) in the Friends series has to be The One with the Halloween Party. It doesn’t take long in this episode for hell to break loose for all of the characters involved.
Rachel ends up picking a fight with trick or treaters that think she is boring and ends up having to give away real money to bribe them to stop being upset, Ross and Chandler – both in completely ridiculous costumes, get into a fight over who is tougher, and Pheobe ends up developing a crush on her Twin sister’s fiance. You know it’s bad when Joey’s the voice of reason in this episode.
Cheers: Fairy Tales Can Come True (S3, E4)
Best Sitcom Halloween Specials
Via Cheers Fandom, NBC
This last entry is for the boomers and older millennials like myself that are old enough to remember Cheers (or at least the Nick at Night reruns). But hey, even if you’re on the younger side, consider wrapping up your Halloween sitcom marathon with something a bit more wholesome.
The lovable but deeply flawed, Cliff is terrible with women but this year, on Halloween, his costume gives him the confidence to finally talk to someone. He’s nervous though that once the party is over, and he has to go back to being just Cliff, that she won’t like him anymore.
While it’s not very scary, you’ll be rooting for Cliff and his equally dorky new friend all the same.
