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Post by EGBFan on Oct 1, 2005 13:21:39 GMT -4
Ok, well, it's October - and since I got a good response at Christmas I thought it might be kinda fun to do this again for Halloween.
However I have a problem. I'm kinda stumped by my own question. Thinking of the shows I like, the Hey Arnold Halloween Special (imaginatively titled "Arnold's Halloween") was kinda week; The Fairly Odd Parents (can't remember the title, sorry) was good, though extraordinarily similar to a Buffy special (though admittedly Halloween costumes becoming real is a pretty cool idea)... and after that my mind went blank and I couldn't think of any more contendors.
EGB only ever managed a Thanksgiving special, which is kinda sad, but that's neither here nor there. There was probably an RGB Halloween special, maybe more than one, but I don't think I've seen it/them (a tenner says Fritz will take up this point - I'm leaving it right there).
Ok, come on - there are plenty of Halloween specials. Ummm... The Simpsons have one every year, of course. The original "Treehouse of Horrors" was pretty cool, as were many of its successors. I can't number them I'm afraid, but "Dial Z for Zombie" and the Dracula spoof both deserve a mention, I feel. However, like the show in its entirety, the Simpsons' Halloweens have been going downhill lately if you ask me.
This is silly. I can't think of a Halloween special I really enjoyed. So I'd better shut the hell up and let somebody else have a turn. I mean, hey, you might even jog my memory.
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Post by Fritz on Oct 1, 2005 17:20:49 GMT -4
Well, depending on your definition, there were was many as three...
"When Halloween Was Forever" (1986) The original Samhain episode written by JMS. One of the best of the whole series.
"Halloween II 1/2" (1987) The second Samhain episode. Not written by JMS. Had the asshead Junior Ghostbusters in it.
"The Halloween Door" (1989) was the only official Halloween special, and aired in prime time. Written by JMS; maybe not his finest work, but still watchable.
And that's not even mentioning the comic book's Halloween issues (RGB#17 and the one annual that ran "Trick, Treat, or Defeat")
Heck, I gotta give a shout out to the perrenial favorite--"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" And the Disney classic "Trick Or Treat" with Donald Duck and Witch Hazel (though the comic version by Carl Barks, recently reprinted in Donald Duck #332, is even better)
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CJ
Doberman
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Post by CJ on Oct 3, 2005 12:33:55 GMT -4
The Halloween Pumpkin is a perennial favorite of mine that used to come on a lot on TBS every year. It's based on a book by Ray Bradbury and is unique in that several friends must save the life of one of their own by seeing Halloween from across different times and countries.
As Fritzy mentions, you can't leave out It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
I think I loved the Will Vinton Halloween special from a few years ago. No Raisins, but was still pretty cool.
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Post by ECTO-1 on Oct 6, 2005 9:42:16 GMT -4
No love for Garfield? Heh when I was a kid that movie used to freak me out. Not sure why. Maybe if I got to see it again I'd remember.
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Post by EGBFan on Oct 30, 2006 8:39:53 GMT -4
Right then, time to open up the Halloween discussion again. It didn't get such a brilliant response last year, unfortunately, but I'll be interested to see what pops up this time. This is silly. I can't think of a Halloween special I really enjoyed. That is silly. This time last year I had long been acquainted with the Hey Arnold Halloween special for quite some time - the imaginatively titled "Arnold's Halloween". It is far from perfect, and the monster focus was on aliens, which just doesn't say Halloween to me - but it had a lot of great moments. The spotlight fell on everyone's favourite character (who quickly upstaged Arnold and took second position in the cast away from his sidekick) and her complex and fascinating relationship with her parents. And as ever, it's a wonderful performance from Maurice LaMarche. But since then, I have seen another Halloween special I like more: Danny Phantom: "Fright Night". In spite of it airing at about the same time I crossed the threshold into my twenties, I love Danny Phantom more than I'll admit, and this episode of season 1 is, I feel, a particularly strong one (unfortunately the Christmas special of season 2 actually is, in my opinion, the worst. Episode. Everrr). The plot isn't vastly original, but fairly: Danny becomes involved in a competition against the school bully whereby each of them must decorate a room for their teacher's Halloween party - winner avoids detention. So keen is Danny (he gets a lot of detentions) to win that he goes and steals the Fright Knight's sword from the Ghost Zone; inevitably the Fright Knight (who sadly isn't voiced by James Earl Jones, though my brother insists he should be) comes after it, and this all has a highly dangerous effect on Danny's scary room. So while Danny's amusing sidekicks, Sam and Tucker, try to sort out the Fright Knight as he wreaks havoc, Danny, bless him, insists that his teacher must be allowed to witness the terror so that he will win the competition and avoid detention. I know it sounds kinda dumb, but that's classic Danny and I think it's great. ;D So, anyone else?
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Jason Knetge
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Post by Jason Knetge on Oct 31, 2006 4:00:41 GMT -4
The Danny Phantom halloween special was good . I also like the sponge Bob halloween special
the wakender's halloween
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy halloween special
Disney's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles halloween episodes
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Post by Kingpin on Oct 31, 2006 10:46:49 GMT -4
Disney's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow Now there's a classic! Deliciously dark, a nice adaption of a classic tale and decent animation to boot. I have a strong loving from The Simpsons The Shinning, as it's such a blatent parody of The Shining. Most of the Buffy specials are there as well, my favs being when their costumes turned them into the people they were pretending to be... and when the frat boys got their frat house infested with a fear demon when looking for appropriate spooky diagrams.
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BlackMaria
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Post by BlackMaria on Oct 31, 2006 13:21:46 GMT -4
I 2nd the Buffy Ween ep (I'm Grapnar, fear me. The hear demon Grapnar is only 6" high.)
The [US} Office's ep last year was good. Scary in it's own corporate way.
Most Simpson's Treehouse of Terror are good.
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Post by SuperStantzio on Oct 31, 2006 15:50:24 GMT -4
I agree with that. I really enjoy watching the Simpsons tree house of horror. Hey what about the Chucky movies?
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Post by Kingpin on Oct 31, 2006 20:04:16 GMT -4
Well... here we're really talking about TV series Halloween specials.
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Post by SuperStantzio on Oct 31, 2006 20:57:00 GMT -4
Oh It's okay It's understanable.
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BlackMaria
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Post by BlackMaria on Nov 8, 2006 12:16:36 GMT -4
There was a Rankin & Bass stop motion 'Ween special: Monster Mash. It had all the typical baddies: Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. R&B gave us The Year Without A Santa Claus, Rudolph, etc. They managed to do cover major holidays.
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