There’s no better time to celebrate television than around the holidays. But you don’t have to wait until December, because the television-watching community celebrates literally any special day, from Chinese New Year to Kwanza, and especially Halloween. [img_assist|nid=33115|title=Zeke the Plumber without a nose.|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=|height=0]
The Halloween Special is a delicate art that has been poked and prodded for longer than TV executives would like you to believe. To pay tribute to their hard work, I have compiled a list of my Top Four Halloween Specials. Get your candy corn ready because this could get messy.
NUMBER 4: Salute Your Shorts‘s “Zeek the Plumber.” In this classic episode at Camp Anawanna, the gang makes a bet with Budnick that they can scare him and use his own campfire story of a plumber without a nose to do the trick. This special still continues to scare me. No nose? Gross.
NUMBER 3: The Cosby Show‘s Halloween episode. No one breaks down the logistics of Halloween quite like Bill Cosby. As usual, Cosby tells us life’s little truths – “Let’s just call Trick-or-Treating what it is – begging!”
NUMBER 2: The Simpsons‘ “Treehouse of Horror” series. Whether you’re a fan or not, you have to give credit to a show that can create nineteen (yes, nineteen) Halloween episodes without getting played out. Number XIX is expected to air on November 2, just in time for Election Day, as it will feature a vignette in which the vote is rigged so Homer is blocked from voting for Obama and his vote turns into one for McCain.
NUMBER 1: The Peanuts‘ “The Great Pumpkin.” If you’ve seen this Halloween special, then you know that the late, great Charles Schulz can even work a message into the scariest night of the year. Halloween isn’t just about ghouls and ghosts. No! It’s about believing in the supernatural powers of an oversized gourd!
And there you have it. So this year, when you watch whatever The CW’s latest teen drama has cooked up for Halloween shenanigans, remember the classics that will stay with us long after the last jack-o-lantern rots.