The Best TV Halloween Episodes

Halloween is the time of year when television shows indulge in a favorite holiday tradition--the Halloween episode. Sometime scary, sometimes goofy, and always fun, Halloween episodes give television writers a chance to play around with some well-known tropes, shake up their format, or simply put the cast in ridiculous costumes. The best Halloween episodes stand apart from the rest, while still reveling in the fun of the season.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: Freaks and Geeks --"Tricks and Treats" No television show in history has captured the ups and (often awkward) downs of high school quite like Freaks and Geeks, and the Halloween episode "Tricks and Treats" is certainly no exception. Equal parts hilarious and a little depressing, "Tricks and Treats" ranks among the best episodes of the unfortunately short-lived series.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: Buffy the Vampire Slayer --"Halloween" Buffy the Vampire Slayer had its share of Halloween-centric episodes, but none were quite as fun or inspired as season two's "Halloween," which centered around the characters quite literally becoming their costumes.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: How I Met Your Mother --"Slutty Pumpkin" An ode to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in an unexpected series, How I Met Your Mother's season one episode had a number of sly, funny jokes and really took advantage of its Halloween setting. Barney's frequent costume changes (in order to allow him to hit on the same woman multiple times) are highlights of the episode.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: My So-Called Life -- "Halloween" Another short-lived high school comedy-drama, My So-Called Life earns a spot on this list for its willingness to go all-out supernatural for its Halloween episode, which included ghosts and potential time travel as plot devices.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: NewsRadio --"Halloween"NewsRadio had its share of holiday episodes, but none are quite as fun (and hilarious) as season three's "Halloween," which centers on one of Jimmy's famous Halloween parties. With an inspired plot revolving around Lisa's anger that Dave looks better in a dress than she does and a number of smart, seasonally-appropriate gags, "Halloween" is an all-time sitcom classic.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: Roseanne --"Boo" Like The Simpsons, the series Roseanne offered up a new Halloween-themed episode every single year. "Boo" is the first of these Halloween episodes, and quite possibly the best, with an infectious sense of fun and love of the Halloween season.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: The Simpsons --"Treehouse of Horror V" Considering that The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes have been an annual tradition since the beginning of the series, there are a lot of episodes to choose from. "Treehouse of Horror V" is alternatively violent, hilarious and actually scary, so it comes out on top. Featuring segments that parody The Shining, play with the notion of time-travel, and focus on eating children, "Treehouse of Horror V" is an all-time classic.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: The Office -- "Halloween" Produced during season two (aka the best season of the series) of The Office, "Halloween" has a lot of the show's signature early charm and verisimilitude. Rather than turning the show into a farce and producing a scary one-off, The Office opted instead to have their Halloween episode be like any other, with the addition of costumes (in one of the series' funniest gags, all the women are dressed as cats.)

Best TV Halloween Episodes: Psych --"Tuesday the 17th"Psych has a great love of old-fashioned silly and scary Halloween episodes, but due to their split-season schedule none of the episodes air on or near Halloween itself. This hasn't stopped the show from making a few classic Halloween episodes like season three's "Tuesday the 17th," which is part fun (and a little bit legitimately scary) slasher spoof and part real murder mystery.

Best TV Halloween Episodes: --"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

Okay, so it's not an episode exactly, but It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown graces our television sets every year, and is always something to look forward to come Halloween. Sweet and funny rather than ghoulish or scary, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a must see during the Halloween season.

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