Why Sitcoms Love a Halloween Special
(and My Top Five Picks)
Every October, something magical happens in sitcom land. No, not character development (let’s not get carried away). It’s the Halloween special. Suddenly, your favourite characters are in elaborate costumes, there are pumpkins in the background, and someone has gone way too far with the fake cobweb spray. If you grew up watching US sitcoms from the UK, these episodes felt like a cultural exchange programme — except instead of student host families, we got Roseanne in a witch’s hat and Homer Simpson chopping up Mr Burns with an axe.
Halloween specials are so baked into American TV that it’s hard to imagine a season without one. But why are they such a big deal, and why did we in the UK happily lap them up despite our parents still calling trick-or-treating “an Americanism” until about 1998? Let’s dig in.
A (Very) Brief History of the Halloween Special
Christmas episodes were baked into TV from the start. They were wholesome, sentimental, and usually ended with a group hug and a reminder that family matters more than presents (except in Friends, where it turns out Monica does have better presents if you’re Chandler). Halloween, on the other hand, was late to the party.
It wasn’t really until the 1970s and 80s that Halloween started turning up on American sitcoms. Part of this was timing — US networks launch their big new TV seasons in September and October, and a Halloween special early in the run gave them a ratings boost. Another part was creative: Halloween let sitcoms be chaotic, surreal, and even a little scary. Unlike Christmas, you didn’t have to end with a hug; you could end with your main character trapped in a haunted house or dressed as a giant potato.
For UK audiences, these episodes were weirdly exotic. We’d grown up with apple bobbing, the odd Guy Fawkes mask, and the kind of budget fancy dress that involved a bin liner and some face paint. Watching American families go all out with haunted houses, elaborate costumes, and full-on neighbourhood trick-or-treating felt like visiting Disneyland: thrilling, slightly baffling, and way out of our price range.
