(1976)
Dir - Sidney Smith
Overall: WOOF
The 1970s was the era of variety hours and though they are all hilariously dated by nature, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is a particularly absurd one. This was one of several comedy specials for Lynde whose two previous attempts at a regular sitcom had failed to land. It is also quite notable/infamous for a number of bizarrely clashing reasons such as but certainly not limited to Bruce Vilanch's groan-worthy writing, Margaret Hamilton and Billie Hayes playing witch sisters, Florence Henderson singing an awful disco song, Betty White showing up, Donny and Marie Osmond also showing up because obviously, Kiss for reasons playing "Detroit Rock City", "Beth", and "King of the Night Time World", and course Lynde's baffling yet flamingly gay mannerisms, persistent sexual innuendos, and abysmal singing voice. The program has about as much to do with Halloween as the Fourth of July does, but it really has not endured all of these decades later for festivity reasons. Similar to the Star Wars Holiday Special as far as trainwreck bizarreness goes, it is a glorious hoot for all of the "wrong" reasons.
(1977)
Dir - Gerard Baldwin
Overall: GOOD
It took ABC eleven years to follow up the legendary How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Halloween Is Grinch Night, (It's Grinch Night, Grinch Night); a prequel which finds the title character inspired to scare some Whos down in Whoville because why not? Both Chuck Jones and obviously the deceased Boris Karloff were not involved, so many may naturally miss the latter's iconic voice to go along with the former's equally memorable animation. Thankfully though, original author Dr. Seuss is still on board, as well as Thurl Ravenscroft who provides his melodious baritone to some of the songs. Speaking of songs, the only real complaint is the unnecessary abundance of them. It it no exaggeration to state that about seventy-five percent of the dialog is sung and while the score by Sesame Street's Joe Raposo is certainly not terrible, it does become a bit distracting. Still, even though the world probably did not need anymore Grinch after the initial Christmas special, (looking at you Ron Howard), this entry supplies plenty of charm to suffice.
(1977)
Dir - Hal Sutherland
Overall: MEH
Airing on October 24th, 1977 and therefor close to the middle of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' twelve-year run on CBS, The Fat Albert Halloween Special is what one would expect from the program, sans Bill Cosby's live action interludes and the "this is the lesson we learned" song at the end. The Junkyard gang decide to scare some townsfolk while trick or treating, only to find out that old people are not inherently scary as they had previously assumed, (even though most of the adults are either imposing or downright nasty to the younger folks the whole way through). Lighthearted stuff to be sure, there is not anything here to really convert the uninitiated to the very well-known children's program. Still the goofy, kid-friendly charm is likeable enough and just like the series itself, it is certainly unique in its cast of exclusively African American characters whose hi-jinks take place in an urban area that is deliberately stylized to not represent cookie-cutter, white suburbia. A couple festive, spooky sound effects and whatnot are always fun as well.
(1978)
Dir - John Leach
Overall: MEH
The final project from Canadian animator John Leach and a sequel to 1974's The Gift of Winter, Witch's Night Out is an interesting oddity and notable for featuring Gilda Radner, Catherine O'Hara, and Fiona Reid as part of the voice talent. The story is simple enough, concerning a town where the uppity grownups throw a Halloween party, the kids get sad that their costumes failed to scare anyone, and Radner's titular witch/Godmother dusts off her old mojo and starts turning people into real life versions of whatever they want. It has a "Isn't it fun to not take things so seriously and let loose?" kind of a message that is wonderfully suited for a children's cartoon, though Leach's art style is quite unique and borderline bizarre. All of the characters are humanoid in shape, yet save for the Godmother who is attired all in black with a pale face, they are a solid color and look like naked sketches that the animator forgot to put clothes on. This is particularly striking with O'Hara's character who is quite well-endowed in the chest department. Still, it gives the program an unique look at least even if the material is somewhat pedestrian.
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