A Scooby-Doo Halloween

"It's not "regular scary" it's "Halloween scary!""
-Shaggy

Premiered October 25, 2003

The Mystery Inc gang (Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Fred, Daphne) is headed to Banning Junction for the town's Halloween celebration.  They plan to stay with Velma's (Mindy Cohn) Aunt Meg (Julia Sweeney) and Uncle Evan (Diedrich Bader).  Shaggy (Casey Kasem) is excited because the rock band Kiss will be performing at the Banning Junction Masquerade Ball.  He and Scooby Doo (Frank Welker) are also looking forward to pigging out on Halloween candy.

"Jeepers, it sure is spooky out there!"

When they arrive at Banning Junction, they're met by a pitchfork-wielding angry mob.  Someone has been slashing and burning cornfields at night, the mob is suspicious of the Mystery Inc gang.

Uncle Evan and Aunt Meg rescue the gang from angry corn farmers.

Thankfully, Velma's Aunt and Uncle arrive and vouch for them. They all go back to Meg and Evan's house.  Velma is also happy to see her cousin Marcy (Jenny McCarthy), whose birthday happens to be on Halloween.  Marcy flirts with Fred, which angers Daphne (Grey DeLisle).    Meg mentions that Marcy has been elected Corn Princess of the Masquerade Ball.
   

Velma greets her cousin Marcy

In addition to Halloween, October 31st also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Banning Junction.  Evan and Meg tell them a local legend: on that night, the ghost of Hank Banning (the town's long-time mayor) is due to rise from the dead.  After years in office, he became paranoid, began hearing voices, and grew unfit to serve, so he was voted out.  He died on Halloween night, promising to come back from the dead 100 years later to exact revenge from the town that turned on him.  The town expects a huge turnout for the Masquerade Ball, so that people can see if Hank's ghost shows up.

Will Hank Banning's ghost return as predicted?

The next day, they find new damage has been done to the corn fields. When Shaggy climbs a water tower, he sees that the field has been cut into the shape of a Jack O'Lantern.

Other parts of the field are cut into shapes of bats, ghost, witches, other symbols of Halloween.  Agnes (Rhea Pearlman), a local eccentric old woman, says Hank's ghost must be behind this.  Agnes' cat, Mr. Noodles,  doesn't seem to be a fan of Scooby.

Mr. Noodles steals Scoob's candy apple

Daphne suspects Marcy to be the culprit.  Fred and Velma disagree.

Velma, Fred and Daphne hit the library to research the case.  They learn that most of the surrounding lands have been bought by Eldon Reed (Daran Norris), a local businessman.  The damaged cornfields are the last independently owned fields.

Marcy shows up at the library too.   Daphne asks where was before she met them in the town square earlier.  She says she was at work and shows them a security tape that confirms this.

Mystery Inc checks out the cornfields that night.  They're attacked by scarecrows that have machetes and pitchforks for arms.

Zoinks!

They figure out that the scarecrows are actually robots, operated by remote control. Scooby squirts them with a water hose and short circuits them.  Fred decides Scooby and Shaggy should disguise themselves as scarecrows and infiltrate the robots.  Fred uses the short-wave radio in the Mystery Machine to track the signal that operates the robots.  It turns out the scarecrow-bots are headed straight for the Masquerade Ball, where a crowd has gathered for the Kiss concert!

"SHOUT IT! SHOUT IT! SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!"

Kiss opens their set with "Shout It Out Loud".  Everyone is having a rockin' good time, but suddenly, the ghost of Hank Banning appears, and the scarecrow-bots attack!

Can Mystery Inc figure out who is destroying the cornfields?   Will the scarecrow robots ruin Banning Junction's Halloween celebration?  Has Hank Banning really returned from the dead to haunt the town?

J.A. Morris says:

Scooby-Doo was a big part of my childhood, especially the first 3 series.  But I haven't seen many of the "modern" episodes. 

Casey Kasem and Frank Welker reprise their classic roles as Shaggy and Fred, respectively.  Welker also does a nice job as Scooby-Doo, filling in for Don Messick (the original voice of Scooby, Messick passed away in 1997). Rounding out the principals, Mindy Cohn (yep, "Natalie" from The Facts Of Life) is great as Velma.

As we said in an earlier review, any Scooby-Doo episode makes for decent Halloween viewing.  So when an episode takes place at Halloween, you can expect it to be more fun than usual.  Like most Scooby stories, you can guess who committed the crime early on, but it's still a great ride.   

Adding Kiss to the mix adds to the fun.  I'm glad they used "Shout It Out Loud" as their song, instead of more obvious choices ("Rock N Roll All Night", "Detroit Rock City").  It made for good background music during the closing chase scene.

Shaggy and Scooby rock out to Kiss!

There's a subplot that goes nowhere that involves Agnes, Banning Junction's resident cranky old lady. Her cat Mr. Noodles has some humorous interactions with Scooby. Noodles also has glowing, demonic red eyes, this is never explained.  This digression is one reason I can't give it a higher rating.

A Scooby Doo Halloween is available on a dvd called What's New Scooby-Doo:Monster Matinee  and
it usually airs on Cartoon Network every October.

This special can be enjoyed by Scooby-Doo fans of all ages, I've watched it every year since I discovered it several years ago.

J.A. Morris' rating:
3 Jack O'Lanterns

RigbyMel says:

This is a fun Halloween episode that doesn't jar tonally with "classic" Scooby-Doo episodes.  There are some amusing nods to the tropes from older incarnations of the series.   I also find the segment where Shaggy attempts to drive the Mystery Machine and grinds the gears, freaking Freddy out to be rather funny.

The appearance by Kiss is kind of random seeing as I have doubts as to the band's continued relevancy - they were "monsters of rock" in the late 1970s ... are they still really one of the biggest bands in the world in 2003?   It does fit in with the 70s recurring musical bits from the old show, though.

Also, I find it interesting that the animators chose to make Velma a lot skinnier than in the "classic" Scooby episodes.   This bothers me a little bit, as it sort of implies that there was something wrong with Velma in her earlier incarnation.  Velma was (and is) really the brains of the operation. Her weight shouldn't factor into it one way or another and the retconned lost poundage seems to imply that it DOES matter.

It was fun to hear voice actors that I've liked in other shows like Deidrich Bader (of Batman: The Brave & The Bold) and Julia Sweeney (an SNL alum) too.

Also, this image makes me smile:

Scooby with a "Shaggy" looking jack o'lantern

This is a fun addition to your Halloween viewing, but maybe not a "classic."

RigbyMel's rating:
3 Jack O'Lanterns

  

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special

Aired October 29, 1976.

Paul Lynde is getting ready to open his new Holiday special...only he doesn't seem to know what Holiday he's supposed to be celebrating.  He shows up in a Santa suit.

His housekeeper Margaret (Margaret Hamilton) tells him that's the wrong holiday.  He then guesses it must be Easter or Valentine's Day, still wrong.  Margaret reminds him it's Halloween and he opens the show.  

Lynde starts the show with a monologue.  He says he was obese as a child which made Halloween difficult. One year his mother put a shower curtain on him and he went as the Hindenberg.  "It was a disaster!"  

Lynde's monologue leads into a performance of the song "What's The Matter With Kids Today."  Lynde sang this tune in the film Bye Bye Birdie, but this time he adds some new lyrics that comment on Halloween and lampoon the pop culture of 70s.   

Donny and Marie Osmond show up to play a Halloween trick

Margaret says they should get away from the kids & their Halloween pranks.  They drive off to visit Margaret's sister. 

The sister turns out to be a witch, Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes) from H.R. Puffnstuf,  to be exact.  It turns out Margaret is a witch too!  She turns into the Wicked Witch of the West (the character Hamilton played in The Wizard Of Oz).

Witchiepoo,  Paul and Margaret

  
Lynde is naturally scared, based on all the bad things he seen witches do in Snow White, Hansel & Gretel and The Wizard of Oz.  Margaret says the stories he's heard are "distortions" --  "Dorothy asked for it...and her little dog too!"    
The witches want Lynde to help "soften the image" of witches.   

Another guest arrives, it's Miss Halloween 1976 (Betty White!).  Lynde has been brought to be her date, but she expected Paul Newman as 1st prize and teleports away rather than go on  a date with Lynde. 

Betty White as "Miss Halloween 1976"

The witches tell Lynde the National Association Of Witches want Lynde to be their spokesperson.  He will tell the world witches are better than their reputation.  In return, Lynde will get 3 wishes granted by the witches.  He agrees. 

Lynde looks pretty excited to be the "Rhinestone Trucker"!

For his first wish, he says he'd like to be a truck driver.  Lynde becomes Big Ruby Red, the "Rhinestone Trucker" and his friend Long Haul Howard (Tim Conway)  have a conversation over their CB radios.

Tim Conway and Paul Lynde as CB wielding truck drivers

They talk about how their both getting married later that night.  It turns out Long Haul and Red are both marrying the same woman, a waitress named Kinky Pinky (Roz Kelly).  This leads to a duel for Pinky's hand. 

Lynde comes back to reality.  The witches bring out Kiss to play "something peaceful".  The band launches into "Detroit Rock City".

"You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City!"

Lynde tires of the witches' company and says he wishes he was in the Sahara Desert.  Margaret says that counts as a wish.  He is turned into a Sheik in the romantic mold of 1920s-era heartthrob Rudolph Valentino.

He has kidnapped a wealthy British heiress named Lady Cecily Westinghouse (Florence Henderson).  He woos Cecily and promise to make her his "with one burning kiss."

For his 3rd wish, Lynde says he'd like to wish for something that Witcheepoo and Margaret would like. They've always wanted to go to a "Hollywood Disco", so Lynde uses their wand to turn their living room into a disco.

The witches ask Lynde to act as the Master of Ceremonies, he introduces Florence Henderson.  She performs a lounge/disco arrangement of 'That Old Black Magic."

After that, Kiss returns to perform their song "Beth".  Lynde says "Beth" is "a monster of a hit."  

Margaret introduces Lynde to Kiss.  He says they're just what he always wanted "four kisses on the first date."

Because he's been good, the witches grant Lynde one last wish.  He wishes Kiss would play one more song. The band plows into "King Of The Nighttime World."

Next, Lynde asks Roz Kelly to teach him how to disco dance.  She leads the entire cast in a song-and-dance number.  

Lynde says goodnight, thanking the cast for their participation and the viewers for watching.  He hopes the show was "a howling success."

J.A. Morris says:

In a word: Wow.  

I should mention that I was born in the early 70s, Paul Lynde was huge presence in the popular culture of my childhood.  It seemed like he was everywhere:  Hollywood Squares, various variety series & specials, as the voice of Templeton the rat in Charlotte's Web, etc.  The young version of me was a big Paul Lynde fan and I still think he's hilarious.  But I somehow missed this special. 

It's like they tried to cram every piece of 70s pop culture into one hour-long special! 
Here are a few examples:

-The cast includes actors from 3 of the quintessential 70's series: Betty White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show) and Florence Henderson  (The Brady Bunch)

-We get a sketch that references the CB radio craze.

-Lynde makes jokes about Fonzie, Laverne & Shirley, the Sweathogs, Bugsy Malone, Alice Cooper and Billy Jack!

-2 Disco dance numbers. 
-3 Kiss performances!

-A cameo by Donny & Marie Osmond.
 -Roz Kelly is billed as Roz "Pinky Tuscadero" Kelly, referring to the character she played on Happy Days just a month before this special.  

This show is equal parts "Hilarious" and "What the Hell were they thinking?!"  Getting Margaret Hamilton to reprise her role from The Wizard Of Oz film was a stroke of genius.  She's a good sport here and has great chemistry with Lynde.  Same for Billie Hayes as Witchiepoo.  It was an odd choice to have Witchiepoo in this special, since H.R. Pufnstuf was cancelled four years earlier, but it works.  Hamilton and Hayes cackle as if their lives depended on it.  Tim Conway and Betty White have small roles, but they're  lots of fun here too.

 A game of "Witch Monopoly"

The only things that don't work particularly well are the musical contributions of Roz Kelly and Florence Hendeson.  But Henderson gives her all in a scene that requires her to make out with Lynde!

Lynde's opening musical number is amazing, worth the price of the dvd all by itself.    His interaction with Kiss is also a wonderful pop culture moment. 

Speaking of Kiss, I was a huge fan of them when I was 6 (not so much today!).  I remember getting their Destroyer LP when I was in 1st grade.  They perform 3 tracks from that album here (their first prime-time network appearance), so that was a nice trip down memory lane (unfortunately, one of the songs is "Beth"). Their live shows of this era were legendary, so it's fun to see them at the peak of their powers.

At the end of the special, Lynde thanks the audience for "making me feel wanted."  This adds a bit of sadness, since Lynde's off-screen life was filled with pain and controversies.  And then he goes back to disco dancing, which sort of sums up the differences in Lynde's private and public lives.

This special is available on dvd and can be bought or rented on Amazon Instant Video. 

DVD case.

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is highly recommended to Lynde fans and anyone who remembers the 1970s.  If you're too young to remember that era, this special serves as a good introduction to Paul Lynde and it will give you a good idea of what the tv was like back then.  One thing is certain, once you watch it, you will NEVER forget it.

My rating:
4 Jack O'Lanterns

RigbyMel says:

Speaking as someone who remembers the 70's, but was a little bit too young to have seen this special the first (and only) time it aired on television,  I have to agree that it sort of feels like an amazing time capsule of many cheesy things from the decade.   But it is gourmet cheese, for certain.  I was aware of who Lynde was mainly because of his voice role as Templeton in Charlotte's Web and from Bye Bye Birdie, but when we discovered this special a couple of years ago, I gained a deeper appreciation of his skills as a performer.   This is old-school showbiz in fine variety show form complete with unexpected and somewhat bizarre cameo appearances.   (This is the kind of special Stephen Colbert sends up in his A Colbert Christmas special from 2008.)   It works remarkably well and all of the participants give their all  -  Margaret Hamilton even delivers a variation on the "I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too!" line from The Wizard of Oz with gusto (while in witch mode).
I highly recommend this special if you remember the 70's or if you're just interested in the history of popular culture - it is a delightful artifact from the decade and the fact that it's a Halloween variety special  (rather than the more ubiquitous Christmas ones from the 60's and 70's) makes it extra fun.

RigbyMel's rating:
4 Jack O'Lanterns